Les discours de Charles Dickens (2023)

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Les discours de Charles Dickens

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INTRODUCTION.HARLES DICKENS, le fils aîné et le deuxième enfant d'une famille de huit enfants, *est né à Landport, Portsea, le vendredi 7 février 1812. Son père, John Dickens, était un commis au bureau de paie de la Marine, puis en poste au chantier naval de Portsmouth. Sa mère, Elizabeth Barrow, était la sœur cadette d'un collègue de bureau de son père à Somerset House.

• 1. Fanny (née en 1810) , a épousé un M. Burnett; mort dans le

été 1848.2. CHARLES (baptisé Charles John Hougham, Huffham , orHuffam ).3. Alfred (mort dans l'enfance).4 Letitia (née en 1816) .37143875. Harriet (décédée dans l'enfance).6. Frederick (né en 1820 ; mort à Darlington, octobre 1868).7. Alfred Lamert (né en 1822 ; mort à Manchester, fin juillet 1860).8. Auguste (né en 1827 ; mort en Amérique ?).DEC - 1902 169815Iii INTRODUCTION.Dickens , a souvent dit à son ami et biographe, M.John Forster, qu'il se souvenait du petit jardin de devant de la maison de Portsea, d'où il a été enlevé quand deux ans. Ici, surveillés par une infirmière à travers une fenêtre basse de la cuisine presque au niveau de l'allée de gravier, lui et sa sœur Fanny se promenaient avec quelque chose à manger. Un jour, il a été transporté du jardin pour voir les soldats s'exercer, et M. Forster raconte qu'étant à Portsmouthavec lui en 1839, Dickens a reconnu la forme exacte du défilé militaire vu par lui, en tant qu'enfant, au même endroit un quart de siècle avant .En 1814, M. John Dickens a été rappelé par ses devoirs à Londres, et la famille est allée dans des logements à Norfolk-street, Middlesex Hospital. En 1816, il a été mis en service à Chatham Dockyard, et la maison a de nouveau été changée. La maison où ils vivaient à Chatham était à St. Mary's-place, autrement appelée « le ruisseau »,* et à côté d'une maison de réunion baptiste, dont un M. Giles était ministre. sa mère lui a appris l'alphabet ; lui a enseigné les premiers rudiments de l'anglais, et aussi, un peu plus tard, du latin. Elle lui a appris régulièrement tous les jours pendant longtemps

• 66 Ordnance-place," ou "Ordnance-row" (il semble être

incertain lequel), dit M. Ward (pp. 2, 3), corrigeant le récit de M. Forster sur la base de ce qu'il considère comme une preuve de première main irrécusable », dérivé de M. John Evans. lui, il était convaincu, complètement bien.Puis suivit l'école de jour préparatoire, à Romelane (démoli depuis longtemps) , où il est allé avec sa sœur Fanny. Tout ce que Dickens pouvait se rappeler après, lors de la visite de Chatham dans sa virilité, était qu'il avait été sur une Dyer's shop ; qu'en montant les marches, il se frôle souvent les genoux ; et qu'en essayant de gratter la boue d'une petite chaussure très instable, il a généralement sa jambe sur le grattoir. Au cours des deux dernières années de leur vie à Chatham ,Charles Dickens a été envoyé dans une école de Clover-lane (maintenant Clover-street)* tenue par M. William Giles, le ministre baptiste, qui semble même alors avoir été attiré par son élève, et l'avoir prononcé comme un garçon de capacité ; et qui, lors de la publication de « Pickwick » en chiffres, a envoyé une tabatière en argent à son ancien élève avec une inscription admirative à « l'inimitable Boz », une phrase adoptée par Dickens de manière ludique, et conservée pour le reste de sa vie dans sa correspondance et ses relations avec intimes. C'est en 1821 que ces jours heureux de l'enfance

• " A Gibraltar-place, New-road ", dit M. Ward (p. 3), qui décrit M. William Giles comme " le fils aîné et homonyme

d'un digne ministre baptiste." M. Ward ignore complètement l'école préparatoire de Romelane, et affirme que c'est à cette école de Gibraltar que Charles Dickens et sa sœur aînée Fanny ont été envoyés.iv INTRODUCTION.devaient se terminer. Charles Dickens n'était pas muchover neuf ans lorsque son père a été rappelé de Chatham à Somerset House. Les premières impressions reçues et retenues par lui à Londres, wereof les difficultés pécuniaires de son père. Une composition devait être faite avec ses créanciers, et la famille a été obligée de prendre leur demeure dans un maison inBayham-street, Camden Town-un petit immeuble moyen, avec un misérable petit jardin attenant à une cour sordide, dans ce qui était alors à peu près le plus pauvre de la banlieue de Londres. M. Forster est d'avis qu'il a dérivé de cette misérable maison " son première impression de cette pauvreté en difficulté qui n'est montrée nulle part ailleurs que dans les rues plus ordinaires de la banlieue ordinaire de Londres, et qui a enrichi ses premiers écrits avec une fraîcheur d'humour original et un pathos non étudié qui leur a donné une grande partie de leur popularité soudaine. l'histoire a été racontée graphiquement par son ami et biographe. Nous passons à son premier départ réel dans la vie, à ce qui a jeté les bases de sa future fortune. Dickens a commencé sa carrière dans « la galerie », comme reporter sur le Vrai Soleil ; et dès le premier fait lui-même distingué et distingableamong " le corps," pour sa capacité, sa rapidité, et sa ponctualité. Restant pour un court terme sur le personnel de thisperiodical, il a fait sécession au miroir du Parlement, qui a été lancé avec l'objet exprès de fournir LE PREMIER DE DICKENS ECRITS.ing verbatim des débats. Il n'a vécu, cependant, que pendant deux sessions.l'influence de son père, qui, en s'installant dans la métropole, était devenu connecté avec le Londonpress, a procuré à Charles Dickens un rendez-vous comme journaliste sténographique sur le Morning Chronicle. À cette période de sa vie, il a fait quelques allusions gracieuses et intéressantes dans un discours prononcé au deuxième anniversaire du Fonds de presse de journaux, en mai 1865. C'était dans le magazine mensuel de décembre 1833, avant qu'il n'ait encore atteint son vingt-deuxième année,que Charles Dickens a fait sa première apparition en tant que conteur. * Ni l'éditeur ni les lecteurs du magazine, ni même le jeune auteur ardent et satisfait lui-même (qui a décrit dans la préface des "Pickwick Papers" sa sensation de trouver sa petite contribution acceptée), n'ont alors rêvé qu'il deviendrait en quatre brèves années à partir de cette époque , l'un des auteurs anglais les plus populaires et les plus lus; que son nom aurait grandi comme un mot familier, et que ses louanges seraient sur toutes les langues des deux côtés de l'Atlantique.Encouragé par son succès, Charles Dickens a continué à envoyer des croquis dans la même veine, et pour un

• Cette première esquisse s'intitulait « A Dinner at Poplar Walk »,

rebaptisé dans les Sketches collectés par Boz, " M. Minns et son Cousin."vi INTRODUCTION.année ou plus, il était un contributeur tolérablement constant au magazine. Avec de légères modifications, tous les papiers ont été réimprimés dans la collection de " Esquisses de Boz ; " mais comme il sera peut-être intéressant pour certains de nos lecteurs de retracer leur apparition originale dans le magazine, nous en donnons une liste ici : avril mai janvier 1834. Mme Joseph Porter, " sur le chemin." Février "" Horatio Sparkins. 29"

99Le baptême de Bloomsbury.La pension de famille.Ibid. (No II.)*l'excursion à vapeur.passage dans la vie de M. WatkinsTottle.Ibid. Chapitre Second.AugustOctoberJanuary, 1835.99.February»Une série similaire a ensuite été contribuée à l'Evening Chronicle, † et une autre à Bell's Life inLondon ( 1835-36). Lors de l'écriture des " Sketches ", une forte inclinaison vers la scène a incité Charles Dickens à tester ses pouvoirs en tant que dramaturge, et sa première pièce, une farceappelée The Strange Gentleman, a été produite au St. James's Theatre lors de la soirée d'ouverture du

• C'était le premier article dans lequel Dickens assumait la

pseudonyme de « Boz ». Les esquisses précédentes parurent anonymement.+De ces "Esquisses", deux volumes furent rassemblés et publiés par Macrone (avec des illustrations de George Cruikshank) , en février 1836, et un troisième en décembre suivant.DICKENS AS A DRAMATIST. vii 1 saison, 29 septembre 1836. John Pritt Harley était le héros de la farce, qui a été reçue avec une grande faveur. Cela a été suivi d'un opéra, appelé les coquettes du village, pour lequel M. John Hullah a composé la musique, et qui a été présenté à la même maison, le mardi 6 décembre 1836. L'humour théarique, le pathos non affecté et les paroles gracieuses de cette production ont trouvé l'invite reconnaissance, et la pièce a connu une course prospère. Le Village Coquettes a pris son titre de deux filles du village, Lucy et Rose, emmenées par la vanité, coquette avec des hommes au-dessus de la station themin, et rejetant leurs amants humbles, bien que dignes de rusticité. Avant, cependant, il est trop tard, ils voient leur erreur, et la pièce se termine heureusement. MissRainforth et Miss Julia Smith étaient les héroïnes, et M. Bennett et M. Gardner étaient leurs fiancés. Braham était le seigneur du manoir, qui aurait égaré la belle Lucy. Il y avait une scène capitale, où il a été détecté par le père de Lucy, joué par Strickland, demandant une fugue. Harley avait une partie atrifling dans la pièce, rendue très amusante par son jeu admirable. ou Something Singular, dans lequel Harley jouait le personnage principal, Felix Tapkins, un célibataire flirtant. un petit pamphlet sain, viii INTRODUCTION.sage et intelligemment écrit contre le sabbatarisme, dans lequel il défendait avec force et force des vues plus libérales concernant l'observance du dimanche que celles généralement obtenues dans ce pays.*En avril 1836, parut le premier numéro de " Pickwick, " avec des illustrations de Seymour. Il a été continué en chiffres mensuels en shillings jusqu'à son achèvement, et cela est devenu la forme de publication préférée et habituelle de Dickens pour toujours. Le succès et la popularité de l'œuvre - qui, en fraîcheur et en vigueur, il n'a jamais dépassé dans ses écrits ultérieurs et plus mûrs - étaient indubitables. Plusieurs dramaturges l'ont dramatisé, avec plus ou moins de succès ; et un essaim de gribouilleurs obscurs a inondé la ville d'imitations et de suites qui, comme la deuxième partie de "Don Quichotte" d'Avanelleda, ont pour la plupart échoué et ont été rapidement oubliées, comme elles le méritaient. Avant que l'œuvre n'atteigne son troisième numéro, l'artiste talentueux qui avait entrepris les lustrations, et qui a immortalisé les traits de M. Pickwick, a malheureusement été enlevé par la mort. Feu Hablot Browne (le célèbre Phiz) fut choisi pour le remplacer et continua à illustrer la plupart des romans de Dickens pendant de nombreuses années. Pendant le

• La brochure s'intitulait Dimanche sous trois chefs :

Tel quel; comme le feraient Sabbath Bills; comme cela pourrait être fait. Par Timothée Sparks. Londres, Chapman and Hall,1836, pp. 49 (avec des illustrations de Hablot K. Browne).MÉMOIRES DE GRIMALDI. Au cours des années 1837-1838, Dickens a poursuivi la rédaction de Bentley's Miscellany, où son roman "OliverTwist" (illustré par George Cruikshank) est apparu pour la première fois. À ce magazine, pendant qu'il le dirigeait, il a également contribué des articles humoristiques, intitulés "Rapport complet des réunions de l'Association Mudfog pour l'avancement de tout". Mais, trouvant son bureau de rédaction ennuyeux, il le signa au début de 1839. Au cours de son engagement avec M. Bentley, il édita et écrivit en partie les " Mémoires de Joseph Grimaldi, *un livre maintenant presque oublié, mais pas sans passages de pathos et d'humour. Dickens, dans le chapitre d'introduction (daté de février 1838), donne le récit suivant de sa part dans l'œuvre : "Pendant environ un an avant sa mort, Grimaldi a été employé à écrire un récit complet de sa vie et de ses aventures, et en tant que personnes qui écrivent leur propre vie .trouvez souvent le temps de les étendre à une longueur excessive, il n'est pas étonnant que son récit de lui-même ait été extrêmement volumineux."Ce manuscrit a été confié à M. ThomasEgerton Wilks, pour le modifier et le réviser, en vue de sa publication. Alors qu'il était ainsi engagé, Grimaldidied, et M. Wilks ayant, au début de septembre ( 1837), conclu ses travaux, offert

• « Mémoires de Joseph Grimaldi », édité par Boz. Avec

illustrations by George Cruikshank. Intwo volumes. London,R. Bentley. 1838.•X INTRODUCTION.the manuscript to Mr. Bentley, by whom it was shortlyafterwards purchased."The present editor of these volumes has felt itnecessary to say thus much in explanation of theirorigin. His own share in them is stated in a fewwords. Being much struck by several incidents inthe manuscript—such as the description of Grimaldi'sinfancy, the burglary, the brother's return from sea,and many other passages-and thinking that theymight be related in a more attractive manner, heaccepted a proposal from the publisher to edit thebook, and has edited it to the best of his ability,altering its form throughout, and making such otheralterations as he conceived would improve the narration of the facts, without any departure from thefacts themselves."His next work was " Nicholas Nickleby," publishedin monthly numbers. The following passage fromthe original preface, which is only to be found in theold editions, alludes to the great success that attendedthis story:" It only now remains for the writer of these pages,with that feeling of regret with which we leave almostany pursuit that has for a long time occupied us andengaged our thoughts, and which is naturally augmented in such a case as this, when that pursuit hasbeen surrounded by all that could animate and cheerhim on it only now remains for him, before abandoning his task, to bid his readers farewell."MR. WELLER ON RAILWAYS.This was followed by "Master Humphrey's Clock,"the publication of which, in weekly numbers, withillustrations by Cattermole and Hablot Browne, wascommenced in April, 1840. " Master Humphrey'sClock" comprised the two novels of " The OldCuriosity Shop " and " Barnaby Rudge," which arenow published in a separate form, stripped of the introductory portion relating to Master Humphrey, andof the intercalary chapters in which Mr. Pickwick andthe two Wellers appear again on the scene.It waspleasant to meet once more these familiar humorouscreations, and it may be a matter for regret that thisportion of the book has been consigned to oblivion.But the author considered that these passages servedonly to interrupt the continuity of the main story,and they were consequently eliminated.These three characters (the Wellers and Mr. Pickwick) have all the same raciness and inexhaustiblehumour in this sequel as in the book in which we werefirst introduced to them. As the original edition of"Master Humphrey's Clock " is now somewhat rare,the reader may not be displeased to have a few specimens laid before him. Here is Mr. Weller's senior'sopinion of railways:"I con-sider," said Mr. Weller, "that the rail isunconstitootional and an inwaser o' priwileges, and Ishould wery much like to know what that ' ere oldCarter as once stood up for our liberties and wun ' emtoo-I should like to know wot he vould say if hewos alive now, to Englishmen being locked up withxixiiINTRODUCTION.widders, or with anybody, again their wills. Wot aold Carter would have said, a old Coachman may say,and I as-sert that in that pint o' view alone, the railis an inwaser. As to the comfort, vere's the comforto' sittin' in a harm cheer lookin' at brick walls or heapso' mud, never comin' to a public house, never seein' aglass o' ale, never goin' through a pike, never meetin'a change o' no kind (horses or othervise), but alvayscomin' to a place, ven you come to one at all, thewery picter o' the last, vith the same p'leesemenstanding about, the same blessed old bell a ringin',the same unfort'nate people standing behind the bars,a waitin' to be let in; and everythin' the same exceptthe name, vich is wrote up in the same sized lettersas the last name and vith the same colors. As to thehonour and dignity o' travellin', vere can that bevithout a coachman; and wot's the rail to sich coachmen and guards as is sometimes forced to go by it,but a outrage and a insult? As to the pace, wot sorto' pace do you think I, Tony Veller, could have kepta coach goin' at, for five hundred thousand pound amile, paid in adwance afore the coach was on theroad? And as to the ingein — a nasty wheezin',creaking, gasping, puffin, bustin' monster, alvays outo' breath, vith a shiny green and gold back, like a unpleasant beetle in that ' ere gas magnifier—as to theingein as is alvays a pourin' out red hot coals atnight, and black smoke in the day, the sensiblestthing it does in my opinion, is, ven there's somethin'in the vay and it sets up that ' ere frightful screamSAM WELLER'S STORY. xiiivich seems to say, ' Now here's two hundred and fortypassengers in the wery greatest extremity o' danger,and here's their two hundred and forty screams invun!' "*While Mr. Pickwick is listening to Master Humphrey's story above, the Wellers are entertained bythe housekeeper in the kitchen, where they find Mr.Slithers, the barber, to whom Sam Weller, drawingextensively we may suppose upon his lively imagination, relates the following anecdote:"I never knew," said Sam, fixing his eyes in aruminative manner upon the blushing barber, " I neverknew but von o' your trade, but he wos worth a dozen,and wos indeed dewoted to his callin'!""Was he in the easy shaving way, sir," inquiredMr. Slithers; " or in the cutting and curling line?”"Both," replied Sam; " easy shavin' was his natur,and cuttin' and curlin' was his pride and glory. Hiswhole delight wos in his trade. He spent all hismoney in bears and run in debt for ' em besides, andthere they wos a growling avay down in the frontcellar all day long, and ineffectooally gnashing theirteeth, vile the grease o' their relations and friends wosbeing re-tailed in gallipots in the shop above, and thefirst-floor winder wos ornamented vith their heads;not to speak o' the dreadful aggrawation it must havebeen to ' em to see a man alvays a walkin' up anddown the pavement outside, vith the portrait of a"Master Humphrey's Clock," Vol. I. p. 72.xiv INTRODUCTION.bear in his last agonies, and underneath in large letters, ' Another fine animal wos slaughtered yesterdayat Jinkinson's!' Hows'ever, there they wos, and thereJinkinson wos, till he wos took wery ill with someinn'ard disorder, lost the use of his legs, and wosconfined to his bed, vere he laid a wery long time,but sich wos his pride in his profession even then,that wenever he wos worse than usual, the doctorused to go down stairs and say, ' Jinkinson's wery lowthis mornin'; we must give the bears a stir;' and assure as ever they stirred ' em up a bit, and made ' emroar, Jinkinson opens his eyes if he wos ever so bad,calls out, ' There's the bears!' and rewives agin. Vunday the doctor happenin' to say, ' I shall look in asusual to-morrow mornin',' Jinkinson catches hold ofhis hand and says, ' Doctor,' he says, ' will you grantme one favor?' ' I will, Jinkinson,' says the doctor.' Then, doctor,' says Jinkinson, ' vill you come unshaved, and let me shave you?' ' I will,' says thedoctor. ' God bless you,' says Jinkinson. Next daythe doctor came, and arter he'd been shaved all skilfuland reg'lar, he says, ' Jinkinson, ' he says, ' it's weryplain this does you good. Now,' he says, ' I've got acoachman as has got a beard that it ' d warm yourheart to work on, and though the footman,' he says,' hasn't got much of a beard, still he's a trying it onvith a pair o' viskers to that extent, that razors ischristian charity. If they take it in turns to mindthe carriage wen it's a waitin' below,' he says, ' wot'sto hinder you from operatin' on both of ' em ev'ry daySAM WELLER'S STORY.as well as upon me? you've got six children,' he says,' wot's to hinder you from shavin' all their heads, andkeepin' ' em shaved? You've got two assistants inthe shop down-stairs, wot's to hinder you from cuttin'and curlin' them as often as you like? Do this,' hesays, ' and you're a man agin.' Jinkinson squeedgedthe doctor's hand, and begun that wery day; he kepthis tools upon the bed, and wenever he felt his- selfgettin' worse, he turned to at vun o' the children, whowos a runnin' about the house vith heads like cleanDutch cheeses, and shaved him agin. Vun day thelawyer come to make his vill; all the time he wos atakin' it down, Jinkinson was secretly a clippin' avayat his hair vith a large pair of scissors. ' Wot's that'ere snippin' noise?' says the lawyer every now andthen, ' it's like a man havin' his hair cut.' ' It is werylike a man havin' his hair cut,' says poor Jinkinson,hidin' the scissors and lookin' quite innocent. By thetime the lawyer found it out, he was wery nearly bald.Jinkinson was kept alive in this vay for a long time,but at last vun day he has in all the children, vunarter another, shaves each on ' em wery clean, andgives him vun kiss on the crown of his head; then hehas in the two assistants, and arter cuttin' and curlin'of ' em in the first style of elegance, says he shouldlike to hear the woice o' the greasiest bear, vichrekvest is immedetly complied with; then he saysthat he feels wery happy in his mind, and vishes tobe left alone; and then he dies, prevously cuttin' hisXVxvi INTRODUCTION.own hair, and makin' one flat curl in the wery middleof his forehead."There is a great deal more in the same vein, notunworthy of the " Pickwick Papers." We must leavethe curious reader to find it out, however, for himself.During the progress of this publication, it seemsthat certain officious persons, mistaking it for a kindof omnium gatherum, by "several hands," tenderedcontributions to its pages, and the author was compelled to issue the following advertisement:MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK.MR. DICKENS begs to inform all those Ladies and Gentlemenwho have tendered him contributions for this work, and allthose who may now or at any future time have it in contemplation to do so, that he cannot avail himself of their obligingoffers, as it is written solely by himself, and cannot possibly include any productions from other hands.This announcement will serve for a final answer to all correspondents, and will render any private communications unnecessary.After "winding up his Clock," as he termed it,Dickens resolved to make a tour in the UnitedStates. Before he went away, however, some of themost distinguished citizens of Edinburgh gave him afarewell banquet. † He was then only twenty- nineyears of age, and this was the first great public recog

• Kate Field.

MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT. xxiiile monde de l'illustration ; et nous pouvons bien nous permettre de rire des faiblesses de la croissance indigène lorsque Dickens consacre la plus grande partie de ce même roman à l'exposition du vice et de l'égoïsme anglais. "La lettre suivante, se référant à Martin Chuzzlewit, alors en cours de publication, fut adressée par Dickens à un ami, en janvier 1844 :—" DEVONSHIRE TERRACE," 2 janvier 1844. cas dont vous me parlez. Je voudrais toGod je pourrais atteindre le cœur parental de - auquel cas je le scarifierais tellement, qu'il devrait se tordre à nouveau. Mais si je mettais un père tel que lui dans un livre, tous les pères qui y vont (et surtout les mauvais) lèveraient la main et protesteraient contre la caricature contre nature. Je trouve qu'un grand nombre de personnes (en particulier celles qui auraient pu s'asseoir pour le personnage) considèrent même M. Pecksniff comme une impossibilité grotesque, et Mme. Nickleby elle-même, assise physiquement devant moi dans une chaise solide, m'a demandé un jour si je croyais vraiment qu'il y avait jamais eu une telle femme. enfants. Mais le livre n'est pas naturel, car qui penserait être cruel envers le pauvre petit Oliver Twist !" fait ce Noël sous les effets combinés du punch et de la dinde, je le ferai." Merci cordialement pour votre note. Excusez ce bout de papier. Je pensais que c'était une feuille entière jusqu'à ce que je la retourne. CHARLES DICKENS"xxiv INTRODUCTION.Pour une collection de Sketches and Tales by a Working Man, publiée en 1844,* Charles Dickens a été amené à contribuer une préface, à partir de laquelle nous sélectionnons les passages suivants :"Je ne le recommande pas comme un livre d'originalité ou de dépassement mérite transcendantal. Je ne prétends pas avoir découvert, dans l'humble vie, un génie extraordinaire et brillant. Je ne puis accuser l'humanité en général d'être entrée dans une conspiration pour négliger l'auteur de ce volume, ou de le laisser dans l'obscurité. Je n'ai pas la moindre intention de le comparer à Burns, l'exciseman ; ou withBloomfield, le cordonnier; ou avec Ebenezer Elliott, l'ouvrier du fer ; ou avec James Hogg, le berger. Je ne vois aucune raison d'être chaud, ou amer, ou abaissant, ou sarcastique, ou indigné, ou féroce, ou aigre, ou tranchant, en son nom. Je n'ai rien à railler ; rien à exalter ; rien pour s'épanouir face au monde au cœur astonné ; et n'ont qu'une histoire très courte et simple à raconter."John Overs est, comme il est indiqué dans la page de titre, un homme aworking. Un homme qui gagne son salaire hebdomadaire (ou qui l'a fait quand il était assez fort) en jouant du marteau , rabot et ciseau.Il s'est fait connaître il y a près de six ans, lorsqu'il m'a envoyé des chansons, appropriées aux différents mois de l'année, avec une lettre, indiquant dans quelles circonstances elles avaient été.

• Soirs ofa Working Man, par John Overs, avec un pré

face relative à l'Auteur, par Charles Dickens. Londres:Newby, 1844COMPTE DE JOHN OVERS.été composé, et de quelle manière il a été occupé du matin au soir. Je renonçais alors à la direction d'un périodique mensuel, * ou je les aurais volontiers publiés. En fait, je les lui ai rendus, avec une expression personnelle de l'intérêt que je ressentais pour de telles productions. Ils ont ensuite été acceptés, avec beaucoup de préparation et de considération, par M. Tait, d'Édimbourg, et ont été imprimés dans hisMagazine.XXV"constatant, après une autre correspondance avec mon nouvel ami, que sa paternité n'avait pas cessé avec ses vers, mais qu'il occupait toujours ses loisirs par écrit, j'ai pris l'occasion de lui faire des remontrances sérieuses contre sa poursuite de cette voie. Je lui ai dit que sa persévérance dans sa nouvelle vocation me mettait mal à l'aise et je lui ai conseillé de l'abandonner aussi fortement que possible. modeste lettre, comme je l'ai jamais lu dans ma vie. Il m'expliqua combien son ambition était limitée : ne s'élevant pas plus haut que l'établissement de sa femme dans quelques affaires légères et la meilleure éducation de ses enfants. Il a mis devant moi la différence entre ses études du soir et de vacances, telles qu'elles étaient ; et le fait d'avoir une meilleure ressource qu'une taverne ou un terrain de quilles. Il m'a dit comment chaque petit ajout à son stock de connaissances rendait ses promenades du dimanche plus agréables,

• Bentley's Miscellany, édité par Charles Dickens pendant la

années 1837-38.xxvi INTRODUCTION.la haie- fleurs plus douces, tout plus plein d'intérêt et de sens pour lui. "Il est très malade ; l'ombre la plus faible de l'homme qui est venu dans mon petit bureau pour la première fois, il y a une demi-douzaine d'années , après la correspondance que j'ai mentionnée. Il a été très malade pendant une longue période; sa maladie est une affection grave et dévastatrice des poumons, qui l'a rendu incapable ces nombreux mois pour chaque type d'occupation. ' Si je pouvais seulement faire une dure journée de travail, ' il m'a dit l'autre jour, ' comme je serais heureux.' provision pour sa femme malade et sa très jeune famille. Nous avons parlé de la question ensemble, et pour que ce soit plus facile, je lui ai promis que j'écrirais une introduction à son livre. vie vigoureuse et utile ! Mais Hope n'allumera pas sa lampe moins brillamment pour lui et les siens, à cause de cette impulsion à leurs fortunes en difficulté, et croyez-moi, lecteur, ils méritent sa lumière, et en ont cruellement besoin. » Il a inscrit ce livre à un * dont la compétence

• Dr. Elliotson.

LE CHANT DE NOËL. xxvii l'aidera, sous la Providence, dans tout ce que l'habileté humaine peut faire. A quelqu'un qui n'aurait jamais pu reconnaître en aucun potentat sur terre une prétention plus élevée à une gentillesse et une attention constantes qu'il n'en a reconnues en lui. * * * ", La belle série d'histoires de Noël, avec laquelle tous ses lecteurs, jeunes et vieux, doux et simples, sont si familiers, a été lancée par Dickens en décembre 1843, avec A Christmas Carol in Prose, illustré par John Leech. Quel Jeffrey, ce que Sydney Smith, ce que Jerrold, ce que Thackeray a pensé et écrit à propos de cette petite histoire est bien connu. fontaine de bonté pour tous à portée de ses coups. Nous sommes tous charmés de votre Carol; principalement, je pense, pour la bonté authentique qui respire tout à travers elle, et est le véritable ange inspirant par lequel son génie a été réveillé. Toute la scène des Cratchits ressemble au rêve d'un ange bienfaisant, en dépit de sa large réalité, et du petit Tiny Tim dans la vie et dans la mort, presque aussi doux et touchant que Nelly. Vous pouvez être sûr que vous avez fait plus de bien, et non seulement attaché des sentiments plus gentils, mais suscité plus d'actes positifs de bienveillance par cette petite publication que ce qui peut être66 * Weare a dit qu'Overs n'a pas vécu longtemps après la publication de son petit livre : la maladie sous laquelle il travaillait, s'est terminée fatalement en octobre suivant. est venu prendre tranquillement sa place à la tête de toute la tribu, et qui l'a gardée. Pensez à tout ce que nous devons à M. Dickens depuis cette demi-douzaine d'années, à la réserve d'heures heureuses qu'il nous a fait passer, aux gentils et agréables compagnons qu'il nous a présenté ; le rire inoffensif, l'esprit généreux, le franc, viril, amour humain qu'il nous a appris à ressentir ! Chaque mois de ces années nous a apporté un jeton aimable de ce délicieux génie. Hisbooks a peut-être perdu dans l'art, peut-être , mais pouvions-nous nous permettre d'attendre ? Depuis l'époque où le Spectator a été produit par un homme d'esprit et de tempérament similaires, quels livres sont apparus qui ont pris une emprise aussi affectueuse sur le public anglais que ceux-ci ? un bienfait national, et pour chaque homme ou femme qui le lit une gentillesse personnelle. Les deux dernières personnes dont j'ai entendu parler étaient des femmes ; ni l'un ni l'autre ne connaissaient l'autre, ni l'auteur, et tous deux ont dit en guise de critique : « Que Dieu le bénisse ! * * *Quant à Tiny Tim, il y a un certain passage dans le livre concernant ce jeune homme dont un homme ne devrait guère s'aventurer à parler en version imprimée ou en public, pas plus qu'il ne le ferait de toute autre affection de son cœur privé. Il n'y a pas de lecteur En Angleterre

• Fraser's Magazine, juillet 1844.

CONTES DE NOËL.mais cette petite créature sera un lien d'union entre l'auteur et lui; et il dira de Charles Dickens, en tant que femme tout à l'heure : « Que Dieu le bénisse ! Quel sentiment est-ce pour un écrivain de pouvoir inspirer, et quelle récompense à récolter. « Les carillons » (décembre 1844) ; « Le grillon sur le foyer » (décembre 1845) ; « La bataille de la vie » (décembre 1846) ; « L'homme hanté et le marché du fantôme » (décembre 1848). Et l'embellissement séduisant. aux voix des carillons, s'efforçant de comprendre ce qu'ils lui disent, et où le cœur du vieux Scrooge est attendri par ses visiteurs fantomatiques ? C'est parce que Charles Dickens a fait une telle étude de cette nature humaine que nous posons tous ❤ Ces cinq volumes ont été tous gracieusement illustrés par JohnLeech, Daniel Maclise, Clarkson Stanfield, Sir Edwin Landseer,Richard Doyle, et d'autres, et un ensemble de la question originale est maintenant très recherché, et pas facilement rencontré.XXX INTRODUCTION.sess en commun qu'il est capable frapper d'une main experte les cordes de nos cœurs et dégager une harmonie qui vibre d'âme à âme. Cependant, notre intention ici n'est pas de poursuivre Dickens tout au long de sa longue et honorable carrière littéraire, encore moins d'entreprendre la tâche superflue d'exalter la liste nombreuse et brillante des écrits qui se sont succédé rapidement et de manière bienvenue sous sa plume infatigable. et de présenter des preuves pour les réfuter.Ces deux accusations sont, moi, une perversion délibérée des faits décrivant la condition politique et sociale de notre temps; 2, une irrévérence et un ridicule des choses et des personnes sacrées, qui (disent les objecteurs) infuse un poison subtil à travers l'ensemble de ses œuvres, et déstabilise la croyance des jeunes. Nous prendrons ces charges une à la fois. Dans certains de ses romans ultérieurs, tels que " Bleak House " et " Little Dorrit ", dans lesquels il s'est efforcé de s'attaquer aux grands problèmes sociaux et politiques de l'époque, certains critiques l'ont accusé d'exagération, et même d'une perversion délibérée des faits.Contre leur opinion, nous sommes heureux de pouvoir établir celle d'une autorité aussi élevée que l'auteur de " Modern Painters :""La valeur essentielle et la vérité des écrits de Dickens", dit M. Ruskin, « ont été imprudemment perdusMR. RUSKIN SUR DICKENS.vue par de nombreuses personnes réfléchies, simplement parce qu'il présente sa vérité avec une certaine couleur de caricature.imprudemment, parce que la caricature de Dickens, bien que souvent grossière, ne se trompe jamais. Compte tenu de sa manière de les dire, les choses qu'il nous dit sont toujours vraies. et lorsqu'il aborde un sujet d'une haute importance nationale, comme celui qu'il a traité dans « Temps durs », qu'il emploie une analyse plus sévère et plus précise. L'utilité de ce travail (tome esprit, à plusieurs égards le plus grand qu'il ait écrit, ) est avec beaucoup de personnes sérieusement diminuée, parce que M. Bounderby est un monstre dramatique, au lieu d'un exemple caractéristique d'un maître mondain ; andStephen Blackpool une perfection dramatique, au lieu d'un exemple caractéristique d'un ouvrier honnête. Mais ne perdons pas l'usage de l'esprit et de la perspicacité de Dickens parce qu'il choisit de parler dans un cercle de feu de scène. et tous, mais surtout les temps durs, « devraient être étudiés avec un soin attentif et sérieux par les personnes intéressées aux questions sociales. Ils trouveront beaucoup de choses partielles et, parce que partielles, apparemment injustes ; mais s'ils examinent toutes les preuves de l'autre côté, que Dickens semble négliger, il apparaîtra, après tous leurs ennuis, que son point de vue était finalement le bon, grossièrement et fortement dit. "* 6" Jusqu'à ce dernier. " Chap. I.xxxi•xxxii INTRODUCTION.Deuxièmement, Dickens est accusé d'irrévérence et de ridicule inconvenant envers les choses sacrées. Tout lecteur attentif de Dickens aura observé qu'il n'a pas beaucoup l'habitude de citer ou de faire allusion à écrits des autres, mais que lorsqu'il cite ou fait allusion, c'est dans la grande majorité des cas d'orto les Saintes Écritures. mais ceux-ci se produisent si rarement, qu'on peut dire, une fois pour toutes, que la source à partir de laquelle Dickens a généralement l'habitude de faire des citations, est uniquement la Bible. Il est très intéressant de constater que tant de personnages de Dickens sont représentés comme étant dans l'habitude soit de lire et d'étudier régulièrement la Bible, soit de se la faire lire par quelqu'un d'autre. Je ne suis pas très doué pour la lecture de la main écrite, dit Betty Higden, bien que je puisse lire ma Bible et la plupart des imprimés. " La petite Nell avait l'habitude constante de prendre la Bible avec elle pour la lire dans sa retraite tranquille et solitaire dans la vieille église, après que toutes ses errances longues et lasses étaient passées. Dans le temps heureux qu'Oliver Twist a passé avec Mme Maylie et Rose, il avait l'habitude de lire, le soir, un chapitre ou deux de la Bible, qu'il avait étudié toute la semaine, et dans l'exercice de laquelle il se sentait plus fier et heureux que s'il avait été le clerc

• Les exemples suivants sont, avec l'aimable autorisation, tirés d'un article admirable sur ce sujet, paru dans le " Temple Bar "

Magazine for September, 1869.DICKENS'S USE OF THE BIBLE.gyman himself. There was Sarah, in the " Sketchesby Boz," who regularly read the Bible to her oldmistress; and in the touching sketch of " Our Nextdoor Neighbour " in the same book, we find themother of the sick boy engaged in reading the Bibleto him when the visitor called and interrupted her.This incident reminds us of the poor Chancery prisoner in the Fleet, who, when on his death- bed calmlywaiting the release which would set him free for ever,had the Bible read to him by an old man in a cobbler's apron. One of David Copperfield's earliestrecollections was of a certain Sunday evening, whenhis mother read aloud to him and Peggotty the storyof Our Saviour raising Lazarus from the dead. So deepan impression did the story make upon the boy, takenin connexion with all that had been lately told himabout his father's funeral, that he requested to becarried up to his bed-room, from the windows ofwhich he could see the quiet churchyard with thedead all lying in their graves at rest below the solemnmoon. Pip, too, in " Great Expectations," was notonly in the habit of reading the Bible to the convictunder sentence of death, but of praying with him aswell; and Esther Summerson tells us how she usedto come downstairs every evening at nine o'clock toread the Bible to her god-mother.Not a few ofthe dwellings into which Dickens conducts us in the course of some of his best- known stories,have their walls decorated with prints illustrative offamiliar scenes from sacred history. Thus when MarxxxiiiHO3xxxiv INTRODUCTION.tin Chuzzlewit went away from Pecksniff's, and wasten good miles on his way to London, he stopped tobreakfast in the parlour of a little roadside inn, onthe walls of which were two or three highly- colouredpictures, representing the Wise Men at the Manger,and the Prodigal Son returning to his Father. Onthe walls of Peggotty's charming boat-cottage therewere prints, showing the Sacrifice of Isaac, and theCasting of Daniel into the Den of Lions. WhenArthur Clennam came home after his long absencein the East, he found the Plagues of Egypt still hanging, framed and glazed, on the same old place in hismother's parlour. And who has forgotten the fireplace in old Scrooge's house, which " was paved allround with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustratethe Scriptures?"Here are a few comparisons. Mr. Larry, in bestowing a bachelor's blessing on Miss Cross, before"somebody" came to claim her for his own, " heldthe fair face from him to look at the well- rememberedexpression on the forehead, and then laid the brightgolden hair against his little brown wig, with a genuinetenderness and delicacy which, if such things be oldfashioned, were as old as Adam." As old as Adamhere means so long ago as Adam's time; whileMethuselah suggests great age. Thus Miss Jellybyrelieved her mind to Miss Summerson on the subjectof Mr. Quale, in the following energetic language:"If he were to come with his great shining, lumpyforehead, night after night, till he was as old as--DICKENS'S USE OF THE BIBLE.Methuselah, I wouldn't have anything to say to him.”And Mr. Filer, in his eminently practical remarks onthe lamentable ignorance of political economy on thepart of working people in connexion with marriage,observed to Alderman Cute that a man may live tobe as old as Methuselah, and may labour all his lifefor the benefit of such people; but there could be nomore hope of persuading them that they had no rightor business to be married, than he could hope to persuade them that they had no earthly right or businessto be born. Miss Betsy Trotwood declared to Mr.Dick that the natural consequence of David Copperfield's mother having married a murderer-or a manwith a name very like it was to set the boy a-prowlingand wandering about the country, " like Cain beforehe was grown up." Joe Gargery's journeyman, ongoing away from his work at night, used to slouchout of the shop like Cain, or the Wandering Jew, asif he had no idea where he was going, and had nointention of ever coming back. Describing the stateof "the thriving City of Eden," when Martin andMark arrived there, the author of " Martin Chuzzlewit" says "The waters of the Deluge might haveleft it but a week before, so choked with slime andmatted growth was the hideous swamp which borethat name." The Deluge suggests Noah's ark. Thefollowing reference to it is from " Little Dorrit,"descriptive of the gradual approach of darkness upamong the highest ridges of the Alps:-"The ascending night came up the mountains like a risingXXXVxxxvi INTRODUCTION.water. When at last it rose to the walls of the convent of the great St. Bernard, it was as if thatweather-beaten structure were another ark, andfloated on the shadowy waves." Here is somethingfrom the Tower of Babel:-" Looming heavy in theblack wet night, the tall chimneys of the Coketownfactories rose high into the air, and looked as if theywere so many " competing towers of Babel." WhenMortimer Lightwood inquired of Charley Hexam,with reference to the body of the man found in theriver, whether or not any means had been employedto restore life, he received this reply:-" You wouldn'task, sir, if you knew his state. Pharoah's multitudethat were drowned in the Red Sea ain't more beyondrestoring to life." The boy added, further, " that ifLazarus were only half as far gone, that was thegreatest of all the miracles." When the Scotch surgeon was called in professionally to see Mr. Krook'sunfortunate lodger, the Scotch tongue pronouncedhim to be "just as dead as Chairy." Job's poverty isnot likely to be forgotten among the comparisons.No, Mr. Mell's mother was as poor as Job. NorSamson's strength: Dot's mother had so many infallible recipes for the preservation of the baby'shealth, that had they all been administered, the saidbaby must have been done for, though strong as aninfant Samson. Nor Goliath's importance: JohnChivery's chivalrous feeling towards all that belongedto Little Dorrit, made him so very respectable, inspite of his small stature, his weak legs, and hisDICKENS'S USE OF THe bible. xxxviigenuine poetic temperament, that a Goliath mighthave sat in his place demanding less consideration atArthur Clennam's hands. Nor Solomon's wisdom:Trotty Veck was so delighted when the child kissedhim that he couldn't help saying, " She's as sensibleas Solomon." Miss Wade having said farewell to herfellow-travellers in the public room of the hotel atMarseilles, sought her own apartment. As she passedalong the gallery, she heard an angry sound of muttering and sobbing. A door stood open, and, looking.into the room, she saw therein Pet's attendant, themaid with the curious name of Tattycoram. MissWade asked what was the matter, and received inreply a few short and angry words in a deeply-injured,ill-used tone. Then again commenced the sobs andtears and pinching, tearing fingers, making altogethersuch a scene as if she were being " rent by the demonsof old." Let us close these comparisons by quotinganother from the same book, " Little Dorrit," descriptive of the evening stillness after a day of terrificglare and heat at Marseilles:- "The sun went downin a red, green, golden glory; the stars came out inthe heavens, and the fire-flies mimicked them in thelower air, as men may feebly imitate the goodness ofa better order of beings; the long, dusty roads andthe interminable plains were in repose, and so deep ahush was on the sea, that it scarcely whispered of thetime when it shall give up its dead."-Looking over the familiar pages of " NicholasNickleby," our eye lights upon a passage, almost atXxxvii INTRODUCTION.opening, which refers to God's goodness and mercy.As Nickleby's father lay on his death-bed, he embraced his wife and children, and then " solemnlycommended them to One who never deserted thewidow or her fatherless children." Towards the closeof Esther Summerson's narrative in " Bleak House "we read these touching, tender words regarding Ada's 'baby:-" The little child who was to have done somuch was born before the turf was planted on itsfather's grave. It was a boy; and I, my husband,and my guardian gave him his father's name. Thehelp that my dear counted on did come to her;though it came in the Eternal Wisdom for anotherpurpose. Though to bless and restore his mother,not his father, was the errand of this baby, its powerwas mighty to do it. When I saw the strength ofthe weak little hand, and how its touch could heal mydarling's heart and raise up hopes within her, I felt anew sense of the goodness and tenderness of God."After these illustrations of the great lessons of thegoodness of God, and that there is mercy in even ourhardest trials, we come next upon one which teachesthe duty of patience and resignation to God's will.Mrs. Maylie observed to Oliver Twist, with referenceto the dangerous illness of Rose, that she had seenand experienced enough to " knowthat it is not alwaysthe youngest and best who are spared to those thatlove them; but this should give us comfort in oursorrow, for Heaven is just, and such things teach usimpressively that there is a brighter world than this,DICKENS'S USE OF THE BIBLE. xxxixand that the passage to it is speedy. God's will bedone!"Our Saviour's life and teaching afford so many interesting illustrations to Charles Dickens that ourgreat difficulty, in the limited space to which we arenow confined, is to make a good selection. Here is asketch entitled " A Christmas Tree," from one of hisreprinted pieces, which contains this simple and beautiful summary of our Lord's life on earth:-" Thewaits are playing, and they break my childish sleep!What images do I associate with the Christmas musicas I see them set forth on the Christmas Tree?Known before all the others, keeping far apart fromall the others, they gather round my little bed. Anangel speaking to a group of shepherds in a field;some travellers, with eyes uplifted, following a star;a Baby in a manger; a Child in a spacious templetalking with grave men; a solemn figure, with a mildand beautiful face, raising a dead girl by the hand;again, near a city gate, calling back the son of awidow, on his bier, to life; a crowd of people lookingthrough the opened roof of a chamber where He sits,and letting down a sick person on a bed with ropes;the same, in a tempest, walking on the water to aship; again, on a sea-shore, teaching a great multitude; again, with a child upon His knee, and otherchildren round; again, restoring sight to the blind,speech to the dumb, hearing to the deaf, health to thesick, strength to the lame, knowledge to the ignorant;again, dying upon a cross, watched by armed soldiers,xl INTRODUCTION.a thick darkness coming on, the earth beginning toshake, and only one voice heard, ' Forgive them, forthey know not what they do.These passages, which are only a few out of a verymuch longer list that might be made, will be sufficient, we trust, to show how much our greatest livingnovelist is in the habit of going to the sacred narrative for illustrations to many of his most touching incidents, and how reverent and respectful always isthe spirit in which every such illustration is employed.To think of Charles Dickens's writings as containingno religious teaching, is to do them a great injustice.The first of Charles Dickens's famous public Readings was given at Birmingham during the Christmasweek of 1853. At a meeting held on Monday, January10, 1853, in the theatre of the Philosophical Institution,"for the purpose of considering the desirableness ofestablishing in Birmingham a Scientific and LiterarySociety, upon a comprehensive plan, having for itsobject the diffusion," etc., Mr. Arthur Ryland read aletter from Charles Dickens, received by him theday after the Literary and Artistic Banquet, containing an offer to visit Birmingham next Christmas, andread his Christmas Carol, in the Town Hall, for thebenefit of the proposed Institution, with the proviso,however, that as many as possible of the workingclass should be admitted free. " It would," saidDickens, " take about two hours, with a pause oftenminutes half-way through. There would be someCHARLES DICKENS'S READINGS. xlinovelty in the thing, as I have never done it in public,though I have in private, and (if I may say so) witha great effect on the hearers. I was so inexpressiblygratified last night by the warmth and enthusiasm ofmy Birmingham friends, that I feel half ashamed thismorning of so poor an offer. But as I had decidedon making it to you before I came down yesterday, Ipropose it nevertheless."The readings-three in number-came off withgreat éclat during the last week of the year, andbrought in a net sum of £400 to the Institute.Dickens continued from this time to give similarreadings, for charitable purposes, both in the provincesand in London; but it was not till five years later( 1858) that he began to read on his own account.On March 15, 1870, that long series of readingscontinued through sixteen years, in both hemispheres-was brought to a close, and the voice and figure ofCharles Dickens, formerly so familiar to us all, willdwell henceforth in the memory alone, but in one ofits most honoured niches.We ought not to omit to mention, what any readermaywell surmise, that Charles Dickens was inimitablein enlivening correspondence or table-talk with humorous anecdote, appropriate to the occasion. Wesubjoin a few specimens. The first is from one of hisletters to Douglas Jerrold, and is dated Paris, 14thFebruary, 1847:-"I am somehow reminded of agood story I heard the other night from a man whowas a witness of it, and an actor in it. At a certain·xlii INTRODUCTION.German town last autumn there was a tremendousfurore about Jenny Lind, who, after driving the wholeplace mad, left it, on her travels, early one morning.The moment her carriage was outside the gates, aparty of rampant students, who had escorted it,rushed back to the inn, demanded to be shown to herbedroom, swept like a whirlwind upstairs into theroom indicated to them, tore up the sheets, and worethem in strips as decorations. An hour or two afterwards a bald old gentleman, of amiable appearance,an Englishman, who was staying in the hotel, came tobreakfast at the table d'hôte, and was observed to bemuch disturbed in his mind, and to show great terrorwhenever a student came near him. At last he said,in a low voice, to some people who were near him atthe table, 'You are English gentlemen, I observe.Most extraordinary people, these Germans! Students, as a body, raving mad, gentlemen!' ' Oh, no!'said somebody else; ' excitable, but very good fellows, and very sensible.' ' By God, sir!' returned theold gentleman, still more disturbed, ' then there'ssomething political in it, and I am a marked man. Iwent out for a little walk this morning after shaving,and while I was gone ' -he fell into a terrible perspiration as he told it ' they burst into my bedroom, toreup my sheets, and are now patrolling the town in alldirections with bits of ' em in their button-holes!' Ineedn't wind up by adding that they had gone to thewrong chamber."Dickens now and then administered a little gentleDICKENS ON THE EARTHQUAKE.rebuke to affectation, in a pleasant but unmistakablemanner. Here is an instance of how he silenced abilious young writer, who was inveighing against theworld in a very " forcible feeble manner." During apause in this philippic against the human race, Dickenssaid across the table, in the most self-congratulatoryof tones:-"I say what a lucky thing it is you andI don't belong to it? It reminds me," continued theauthor of Pickwick, " of the two men, who on a raisedscaffold were awaiting the final delicate attention ofthe hangman; the notice of one was aroused by observing that a bull had got into the crowd of spectators, and was busily employed in tossing one here,and another there; whereupon one of the criminalssaid to the other—‘ I say, Bill, how lucky it is for usthat we are up here. "xliiiHere is a humorous and graphic account whichDickens sent to the leading newspaper ofhis sensationsduring the shock of earthquake that was felt all overEngland in October, 1863. It is doubly interesting,as giving a description of his country house at Gad'shill, near Rochester:" I was awakened by a violent swaying of my bedstead from side to side, accompanied by a singularheaving motion. It was exactly as if some greatbeast had been crouching asleep under the bedstead,and were now shaking itself and trying to rise. Thetime by my watch was twenty minutes past three,xliv INTRODUCTION.and I suppose the shock to have lasted nearly aminute. The bedstead, a large iron one, standingnearly north and south, appeared to me to be theonly piece of furniture in the room that was heavilyshaken. Neither the doors nor the windows rattled,though they rattle enough in windy weather, thishouse standing alone, on high ground, in the neighbourhood of two great rivers. There was no noise.The air was very still, and much warmer than it hadbeen in the earlier part of the night. Although theprevious afternoon had been wet, the glass had notfallen. I had mentioned my surprise at its standingnear the letter ' i ' in ' Fair,' and having a tendency torise."" #But the thing which, above all others, characterisedDickens throughout his career, that made his worldwide fame, and rendered his name a household word,was his broad, genial sympathy with life in all itsphases, and with those most who were manfully toilingtowards a better day. To this " enthusiasm ofhumanity " his biographer, the late John Forster,alluded in the Dedicatory Sonnet to Charles Dickens,prefixed to his " Life of Goldsmith " (March, 1848) ,in which he exclaims:"Come with me and behold,O friend with heart as gentle for distress,As resolute with wise true thoughts to bindThe happiest to the unhappiest of our kind,That there is fiercer crowded miseryIn garret-toil and London lonelinessThan in cruel islands 'mid the far-off sea. "

• Times, jeudi 8 octobre 1863.

LA MORT DE DICKENS. xlvDans son discours lors de la lecture d'adieu, le 15 mars 1870, Dickens avait fait allusion à sa prochaine histoire en série de " Edwin Drood ", dont le premier numéro parut en avril, mais qui était destiné à rester incomplet. Un soir, à Gad's-hill, au début de juin, il fut pris d'une crise soudaine, alors qu'il s'asseyait pour dîner, et tomba au sol. Après plusieurs heures d'insensibilité et de mutisme, il expira, le 9 juin 1870, et toute l'Angleterre se réveilla le lendemain matin pour pleurer sa perte. Il a été enterré à l'abbaye de Westminster, où son nom, gravé en lettres anglaises claires sur sa tombe, attire de nombreux passants, alors qu'il entre dans le vénérable édifice gothique, par Poet's Corner, et s'arrête, dans la crainte solennelle et la révérence, avant l'agrave , décoré par des mains aimantes avec des fleurs et des immortelles, qui contient tout ce qui était mortel ou périssable de Charles Dickens.RICHARD HERNE SHEPHERD.

CONTENU.Les cinquante-six discours compris dans ce volume ont été prononcés aux lieux et dates suivants :I.II.III.IV.V.VI.VII.VIII.ÉDIMBOURG LE 25 JUIN 1841ÉTATS-UNIS : JAN. 1842BOSTON FÉV. 1 , 1842HARTFORD : FÉV. 7 FÉVRIER 1842NEW YORK : 18 février 1842MANCHESTER : 5 oct. 1843LIVERPOOL : févr. 26 FÉVRIER 1844BIRMINGHAM : 28, 1844LONDRES 6 AVRIL 1846 - LEEDS DEC. Je , 1847GLASGOW : DÉC. 28, 1847 -LONDRES: 1 MARS 1851IX.X.XI.XII.XIV.XV.XIII. LONDRES : 14 AVRIL 1851LONDRES : 10 MAI 1851LONDRES : 9 JUIN 1851LONDRES : 14 JUIN 1852BIRMINGHAM JAN. 6, 1853LONDRES 30 AVRIL 1853LONDRES : 1ER MAI 1853XVI.XVII.XVIII.XIX.XX. BIRMINGHAM : DÉC. 30, 1853XXI. LONDRES : DÉC. 30, 1854 XXII.XXIII.XXIV.DRURY LANE : 27 JUIN 1855SHEFFIELD : DÉC. 22, 1855LONDRES : 12 MARS 1856 XXV. LONDRES : 5 novembre 1857XXVI. LONDRES FEV. 9, 1858····-·····495557636874828997102108117 122126131134138146147151154 162173175 180187xlviii TABLE DES MATIÈRES.!XXVII. EDINBOURG

26 MARS 1858

XXVIII.XXIX.XXX.XXXI.LONDRES

29 MARS

, 1858LONDRES 29 AVRIL 1858I.ONDRES

PEUT

1, 1858LONDRES

PEUT

8, 1858LONDRES

21 JUILLET

, 1858MANCHESTER

DÉC

.3, 1858COVENTRY

DÉC

.4, 1858XXXII.XXXIII.XXXIV.XXXV. LONDRES

29 MARS

, 1862XXXVI. LONDRES

20 MAI

, 1862XXXVII. LONDRES

11 MAI

, 1864·XXXVIII. LONDRES

PEUT

9, 1865XXXIX. LONDRES

20 MAI

, 1865XL.XLI.XLII.XLIII.XLIV.XLV.XLVI.XLVII.XLVIII.XLIX.L.LI.·KNEBWORTH 29 JUILLET 1865LONDRES FEV. 14, 1866LONDRES

28 MARS

, 1866LONDRES

PEUT

7 JUIN 1866LONDRES5 JUIN 1867LONDRES

SEPT

. 17, 1867 LONDRES

Nov.

2 AVRIL 1867 BOSTON 8 AVRIL 1868 NEW YORK

18 AVRIL 1868

NEW YORK

20 AVRIL

, 1868LIVERPOOL

10 AVRIL 1869

SYDENHAM AOÛT. 30, 1869LII. BIRMINGHAM, SEPT. 27, 1869LIV.LIII. BIRMINGHAM

JAN

.6, 1870LONDRES

15 MARS

, 1870LONDRES

AVRIL

5, 1870LONDRES 2 MAI 1875LV.LVI.···············195197200202203 208211221223 226230236 242250252259 262265271273277279285287292297 310 314316332MODTHE....... DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS.I.ÉDIMBOURG, LE 25 JUIN , 1841.(lors d'un dîner public, donné en l'honneur de M. Dickens, et présidé par feu le professeur Wilson, le président ayant proposé sa santé dans un discours long et éloquent, M. Dickens a rendu grâce comme suit :-]F j'ai senti votre accueil chaleureux et généreux moins, je devrais être mieux en mesure de vous remercier. Si j'aurais pu écouter comme vous avez écouté le langage glorieux de votre distingué président, et si j'aurais pu entendre comme vous avez entendu les " pensées qui respirent et les mots qui brûlent ", qu'il a prononcé, cela aurait été dur, mais j'aurais dû saisir une partie de son enthousiasme et m'enflammer à son exemple. Mais chaque mot qui tombait de ses lèvres, et chaque démonstration de sympathie et d'approbation avec lesquelles vous avez reçu ses expressions éloquentes, me rend incapable de répondez à sa gentillesse, et me laisse enfin tout le cœur et pas de lèvres, aspirant à répondre comme je le ferais à votre cordiale salutation-possédant, le ciel sait, la volonté, et désirant seulement trouver le chemin.450 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 25 juin Le chemin vers votre bonne opinion, votre faveur et votre soutien m'a été très agréable—un chemin parsemé de fleurs et acclamé de soleil. J'ai l'impression d'être parmi d'anciens amis, que j'avais intimement connus et hautement appréciés. J'ai l'impression que la mort des créatures fictives, dans lesquelles vous avez eu la gentillesse d'exprimer un intérêt, nous avait fait aimer les uns les autres alors que les vraies afflictions s'approfondissent les amitiés dans la vraie vie ; J'ai l'impression qu'ils avaient été de vraies personnes, dont nous avions poursuivi la fortune ensemble dans un lien inséparable, et que je ne les avais jamais connues en dehors de vous. C'est une chose difficile pour un homme de parler de lui-même ou de ses œuvres. Mais peut-être qu'à cette occasion puis-je, sans inconvenance, oser dire un mot sur l'esprit dans lequel les miens ont été conçus. J'ai ressenti un désir sincère et humble, et je ferai jusqu'à ma mort, d'augmenter le stock de gaieté sans danger. Je sentais que le monde n'était pas tout à fait à mépriser ; qu'il était digne d'y vivre pour bien des raisons. J'étais anxieux de trouver, comme l'a dit le professeur, si je le pouvais, dans les choses mauvaises, cette âme de bonté que le Créateur a mise en elles. J'étais soucieux de montrer que la vertu peut se trouver dans les chemins de traverse du monde, qu'elle n'est pas incompatible avec la pauvreté et même avec les haillons, et de garder fermement à travers la vie la devise, exprimée dans les mots brûlants de votre poète du Nord " Le rang est mais le timbre de Guinée, l'homme est le gowd pour ça." Et en suivant cette piste, où pourrais-je avoir une meilleure assurance que j'avais raison, ou où pourrais-je avoir une assurance plus forte pour m'encourager que dans votre gentillesse sur ce tome mémorable nuit?Je suis anxieux et heureux d'avoir une opportunité o. dire un mot à propos d'un incident auquel je suis heureux de savoir que vous vous êtes intéressé, et encore plus heureux de savoir, quoique cela puisse sembler paradoxal, que vous ayez été déçue, je veux dire la mort de la petite héroïne. Quand j'ai conçu pour la première fois l'idée de conduire cette simple histoire jusqu'à son terme, j'ai décidé d'y adhérer rigoureusement, et de ne jamais abandonner le but que j'avais en vue. N'ayant pas fait ses preuves dans l'école de l'affliction, dans la mort de ceux que nous aimons, j'ai pensé quelle bonne chose ce serait si dans mon petit travail d'amusement agréable je pouvais substituer une guirlande de fleurs fraîches aux horreurs sculptées qui déshonorent la tombe. Si j'ai mis dans mon livre quelque chose qui puisse remplir le jeune esprit de meilleures pensées de la mort, ou adoucir le chagrin des cœurs plus âgés ; si j'ai écrit un mot qui puisse procurer du plaisir ou de la consolation à un vieillard ou à un jeune en période d'épreuve, je le considérerai comme quelque chose d'accompli, quelque chose sur lequel je serai heureux de revenir plus tard. C'est pourquoi j'ai gardé mon but, bien que vers la conclusion de l'histoire, je reçoive quotidiennement des lettres de remontrance, surtout des dames. Dieu les bénisse pour leurs tendres miséricordes ! Le professeur avait tout à fait raison lorsqu'il a dit que je n'étais pas parvenu à une délimitation adéquate de leurs vertus ; et je crains de devoir continuer à effacer leurs caractères en m'efforçant d'atteindre l'idéal dans mon esprit. Ces lettres étaient cependant combinées avec d'autres du sexe plus sévère, et certaines d'entre elles n'étaient pas tout à fait exemptes d'invectives personnelles. Mais, malgré tout, je me suis tenu à mon objectif, et je suis heureux de savoir que beaucoup de ceux qui m'ont d'abord condamné sont maintenant avant tout dans leur approbation.Si j'ai commis une erreur en vous retenant avec ce petit incident, je ne regrette pas d'avoir fait donc; car votre bonté m'a donné une telle confiance en vous, que la faute est à vous et non à moi. Je reviens encore une fois pour vous remercier, et me voilà de nouveau en difficulté. La distinction que vous m'avez conférée est celle que je n'espérais jamais..LE PETIT Nell 514-252 les discours de CHARLES Dickens. 25 juin.et dont je n'ai jamais osé rêver. Que c'est un que je n'oublierai jamais, et que pendant que je vivrai je serai fier de son souvenir, vous devez bien le savoir. Je crois que je n'entendrai jamais le nom de cette capitale de l'Ecosse sans un frisson de gratitude et de plaisir. J'aimerai pendant que j'aurai la vie son peuple, ses collines et ses maisons, et jusqu'aux pierres de ses rues. Et si dans les œuvres futures qui peuvent m'être présentées, vous deviez discerner—Dieu vous le permette !—un esprit plus brillant et un esprit plus clair, je vous prie de le renvoyer à cette nuit, et de le signaler comme un passage écossais pour toujours. Je vous remercie encore et encore, avec l'énergie de mille remerciements dans chacun, et je vous bois avec un cœur aussi plein que mon verre, et bien plus facile vidé, je vous assure.Plus tard dans la soirée, en proposant la santé de ProfessorWilson , M. Dickens a déclaré:J'ai l'honneur de me voir confier un toast, dont la mention se recommandera à vous, je sais, asone ne possédant aucune prétention ordinaire à votre sympathie et à votre approbation, et dont la proposition est aussi agréable que les souhaits de tomy et les sentiments que son acceptation doit être pour vous. C'est la santé de notre président, et couplé avec son nom, je dois proposer la littérature de l'Écosse, une littérature qu'il a beaucoup fait pour rendre célèbre à travers le monde, et dont il a été pour de nombreuses années--comme je l'espère et je crois qu'il le sera pour beaucoup plus-un ornement le plus brillant et le plus distingué. Qui peut revenir à la littérature du pays de Scott et de Burns sans avoir directement dans son esprit, comme inséparable du sujet et avant tout dans l'image, ce vieil homme de puissance, avec son cœur de lion et sa béquille sceptrée- Christopher North. Je suis heureux de revenir en 1841. DAVID WILKIE, rappelez-vous l'époque où je croyais qu'il était un vrai, réel, véritable vieux gentleman, que l'on pourrait voir n'importe quel jour boitillant le long de High Street avec l'œil le plus brillant, mais ce n'est pas une fiction - et le les cheveux les plus gris du monde - qui écrivait non parce qu'il se souciait d'écrire, non parce qu'il se préoccupait de l'émerveillement et de l'admiration de ses semblables, mais qui écrivait parce qu'il ne pouvait pas s'en empêcher, parce qu'il y avait toujours dans son esprit une idée claire et un flux de poésie étincelant qui doit avoir vent, et comme la fontaine scintillante dans le conte de fées, dessinez ce que vous pourriez, était toujours plein, et ne languit même pas d'une seule goutte d'orbulle. Je l'avais ainsi figuré dans mon esprit, et quand j'ai vu le professeur il y a deux jours, marchant le long du Parlement, j'étais disposé à le prendre comme une offense personnelle - j'étais vexé de le voir avoir l'air si chaleureux. Je suis tombé à vingt Christophe en un. J'ai commencé à penser que la vie écossaise n'était que lumière et pas d'ombres, et j'ai commencé à douter de ce beau livre auquel je me suis tourné encore et encore, toujours pour trouver de nouvelles beautés et de nouvelles sources d'intérêt.53En proposant la mémoire de feu Sir David Wilkie ,M. Dickens a dit:MOINS chanceux que les deux messieurs qui m'ont précédé, il m'est confié de mentionner un nom qui ne peut pas être prononcé sans chagrin, un nom dans lequel Scotlandhad un grand triomphe, et que l'Angleterre a ravi d'honorer.L'un des doués du la terre est passée, pour ainsi dire, hier; l'un qui était dévoué à son art, et son art wasature-je veux dire David Wilkie.* il était celui qui a fait thecottage foyer une chose gracieuse-dont il pourrait vraiment être

• Sir David Wilkie est mort en mer, à bord de l'Oriental, au large de Gibraltar, le

le 1er juin 1841, alors qu'il retournait en Angleterre. Au cours de la soirée du même jour, son corps fut engagé dans les profondeurs.-ED.54 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 25 juin 1841. dit qu'il a trouvé « des livres dans les ruisseaux courants », et qu'il a laissé dans tout ce qu'il a fait un peu de respiration de l'air qui agite la bruyère. Mais si désireux de développer son génie en tant qu'artiste, je parlerais plutôt de lui maintenant comme d'un ami qui est parti parmi nous. Il y a son atelier désert, le chevalet vide posé à côté du tableau inachevé, le visage tourné vers le mur, et il y a cette sœur endeuillée qui l'aimait d'une affection que la mort ne peut éteindre. Il a laissé un nom dans la renommée clair comme le ciel lumineux; il a rempli nos esprits de souvenirs purs comme les flots bleus qui roulent sur lui. Espérons que shewho ​​plus que tous les autres pleure sa perte, puisse apprendre, toreflect qu'il est mort dans la plénitude de sa renommée, avant que l'âge ou la maladie ait atténué ses pouvoirs - et qu'elle puisse encore s'associer à des sentiments aussi calmes et agréables que nous le faisons nowthe mémoire de Wilkie.HOSBBJ0Il.JANVIER 1842 .[En présentant le capitaine Hewett, du Britannia, avec un service de plateau nom des passagers, M. Dickens s'est adressé à lui comme suit :]APTAIN HEWETT, -je suis très fier et heureux d'avoir été choisi comme instrument pour vous transmettre les sincères remerciements de mon compagnon de voyage à bord du navire confié à votre charge, et pour vous demander d'accepter ce petit cadeau. Les ingénieux artistes qui travaillent l'argent ne tiennent pas toujours, je trouve, leurs promesses, même à Boston. Je regrette qu'au lieu de deux gobelets, qu'il devrait y avoir ici, il n'y ait, à l'heure actuelle, que le manque, cependant, sera bientôt comblé ; et, quand ce sera le cas, notre petit témoignage sera, jusqu'à présent, complet.un.Vous êtes un marin, capitaine Hewett, dans le vrai sens du mot; et l'admiration dévouée des dames, Dieu les bénisse, est la première vantardise d'un marin. Je n'ai pas besoin de m'étendre sur l'honneur qu'ils vous ont fait, j'en suis sûr, par leur présence ici. A en juger par moi-même, je suis certain que le souvenir de leurs beaux visages réjouira encore longtemps votre veillée solitaire sur l'océan.

• Le Britannia était le navire qui a transporté M. Dickens à travers le

Atlantic, lors de sa première visite en Amérique-- ED.56 CHARLES DICKENS'S Janvier 1842 DISCOURS, Dans tous les temps à venir, et dans tous vos voyages sur la mer, j'espère que vous aurez une pensée pour ceux qui souhaitent vivre dans votre mémoire à l'aide de ces bagatelles. Comme ils vous connecteront souvent avec le plaisir de ces maisons et de ces foyers d'où ils ont jadis erré, et qu'ils n'auraient peut-être jamais retrouvés, sans vous, ils espèrent que vous les associerez parfois à vos heures de plaisir festif ; et, que, lorsque vous buvez de ces tasses, vous sentirez que le projet est recommandé à vos lèvres par des amis dont vous avez les meilleurs voeux ; et qui espère sincèrement et sincèrement votre succès, votre bonheur et votre prospérité, dans toutes les entreprises de votre vie.I$3III.1er FÉVRIER 1842.[Lors d'un dîner donné à M. Dickens par les jeunes hommes de Boston. La société se composait d'environ deux cents, parmi lesquels George Bancroft, Washington Allston et Oliver Wendell Holmes. Le toast de "Santé, bonheur et accueil chaleureux à Charles Dickens", ayant été proposé par le président, M. Quincy, et reçu avec de grands applaudissements, M. Dickens a répondu par l'adresse suivante :]ENTLEMEN, -Si vous aviez donné ce splendide divertissement à n'importe qui d'autre dans le monde entier—si j'étais ce soir pour exulter dans le triomphe de mon ami le plus cher—si je me tenais ici sur ma défense, pour repousser toute attaque injuste—pour faire appel comme un étranger à votre générosité et à votre gentillesse comme le peuple le plus libre de la terre - je pourrais, en m'imposant une certaine retenue, me tenir parmi vous aussi maître de moi et indifférent que je devrais l'être seul dans ma propre chambre en Angleterre. Mais quand j'ai les échos de votre salut cordial résonner à mes oreilles; quand je vois vos aimables visages rayonner d'un accueil si chaleureux et si sérieux que jamais homme ne l'a fait, je sens que c'est ma nature, si vaincue et subjuguée, que j'ai à peine assez de courage pour vous remercier. Si votre président, au lieu de répandre ce délicieux mélange de hu53 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Fév. I,mour et pathos que vous venez d'entendre avec tant de plaisir n'avaient été qu'un homme caustique et de mauvaise humeur, s'il avait été un terne, si j'avais seulement pu douter ou me méfier de lui ou de vous, j'aurais dû avoir mon l'esprit au bout de mes doigts, et, en les utilisant, aurait pu te tenir à bout de bras. Mais vous ne m'avez pas donné une telle opportunité ; vous profitez de moi au point le plus tendre ; vous ne me donnez aucune chance de jouer en compagnie ou de vous tenir à distance, mais affluez autour de moi comme une foule de frères, et faites de cet endroit un foyer. En effet, messieurs, en effet, s'il est naturel et permis à chacun de nous, sur son propre foyer, d'exprimer ses pensées de la manière la plus simple et d'apparaître dans son costume le plus simple, j'ai une juste prétention sur vous de me laisser le faire pour -nuit, car tu as fait de ma maison un palais d'Aladin. Vous pliez si tendrement dans vos seins cette lampe domestique commune dans laquelle mon faible feu est tout enchâssé, et à laquelle ma torche vacillante est allumée, que mes dieux domestiques prennent immédiatement leur envol et y sont transportés. Et alors qu'il est écrit de cette structure féerique qu'elle n'a jamais bougé sans deux chocs, l'un lorsqu'elle s'est levée et l'autre lorsqu'elle s'est installée, je peux dire de la mienne que, quelle que soit la netteté d'un remorqueur qu'il a fallu pour l'arracher de son sol natal, il a frappé à autrefois une racine facile, profonde et durable dans ce sol ; et l'aimait comme si c'était le sien. Je peux en dire plus, et dire avec vérité, que bien avant qu'il ne bouge, ou ait eu une chance de bouger, son maître, peut-être une sympathie secrète entre ses bois, et un arbre majestueux qui a son être ici, et étend ses larges branches loin et large-rêvé jour et nuit, pendant des années, de mettre le pied sur ce rivage, et de respirer l'air pur. Et croyez-moi, messieurs, si j'avais erré ici, sans le savoir et sans le savoir, je serais venu - si je connaissais mon propre cœur - avec toutes mes sympathies regroupées aussi richement pour cette terre et ce peuple - avec tout mon sens de la justice comme en 1842. VERTU ET PAUVRETÉ. Je suis vivement consciente de leurs hautes revendications sur tout homme qui aime l'image de Dieu - avec toutes mes énergies aussi entièrement consacrées à juger par moi-même, à parler et à dire dans ma sphère la vérité, comme je le fais maintenant, lorsque vous faites pleuvoir vos bienvenues sur ma tête. Votre Président a fait allusion à ces écrits qui m'occupent depuis quelques années ; et vous avez reçu ses allusions d'une manière qui m'assure—si besoin d'une telle assurance-que nous sommes de vieux amis dans l'esprit, et que nous sommes en étroite communion depuis longtemps.Il n'est pas facile pour un homme de parler de son propre livres. J'ose dire que peu de personnes se sont plus intéressées à la mienne que moi, et si c'est un principe général dans la nature que l'amour d'un amant est aveugle, et que l'amour d'une mère est aveugle, je crois qu'on peut en dire autant de l'attachement d'un auteur aux créatures de son Propre imagination, qu'elle est un modèle parfait de constance et de dévotion, et qu'elle est la plus aveugle de toutes. Mais les objets et les buts que j'ai eus en vue sont très clairs et simples, et peuvent être facilement racontés. J'ai toujours eu, et j'aurai toujours, un désir sincère et sincère de contribuer, autant qu'il m'appartient, au fonds commun de gaieté et de plaisir sains. J'ai toujours eu et j'aurai toujours une répugnance invincible pour cette philosophie aux yeux de taupe qui aime les ténèbres, et cligne des yeux et se renfrogne à la lumière. Je crois que la vertu se montre tout aussi bien dans les chiffons et les patchs, qu'elle le fait dans le lin violet et fin. Je crois qu'elle et chaque bel objet de la nature extérieure revendiquent une certaine sympathie dans la poitrine de l'homme le plus pauvre qui rompt sa maigre miche de pain quotidien. Je crois qu'elle va pieds nus aussi bien que chaussé. Je crois qu'elle demeure plus souvent dans les ruelles et les chemins qu'elle ne le fait dans les cours et les palais, et qu'il est bon, agréable et profitable de la suivre et de la suivre. Je crois que mettre la main sur certains discours de CHARLES Dickens. 1er février, de ces rejetés que le monde a trop longtemps oubliés, et trop souvent abusés, et pour dire aux plus fiers et aux plus irréfléchis : « Ces créatures ont les mêmes éléments et capacités de bonté que vous, elles sont moulées dans la même forme , et faits de la même argile ; et quoique dix fois pires que vous, peuvent, en ayant conservé quoi que ce soit de leur nature originelle au milieu des épreuves et des détresses de leur condition, être en réalité dix fois meilleurs ; » Je crois que faire cela, c'est poursuivre une vocation digne et non inutile. Messieurs, que vous le pensez aussi, votre fervent salut me l'assure suffisamment. Que ce sentiment soit vivant dans l'Ancien Monde aussi bien que dans le Nouveau, aucun homme ne devrait le savoir mieux que moi, qui ai trouvé une sympathie si large et si prompte dans mon cher pays. Qu'en l'exprimant, nous ne marchons que sur les traces de ces grands maîtres-esprits qui nous ont précédés, nous le savons par référence à tous les exemples brillants de notre littérature, de Shakespeare vers le bas. Il y a un autre point lié aux travaux (si je peux appeler eux ainsi) que vous tenez dans une estime si généreuse, à laquelle je ne peux m'empêcher de faire allusion. Je ne peux m'empêcher d'exprimer la joie, plus que le bonheur que j'ai eu de trouver un si fort intérêt éveillé de ce côté-ci de l'eau, en faveur de cette petite héroïne à laquelle votre président a fait allusion, qui est morte dans sa jeunesse. J'ai eu des lettres sur cet enfant, en Angleterre, des habitants des maisons en rondins parmi les marécages, les marécages, les forêts les plus denses et les solitudes les plus profondes du Far West. De nombreuses mains robustes, dures avec la hache et la bêche, et brunies par le soleil de l'été, ont pris le stylo, et m'ont écrit une petite histoire de joie ou de tristesse domestique, toujours couplée, je suis fier de dire, avec quelque chose d'intéressant dans ce petit conte, ou somecomfort ou bonheur qui en découlent, et mon correspondant s'est toujours adressé à moi, non pas comme un écrivain de livres à vendre, 1842.61résident à environ quatre ou cinq mille kilomètres, mais comme un ami à qui il pourrait librement transmettre les joies et les peines de son propre foyer. Beaucoup de mères - je pourrais les compter maintenant par dizaines, pas par unités - ont fait la même chose, et m'ont raconté comment elle a perdu un tel enfant à un tel moment, et où elle était enterrée, et à quel point elle était bonne, et comment, dans ce orthat respect, elle ressemblait à Nell. Je vous assure qu'aucune circonstance de ma vie ne m'a donné la centième partie de la gratification que j'ai tirée de cette source.J'étais en train d'hésiter à l'époque de remonter ou non mon horloge, *et de venir voir ce pays, et cela m'a décidé . Je me sentais comme si c'était un devoir positif, comme si j'étais obligé de faire mes valises et de venir voir mes amis ; et même maintenant j'ai une sensation si étrange à propos de ces choses, que vous n'avez aucune chance de me gâter. J'ai l'impression que nous étions d'accord, comme nous le sommes d'ailleurs, si nous substituons aux personnages fictifs les classes dont ils sont tirés à propos de tiers, en qui nous avions un intérêt commun. A chaque nouvelle bonté de votre part, je me dis « C'est pour Oliver ; je ne devrais pas me demander si cela était destiné à Smike ; je n'ai aucun doute que cela est destiné à Nell ; et ainsi je deviens un homme beaucoup plus heureux, certes, mais plus sobre et plus retiré que jamais auparavant. Messieurs, parlant de mes amis en Amérique, me ramène, naturellement et bien sûr, à vous. Revenant à vous, et étant rappelé par là le plaisir que nous avons à entendre les messieurs qui sont assis autour de moi, j'arrive par le chemin le plus facile, quoique pas le plus court du monde, à la fin de ce que j'ai à dire. Mais avant de m'asseoir, il y a un sujet sur lequel je souhaite mettre un accent particulier. Il a, ou devrait avoir, un fort intérêt pour nous tous, depuis toLITTLE NELL.

• Master Humphrey's Clock, sous quel titre les deux romans de Barnaby

Rudge et The Old Curiosity Shop sont apparus à l'origine. -ED.62 DISCOURS DE CHARLES Dickens, 1er février 1842.sa littérature, chaque pays doit rechercher un grand moyen de raffinage et d'amélioration de son peuple, et une grande source de fierté et d'honneur nationaux. Vous avez en Amérique de grands écrivains - de grands écrivains - qui vivront dans tous les temps et qui sont aussi familiers à nos lèvres que des mots familiers. Tirant (comme ils le font tous à un degré plus ou moins grand, dans leurs diverses promenades) leur inspiration du pays prodigieux qui leur a donné naissance, ils en diffusent une meilleure connaissance, et un plus grand amour pour lui, dans tout le monde civilisé. Je prends congé pour dire, en présence de certains de ces messieurs, que j'espère que le temps n'est pas loin où ils, en Amérique, recevront ofright un profit substantiel et reviendront en Angleterre de leurs travaux ; et quand nous, en Angleterre, recevrons un profit substantiel et retournerons en Amérique pour le nôtre. Je vous prie de ne pas vous méprendre. M'assurant au jour le jour les moyens d'une subsistance honorable, j'aime mieux avoir les égards affectueux de mes semblables, que d'avoir des tas et des mines d'or. Mais les deux choses ne me semblent pas incompatibles. Ils ne peuvent pas l'être, car rien de bon n'est incompatible avec la justice. Il doit y avoir un arrangement international à cet égard : l'Angleterre a fait sa part, et je suis convaincu que le moment n'est pas éloigné où l'Amérique fera la sienne. Cela devient le caractère d'un grand pays ; premièrement, parce que c'est la justice ; deuxièmement, parce que sans elle vous ne pouvez jamais avoir et garder une littérature à vous. Messieurs, je vous remercie par des sentiments de reconnaissance, tels qu'ils ne s'éveillent pas souvent et ne peuvent jamais s'exprimer. Comme je comprends que c'est l'agréable coutume ici de finir avec un toast, je vous prie de vous donner : L'AMÉRIQUE ET L'ANGLETERRE, et puissent-ils n'avoir jamais d'autre division que l'Atlantique entre eux.1OpasseIV.7 FÉVRIER 1842.[ ENTLEMEN, -Pour dire que je vous remercie pour la manière la plus sincère avec laquelle vous avez bu le toast qui vous a été proposé avec tant d'éloquence - pour dire que je vous rends vos bons souhaits et vos bons sentiments avec plus que des intérêts composés ; et que je sente à quel point les meilleures reconnaissances seraient stupides et impuissantes auprès d'une hospitalité aussi chaleureuse que la vôtre, ce n'est rien. Dire qu'en cette saison d'hiver, des fleurs ont poussé à chaque pas du chemin qui m'a amené ici ; qu'aucun pays n'a souri plus agréablement que le vôtre ne m'a souri, et que j'ai rarement regardé une perspective estivale plus brillante que celle qui se trouve devant moi maintenant, * n'est rien.Mais c'est quelque chose de ne pas être étranger dans un endroit étrange à ressentir, s'asseoir à un conseil pour la première fois, l'aisance et l'affection d'un vieil invité, et d'être à la fois sur des termes si intimes avec la famille qu'il y a un intérêt simple et authentique pour chacun de ses membres - c'est, dis-je, quelque chose à être dans ce

• "Je garderai toujours un souvenir très agréable et reconnaissant de

Hartford. C'est un bel endroit, et j'y avais beaucoup d'amis, dont je ne me souviens jamais avec indifférence. Nous l'avons laissé sans regret. "—Ameri•can Notes (Lond . 1842) . Vol. 1 , p. 162.}64 discours de CHARLES dickens.février 7.roman et heureux cadre d'esprit. Et, comme il est de votre création, et doit son existence à vous, je n'ai aucune réticence à l'insister comme raison pour laquelle, en m'adressant à vous, je ne devrais pas autant consulter la forme et la manière de mon discours, que j'emploierais ce langage universel du cœur, que vous, et comme vous, enseignez le mieux, aud mieux peut comprendre. Messieurs, dans cette langue universelle commune à vous en Amérique, et à nous en Angleterre, comme cette langue maternelle plus jeune, qui, par le biais de, et à travers l'heureuse union de nos deux grands pays, sera des âges parlés d'où, par terre et par mer, sur la grande surface du globe--je vous remercie. auteur de parler de ses propres livres.Si la tâche peut être difficile à un moment donné, sa difficulté, certes, n'est pas diminuée lorsqu'un retour fréquent au même thème ne vous a rien laissé de nouveau à dire. Pourtant, je sens que, dans une entreprise comme celle-ci, et surtout après ce qui a été dit par le président, que je ne dois pas passer à la légère sur ces travaux d'amour, qui, s'ils n'avaient pas d'autre mérite, ont été les moyens heureux de nous amener ensemble. Il a été souvent observé que vous ne pouvez pas juger du caractère personnel d'un auteur à partir de ses écrits. C'est peut-être que vous ne pouvez pas. Je pense qu'il est très probable, pour de nombreuses raisons, que vous ne le puissiez pas. Mais, au moins, un lecteur se lèvera de la lecture d'un livre avec une idée définie et tangible de la croyance morale et des objectifs généraux de l'écrivain, s'il en a du tout ; et il est assez probable qu'il aimera que cette idée soit confirmée. de la bouche de l'auteur, ou dissipée par son explication. Messieurs, mon credo moral, qui est très large et complet, et qui comprend toutes les sectes et tous les partis, se résume très facilement. J'ai la foi, et je veux répandre la foi en l'existence, oui, des belles choses, même en 1842. Dans ces conditions de la société, qui sont si dégénérées, dégradées et désespérées, qu'à première vue, il semblerait qu'elles ne puissent être décrites que par un renversement étrange et terrible des paroles de l'Écriture ", dit Dieu, Que la lumière soit, et il n'y en avait pas." Je suppose que nous sommes nés et que nous détenons nos sympathies, nos espoirs et nos énergies, en confiance pour le plus grand nombre, et non pour quelques-uns. Que nous ne pouvons pas tenir sous une lumière trop forte de dégoût et de mépris, devant la vue des autres, toute méchanceté, mensonge, cruauté et oppression, de toutes sortes et de toutes sortes. Surtout que rien n'est haut, parce qu'il est en haut lieu ; et que rien n'est bas, parce qu'il est dans un bas. C'est la leçon qui nous est enseignée dans le grand livre de la nature. C'est la leçon qui peut être lue, aussi bien dans la trace brillante des étoiles, que dans la course poussiéreuse de la chose la plus pauvre qui traîne sa petite longueur sur le sol. C'est la leçon la plus élevée dans les pensées de cet homme inspiré, qui nous dit qu'il y a des langues dans les arbres, des livres dans les ruisseaux qui coulent, des sermons dans les pierres et du bien en tout. « 6665Messieurs, gardant constamment ces objets devant moi, je n'ai pas de mal à renvoyer votre faveur et votre généreuse hospitalité à la bonne source. Tandis que je sais, d'une part, que si, au lieu d'être ce qu'elle est, c'était une terre de tyrannie et de tort, je me soucierais très peu de vos sourires ou froncements de sourcils, donc je suis sûr de l'autre, que si, au lieu d'être ce que je suis, j'étais le plus grand génie qui ait jamais foulé la terre, et m'étais détourné pour l'oppression et dégradation de l'humanité, vous me mépriseriez et me rejetteriez. J'espère que vous le ferez, chaque fois que, par de tels moyens, je vous en donnerai l'occasion. Je n'ai aucun secret pour vous, dans l'esprit de la confiance que vous avez engendrée entre nous, et comme j'ai fait une sorte de pacte avec moi-même que je ne manquerai jamais, tant que je resterai en Amérique, d'omettre une occasion de se référant à l'atopique dans lequel moi et tous les autres de ma classe des deux côtés de l'eau sommes également intéressés - également intéressés, il n'y a pas de différence entre nous, je demanderais la permission de chuchoter à votre oreille deux mots : International Copyright. Je ne les utilise pas dans un sens sordide, croyez-moi, et ceux qui me connaissent le mieux le savent le mieux. Pour moi-même, je préférerais que mes enfants, venant après moi, se traînaient dans la boue, et savaient par le sentiment général de la société que leur père était aimé, et avait été d'une certaine utilité, que je les ferais monter dans des chariots, et savoir par leurs livres de banque qu'il était riche. Mais je ne vois pas, je l'avoue, pourquoi on devrait être obligé de faire le choix, ou pourquoi la renommée, en plus de jouer ce ravissant reveil pour lequel elle est si justement célébrée, ne devrait pas souffler de sa trompette quelques notes d'un genre différent de celles avec qu'elle s'est contentée jusqu'à présent.Il a été bien observé l'autre soir par un orateur magnifique, dont les paroles sont allées au cœur de chaque homme qui l'a entendu, que, s'il y avait eu une loi à cet égard, Scott n'aurait pas sombré sous le puissant pression sur son cerveau, mais pourrait avoir vécu pour ajouter de nouvelles créatures de sa fantaisie à la foule qui essaiment autour de vous dans vos promenades d'été, et se rassemblent autour de vos foyers du soir d'hiver. Alors que j'écoutais ses paroles, il est revenu, frais uponme, cette scène touchante dans la vie du grand homme, lorsqu'il s'allongeait sur son canapé, entouré de sa famille, et écoutait, pour la dernière fois, le clapotis de la rivière qu'il avait tant aimée, sur son lit pierreux. Je me l'imaginai, évanoui, blafard, mourant, écrasé d'esprit et de corps par son combat honorable, et planant autour de lui les fantômes de sa propre imagination - Waverley, Ravenswood, Jeanie Deans, 1843.67 Rob Koy, Caleb Balderstone, Dominie Sampson - toute la foule familière avec des cavaliers, des puritains et des chefs des Highlands innombrables débordant de la chambre et s'évanouissant dans la faible distance au-delà. Je les ai imaginés, fraîchement sortis de la traversée du monde, et penchant la tête dans la honte et le chagrin, que, de toutes ces terres dans lesquelles ils avaient transporté la joie, l'instruction et le plaisir pour des millions, ils ne lui ont pas apporté une main amicale pour aider à l'élever de ce lit triste, triste. Non, ni ne l'a amené de thatland dans lequel sa propre langue était parlée, et dans chaque maison et hutte dont ses propres livres étaient lus dans sa propre langue, un dollar reconnaissant pour acheter une guirlande pour l'hisgrave. Oh! si chaque homme qui part d'ici, comme beaucoup le font, pour regarder cette tombe de l'abbaye de Dryburgh, se souviendrait de cela et ramènerait le souvenir à la maison !SIR WALTER SCOTT.Messieurs, je vous remercie encore, et encore une fois, et plusieurs fois à ce. Vous m'avez donné une nouvelle raison de me souvenir de ce jour, qui est déjà un jour marquant dans mon calendrier, celui de mon anniversaire ; et vous avez donné à ceux qui m'étaient les plus proches et les plus chers une nouvelle raison de s'en souvenir avec fierté et intérêt. Dieu sait que, bien que je devienne si grisonnant, je n'aurai besoin de rien pour me rappeler cette époque de ma vie. Mais je suis heureux de penser qu'à partir de ce moment vous êtes inséparablement lié à chaque récurrence de ce jour ; et, qu'à son retour périodique, je vais toujours, dans l'imagination, avoir le plaisir indéfectible de vous divertir comme mes invités, en échange de la gratification que vous m'avez offerte ce soir.$350V.NEW YORK, LE 18 FÉVRIER 1842 .à un dîner présidé par Washington Irving, auquel près de huit cents des citoyens les plus distingués de New York étaient présents, " Charles Dickens, l'invité littéraire de la nation, " ayant été présenté comme un sentiment " par le président, M. Dickens se leva, et parla comme suit:]ENTLEMEN, -Je ne sais pas comment vous remercier-Je ne sais vraiment pas comment.Vous supposeriez naturellement que mon expérience antérieure m'aurait donné ce pouvoir, et que les difficultés sur mon chemin auraient été diminuées ; mais je vous assure que le fait est exactement l'inverse, et j'ai complètement renoncé à l'ancien proverbe selon lequel " une pierre qui roule ne ramasse pas de mousse ; " et dans ma progression vers cette ville, j'ai accumulé un tel poids d'obligations et de reconnaissance - j'ai ramassé un tel anénormisme masse de mousse fraîche à chaque point, et j'ai été frappé par les scènes brillantes de lundi soir, que je pensais ne jamais pouvoir grossir. J'ai fait, continuellement, de nouvelles accumulations à tel point que je suis obligé de rester immobile et que je ne peux plus rouler ! Messieurs, nous apprenons des autorités que, lorsque des pierres de fée, ou des boules, ou des rouleaux de fil, se sont arrêtés de leur février. 18, 1842.69de mon propre gré, contrairement à moi, cela présageait une grande catastrophe proche. Le précédent est valable dans ce cas. Quand je me suis souvenu du peu de temps que j'ai devant moi à passer dans cette terre de grands intérêts, et de la faible opportunité que je peux au mieux avoir d'acquérir une connaissance et de me familiariser avec elle, j'ai senti qu'il était presque un devoir de refuser le t'honore si généreusement s'abat sur moi, et passe plus tranquillement parmi vous. Car Argus lui-même, bien qu'il n'ait eu qu'une bouche pour ses cent yeux, aurait trouvé la réception d'un divertissement public une fois par semaine trop pour sa plus grande activité ; et, comme je ne perdrais aucune miette de la riche instruction et des délicieuses connaissances qui me rencontrent de toutes parts (et j'ai déjà beaucoup glané dans vos hôpitaux et prisons communes), j'ai résolu de prendre mon bâton et de continuer mon chemin en me réjouissant, et pour l'avenir de serrer la main de l'Amérique, non pas lors de fêtes mais à la maison ; et, par conséquent, messieurs, je dis ce soir, avec un cœur plein, et un objectif honnête, et des sentiments reconnaissants, que je porte, et porterai toujours, un sens profond de votre genre, votre affectueux et votre noble salutation, qui est tout à fait impossible à exprimer avec des mots. Aucun ciel européen sans ciel, et aucune maison joyeuse ou pièce bien chauffée à l'intérieur n'exclura jamais cette terre de ma vision. J'entendrai souvent vos mots de bienvenue dans ma chambre calme, et souvent quand je suis le plus calme ; et verront vos visages dans le feu ardent. Si je devais vivre pour vieillir, les scènes de cette soirée et d'autres brilleront aussi brillamment à mes yeux ternes dans cinquante ans que maintenant ; et les honneurs que vous accordez à meshall seront bien rappelés et remboursés dans mon amour éternel, et mes efforts honnêtes pour le bien de ma race. Messieurs, un autre mot en référence à cette première personne du singulier, puis je terminerai. Je suis venu ici dans un esprit ouvert, honnête et confiant, si jamais un homme l'a fait. et be-COPYRIGHT.CHARLES DICKENS'S speechs. 18 février, parce que j'ai ressenti une profonde sympathie dans votre pays ; si j'avais ressenti le contraire, j'aurais dû rester à l'écart. Comme je suis venu ici, et ici, sans le moindre mélange d'un centième partie d'un grain d'alliage de base, sans un sentiment d'indigne référence à moi-même à aucun égard, je revendique, en ce qui concerne le passé, pour la dernière fois, mon droit en raison, en vérité et en justice, d'aborder, comme je l'ai fait à deux reprises, une question d'intérêt littéraire. Je réclame que justice soit faite ; et je préfère cette réclamation comme quelqu'un qui a le droit de parler et d'être entendu. Je n'ai qu'à ajouter que je te serai aussi fidèle que tu l'as été pour moi. Je reconnais dans votre approbation enthousiaste des créatures de ma fantaisie, votre souci éclairé du bonheur du plus grand nombre, votre tendre considération pour les affligés, votre sympathie pour les abattus, vos plans pour corriger et améliorer le mal, et pour encourager le bien ; et faire avancer ces grands objets sera, jusqu'à la fin de ma vie, mon effort sérieux, dans la mesure de mes humbles capacités. Ayant dit tant de choses à propos de moi-même, j'aurai le plaisir de dire quelques mots en référence à quelqu'un d'autre.70 m'a écrit en Angleterre une lettre si généreuse, si affectueuse et si virile, que si j'avais écrit le livre sous toutes les circonstances de déception, de découragement et de difficulté, au lieu de l'inverse, j'aurais trouvé dans la réception de cette lettre mon meilleure et plus heureuse récompense. Je lui ai répondu, * et il m'a répondu, et ainsi nous

• Voir la vie et les lettres de Washington Irving (Lond. 1863), p. 644,

where Irving speaks of a letter he has received " from that glorious fellowDickens, in reply to the one I wrote, expressing my heartfelt delight with hiwritings, and my yearnings toward himself." -ED.1842. WASHINGTON IRVING.kept shaking hands autographically, as if no ocean rolledbetween us. I came here to this city eager to see him, and[laying his hand upon Irving's shoulder] here he sits! I neednot tell you how happy and delighted I am to see him hereto-night in this capacity.Washington Irving! Why, gentlemen, I don't go up stairs to bed two nights out of the seven-as a very creditable witness near at hand can testify-I say I do not go tobed two nights out of the seven without taking WashingtonIrving under my arm; and, when I don't take him, I takehis own brother, Oliver Goldsmith. Washington Irving!Why, of whom but him was I thinking the other day whenI came up by the Hog's Back, the Frying Pan, Hell Gate,and all these places? Why, when, not long ago, I visitedShakespeare's birthplace, and went beneath the roof wherehe first saw light, whose name but his was pointed out tome uponthe wall? Washington Irving-Diedrich Knickerbocker-Geoffrey Crayon-why, where can you go thatthey have not been there before? Is there an English farm-is there an English stream, an English city, or an Englishcountry- seat, where they have not been? Is there no Bracebridge Hall in existence? Has it no ancient shades orquiet streets?71In bygone times, when Irving left that Hall, he left sitting in an old oak chair, in a small parlour of the Boar'sHead, a little man with a red nose, and an oilskin hat.When I came away he was sitting there still!—not a manlike him, but the same man-with the nose of immortalredness and the hat of an undying glaze! Crayon, whilethere, was on terms of intimacy with a certain radical fellow,who used to go about, with a hatful of newspapers,fully out at elbows, and with a coat of great antiquity. Why,gentlemen, I know that man-Tibbles the elder, and he hasWOCHARLES DICKENS'S speeches. Feb. 18,72not changed a hair; and, when I came away, he chargedme to give his best respects to Washington Irving!Leaving the town and the rustic life of England-forgetting this man, if we can-putting out of mind the countrychurch-yard and the broken heart-let us cross the wateragain, and ask who has associated himself most closely withthe Italian peasantry and the bandits of the Pyrenees?When the traveller enters his little chamber beyond theAlps-listening to the dim echoes of the long passages andspacious corridors-damp, and gloomy, and cold-as hehears the tempest beating with fury against his window, andgazes at the curtains, dark, and heavy, and covered withmould and when all the ghost-stories that ever were toldcome up before him-amid all his thick-coming fancies,whom does he think of? Washington Irving.Go farther still: go to the Moorish fountains, sparklingfull in the moonlight-go among the water-carriers and thevillage gossips, living still as in days of old—and who hastravelled among them before you, and peopled the Alhambraand made eloquent its shadows? Who awakes there avoice from every hill and in every cavern, and bids legends,which for centuries have slept a dreamless sleep, or watchedunwinkingly, start up and pass before you in all their lifeand glory?But leaving this again, who embarked with Columbusupon his gallant ship, traversed with him the dark andmighty ocean, leaped uponthe land and planted there the flagof Spain, but this same man, now sitting by my side? Andbeing here at home again, who is a more fit companion formoney-diggers? and what pen but his has made Rip VanWinkle, playing at nine-pins on that thundering afternoon,as much part and parcel of the Catskill Mountains as anytree or crag that they can boast?1842.WASHINGTON IRVING.73But these are topics familiar from my boyhood, and whichI am apt to pursue; and lest I should be tempted now totalk too long about them, I will, in conclusion, give you asentiment, most appropriate, I am sure, in the presence ofsuch writers as Bryant, Halleck, and—but I suppose I mustnot mention the ladies hereTHE LITERATURE OF AMERICA:She well knows how to do honour to her own literature andto that of other lands, when she chooses Washington Irvingfor her representative in the country of CervantesSVI.MANCHESTER, OCTOBER 5 , 1843.[This address was delivered at a soirée of the members of the Manchester Athenæum, at which Mr. Dickens presided. Among the other speakerson the occasion were Mr. Cobden and Mr. Disraeli.]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN,-I am sure I needscarcely tell you that I am very proud and happy;and that I take it as a great distinction to be askedto come amongst you on an occasion such as this, when, evenwith the brilliant and beautiful spectacle which I see beforeme, I can hail it as the most brilliant and beautiful circumstance of all, that we assemble together here, even here,upon neutral ground, where we have no more knowledge ofparty difficulties, or public animosities between side and side,or between man and man, than if we were a public meetingin the commonwealth of Utopia.Ladies and gentlemen, upon this, and upon a hundredother grounds, this assembly is not less interesting to me,believe me—although, personally, almost a stranger here—than it is interesting to you; and I take it, that it is not ofgreater importance to all of us than it is to every man whoOct. 5, 1843. THE MANCHESTER ATHENÆUM. 75has learned to know that he has an interest in the moral andsocial elevation, the harmless relaxation, the peace, happiness, and improvement, of the community at large. Noteven those who saw the first foundation of your Athenæumlaid , and watched its progress, as I know they did, almost astenderly as if it were the progress of a living creature, untilit reared its beautiful front, an honour to the town-not eventhey, nor even you who, within its walls, have tasted its usefulness, and put it to the proof, have greater reason, I ampersuaded, to exult in its establishment, or to hope that itmay thrive and prosper, than scores of thousands at a distance, who—whether consciously or unconsciously, mattersnot--have, in the principle of its success and bright example,a deep and personal concern.It well becomes, particularly well becomes, this enterprising town, this little world of labour, that she should standout foremost in the foremost rank in such a cause. It wellbecomes her, that, among her numerous and noble publicinstitutions, she should have a splendid temple sacred to theeducation and improvement of a large class of those who,in their various useful stations, assist in the production of ourwealth, and in rendering her name famous through the world.I think it is grand to know, that, while her factories re- echowith the clanking of stupendous engines, and the whirl andrattle of machinery, the immortal mechanism of God's ownhand, the mind, is not forgotten in the din and uproar, butis lodged and tended in a palace of its own. That it is astructure deeply fixed and rooted in the public spirit of thisplace, and built to last, I have no more doubt, judging fromthe spectacle I see before me, and from what I know of itsbrief history, than I have of the reality of these walls thathem us in, and the pillars that spring up about us.You are perfectly well aware, I have no doubt, that the76 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Oct. 5.Athenæum was projected at a time when commerce was ina vigorous and flourishing condition, and when those classesof society to which it particularly addresses itself were fullyemployed, and in the receipt of regular incomes. A seasonof depression almost without a parallel ensued, and largenumbers of young men employed in warehouses and officessuddenly found their occupation gone, and themselves reduced to very straitened and penurious circumstances. Thisaltered state of things led, as I am told, to the compulsorywithdrawal of many of the members, to a proportionate decrease in the expected funds, and to the incurrence of a debtof £3,000. By the very great zeal and energy of all concerned, and by the liberality of those to whom they appliedfor help, that debt is now in rapid course of being discharged.A little more of the same indefatigable exertion on the onehand, and a little more of the same community of feelingupon the other, and there will be no such thing; the figureswill be blotted out for good and all, and, from that time, theAthenæum may be said to belong to you, and to your heirsfor ever.But, ladies and gentlemen, at all times, now in its mostthriving, and in its least flourishing condition- here, with itscheerful rooms, its pleasant and instructive lectures, its improving library of 6,000 volumes, its classes for the study ofthe foreign languages, elocution, music; its opportunities ofdiscussion and debate, of healthful bodily exercise, and,though last not least-for by this I set great store, as a verynovel and excellent provision-its opportunities of blameless,rational enjoyment, here it is, open to every youth and manin this great town, accessible to every bee in this vast hive,who, for all these benefits, and the inestimable ends to whichthey lead, can set aside one sixpence weekly. I do lookupon the reduction ofthe subscription, and upon the fact thatA LITTLE LEARNING. 1843.the number of members has considerably more than doubledwithin the last twelve months, as strides in the path of thevery best civilization, and chapters of rich promise in thehistory of mankind.I do not know whether, at this time of day, and with sucha prospect before us, we need trouble ourselves very muchtorake up the ashes of the dead-and-gone objections that werewont to be urged by men of all parties against institutionssuch as this, whose interests we are met to promote; buttheir philosophy was always to be summed up in the unmeaning application of one short sentence. How often havewe heard from a large class of men wise in their generation,who would really seem to be born and bred for no otherpurpose than to pass into currency counterfeit and mischievous scraps of wisdom, as it is the sole pursuit of someother criminals to utter base coin-howoften have we heardfrom them, as an all-convincing argument, that "a littlelearning is a dangerous thing?" Why, a little hanging wasconsidered a very dangerous thing, according to the same authorities, with this difference, that, because a little hanging wasdangerous, we had a great deal of it; and, because a littlelearning was dangerous, we were to have none at all. Why,when I hear such cruel absurdities gravely reiterated, I dosometimes begin to doubt whether the parrots of society arenot more pernicious to its interests than its birds of prey. Ishould be glad to hear such people's estimate of the comparative danger of " a little learning" and a vast amount ofignorance; I should be glad to know which they considerthe most prolific parent of misery and crime. Descendinga little lower in the social scale, I should be glad to assistthem in their calculations, by carrying them into certain gaolsand nightly refuges I know of, where my own heart dieswithin me, when I see thousands of immortal creatures con"78 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Oct. 5,demned, without alternative or choice, to tread, not whatour great poet calls the " primrose path" to the everlastingbonfire, but one of jagged flints and stones, laid down bybrutal ignorance, and held together, like the solid rocks, byyears ofthis most wicked axiom.Would we know from any honourable body of merchants,upright in deed and thought, whether they would ratherhave ignorant or enlightened persons in their own employment? Why, we have had their answer in this building;we have it in this company; we have it emphatically givenin the munificent generosity of your own merchants ofManchester, of all sects and kinds, when this establishmentwas first proposed. But are the advantages derivable bythe people from institutions such as this, only of a negativecharacter? If a little learning be an innocent thing, has itno distinct, wholesome, and immediate influence upon themind? The old doggerel rhyme, so often written in thebeginning of books, says that"When house and lands are gone and spent,Then learning is most excellent; "but I should be strongly disposed to reform the adage, andsay that"Though house and lands be never got,Learning can give what they cannot."And this I know, that the first unpurchasable blessing earnedby every man who makes an effort to improve himself insuch a place as the Athenæum, is self-respect—an inwarddignity of character, which, once acquired and righteouslymaintained, nothing-no, not the hardest drudgery, nor thedirest poverty-can vanquish. Though he should find ithard for a season even to keep the wolf-hunger—from hisdoor, let him but once have chased the dragon -ignorance1843.BENEFITS OF CULTURE. 79-from his hearth, and self-respect and hope are left him.You could no more deprive him of those sustaining qualities by loss or destruction of his worldly goods, than youcould, by plucking out his eyes, take from him an internalconsciousness of the bright glory of the sun.The man who lives from day to day by the daily exercisein his sphere of hands or head, and seeks to improve himself in such a place as the Athenæum, acquires for himselfthat property of soul which has in all times upheld struggling men of every degree, but self-made men especially andalways. He secures to himself that faithful companionwhich, while it has ever lent the light of its countenance tomen of rank and eminence who have deserved it, has evershed its brightest consolations on men of low estate andalmost hopeless means. It took its patient seat beside SirWalter Raleigh in his dungeon-study in the Tower; it laidits head upon the block with More; but it did not disdainto watch the stars with Ferguson, the shepherd's boy; itwalked the streets in mean attire with Crabbe; it was a poorbarber here in Lancashire with Arkwright; it was a tallowchandler's son with Franklin; it worked at shoemakingwith Bloomfield in his garret; it followed the plough withBurns; and, high above the noise of loom and hammer, itwhispers courage even at this day in ears I could name inSheffield and in Manchester.The more the man who improves his leisure in such aplace learns, the better, gentler, kinder man he must become.When he knows how much great minds have suffered forthe truth in every age and time, and to what dismal persecutions opinion has been exposed, he will become moretolerant of other men's belief in all matters, and will inclinemore leniently to their sentiments when they chance to differfrom his own. Understanding that the relations between80 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Oct. 5.himself and his employers involve a mutual duty and responsibility, he will discharge his part of the implied contract cheerfully, satisfactorily, and honourably; for the history of every useful life warns him to shape his course inthat direction.The benefits he acquires in such a place are not of aselfish kind, but extend themselves to his home, and to thosewhom it contains. Something of what he hears or reads.within such walls can scarcely fail to become at times atopic of discourse by his own fireside, nor can it ever failto lead to larger sympathies with man, and to a higherveneration for the great Creator of all the wonders of thisuniverse. It appeals to his home and his homely feeling inother ways; for at certain times he carries there his wife anddaughter, or his sister, or, possibly, some bright-eyed acquaintance of a more tender description. Judging fromwhat I see before me, I think it is very likely; I am sure Iwould if I could. He takes her there to enjoy a pleasantevening, to be gay and happy. Sometimes it may possiblyhappen that he dates his tenderness from the Athenæum.I think that is a very excellent thing, too, and not the leastamong the advantages of the institution. In any case, I amsure the number of bright eyes and beaming faces whichgrace this meeting to-night by their presence, will never beamong the least of its excellences in my recollection.Ladies and gentlemen, I shall not easily forget this scene,the pleasing task your favour has devolved upon me, or thestrong and inspiring confirmation I have to-night, of all thehopes and reliances I have ever placed upon institutions ofthis nature. In the latter point of view-in their bearingupon this latter point-I regard them as of great importance, deeming that the more intelligent and reflective society in the mass becomes, and the more readers there are,1843.FULSOME DEDICATIONS.the more distinctly writers of all kinds will be able to throwthemselves upon the truthful feeling of the people, and themore honoured and the more useful literature must be. Atthe same time, I must confess that, if there had been anAthenæum, and if the people had been readers, years ago,some leaves of dedication in your library, of praise ofpatrons which was very cheaply bought, very dearly sold,and very marketably haggled for by the groat, would beblank leaves, and posterity might probably have lacked theinformation that certain monsters of virtue ever had existence. But it is upon a much better and wider scale, let mesay it once again—it is in the effect of such institutionsupon the great social system, and the peace and happinessof mankind, that I delight to contemplate them; and, inmy heart, I am quite certain that long after your institution,and others of the same nature, have crumbled into dust, thenoble harvest of the seed sown in them will shine outbrightly in the wisdom, the mercy, and the forbearance ofanother race.8F4VII.LIVERPOOL, FEBRUARY 26, 1844.[The following address was delivered at a soirée of the Liverpool Mechanics'Institution, at which Mr. Dickens presided. ]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN,-It was rather hardofyou to take away my breath before I spoke a word;but I would not thank you, even if I could, for thefavour which has set me in this place, or for the generouskindness which has greeted me so warmly, -because my firststrong impulse still would be, although I had that power, tolose sight of all personal considerations in the high intentand meaning of this numerous assemblage, in the contemplation of the noble objects to which this building is devoted,of its brilliant and inspiring history, of that rough, upwardtrack, so bravely trodden, which it leaves behind, and thatbright path of steadily-increasing usefulness which lies.stretched out before it. My first strong impulse still wouldbe to exchange congratulations with you, as the members ofone united family, on the thriving vigour of this strongestchild of a strong race. My first strong impulse still wouldbe, though everybody here had twice as many hundreds ofFeb. 26, 1844. LIVERPOOL INSTITUTION.hands as there are hundreds of persons present, to shakethem in the spirit, everyone, always, allow me to say, excepting those hands (and there are a few such here), which,with the constitutional infirmity of human nature, I wouldrather salute in some more tender fashion,When I first had the honour of communicating with yourCommittee with reference to this celebration, I had someselfish hopes that the visit proposed to me might turn out tobe one of congratulation, or, at least, of solicitous inquiry;for they who receive a visitor in any season of distress areeasily touched and moved by what he says, and I entertainedsome confident expectation of making a mighty strong impression on you. But, when I came to look over the printeddocuments which were forwarded to me at the same time,and with which you are all tolerably familiar, these anticipations very speedily vanished, and left me bereft of all consolation, but the triumphant feeling to which I have referred.For what do I find, on looking over those brief chronicles ofthis swift conquest over ignorance and prejudice, in whichno blood has been poured out, and no treaty signed but thatone sacred compact which recognises the just right of everyman, whatever his belief, or however humble his degree, toaspire, and to have some means of aspiring, to be a betterand a wiser man? I find that, in 1825, certain misguidedand turbulent persons proposed to erect in Liverpool an unpopular, dangerous, irreligious, and revolutionary establishment, called a Mechanics' Institution; that, in 1835, Liverpool having, somehow or other, got on pretty comfortablyin the meantime, in spite of it, the first stone of a new andspacious edifice was laid; that, in 1837, it was opened; that,it was afterwards, at different periods, considerably enlarged;that, in 1844, conspicuous amongst the public beauties of abeautiful town, here it stands triumphant, its enemies lived836- 284CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES.down, its former students attesting, in their various usefulcallings and pursuits, the sound, practical information it afforded them; its members numbering considerably more thar3,000, and setting in rapidly for 6,000 at least; its librarycomprehending 11,000 volumes, and daily sending forth itshundreds of books into private homes; its staff of mastersand officers, amounting to half- a- hundred in themselves; itsschools, conveying every sort of instruction, high and low,adapted to the labour, means, exigencies, and convenienceof nearly every class and grade of persons. I was here thismorning, and in its spacious halls I found stores of thewonders worked by nature in the air, in the forest, in thecavern, and in the sea-stores of the surpassing enginesdevised by science for the better knowledge of other worlds,and the greater happiness of this-stores of those gentlerworks of art, which, though achieved in perishable stone, byyet more perishable hands of dust, are in their influenceimmortal. With such means at their command, so welldirected, so cheaply shared, and so extensively diffused,well may your Committee say, as they have done in one oftheir Reports, that the success of this establishment has farexceeded their most sanguine expectations.But, ladies and gentlemen, as that same philosopher whosewords they quote, as Bacon tells us, instancing the wonderful effects of little things and small beginnings, that the influence of the loadstone was first discovered in particles ofiron, and not in iron bars, so they may lay it to their hearts,that when they combined together to form the institutionwhich has risen to this majestic height, they issued on afield of enterprise, the glorious end of which they cannoteven now discern. Every man who has felt the advantagesof, or has received improvement in this place, carries itsbenefits into the society in which he moves, and puts them1844. MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS. 85out at compound interest; and what the blessed sum maybe at last, no man can tell. Ladies and gentlemen, withthat Christian prelate whose name appears on your list ofhonorary Members; that good and liberal man who onceaddressed you within these walls, in a spirit worthy of hiscalling, and of his High Master-I look forward from thisplace, as from a tower, to the time when high and low, andrich and poor, shall mutually assist, improve, and educateeach other.I feel, ladies and gentlemen, that this is not a place, withits 3,200 members, and at least 3,200 arguments in everyone, to enter on any advocacy of the principle of Mechanics'Institutions, or to discuss the subject with those who do orever did object to them. I should as soon think of arguingthe point with those untutored savages whose mode of lifeyou last year had the opportunity of witnessing; indeed, Iam strongly inclined to believe them by far the more rationalclass of the two. Moreover, if the institution itself be nota sufficient answer to all such objections, then there is nosuch thing in fact or reason, human or divine. Neither willI venture to enter into those details of the management ofthis place which struck me most on the perusal of its papers;but I cannot help saying how much impressed and gratifiedI was, as everybody must be who comes to their perusal forthe first time, by the extraordinary munificence with whichthis institution has been endowed by certain gentlemen.Amongst the peculiar features of management whichmade the greatest impression on me, I may observe thatthat regulation which empowers fathers, being annual subscribers of one guinea, to introduce their sons who areminors; and masters, on payment of the astoundingly smallsum of five shillings annually, in like manner their apprentices, is not the least valuable of its privileges; and, cer86 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 26,tainly not the one least valuable to society. And, ladiesand gentlemen, I cannot say to you what pleasure I derivedfrom the perusal of an apparently excellent report in yourlocal papers of a meeting held here, some short time since,in aid of the formation of a girls' school in connexion withthis institution. This is a new and striking chapter in thehistory of these institutions; it does equal credit to the gallantry and policy of this, and disposes one to say of it witha slight parody on the words of Burns, that"Its ' prentice han' it tried on man,And then it taught the lasses, O."That those who are our best teachers, and whose lessonsare oftenest heeded in after life, should be well taught themselves, is a proposition few reasonable men will gainsay;and, certainly, to breed up good husbands on the one hand,and good wives on the other, does appear as reasonable andstraightforward a plan as could well be devised for the improvement ofthe next generation.This, and what I see before me, naturally brings meto ourfairer members, in respect of whom I have no doubt you willagree with me, that they ought to be admitted to the widestpossible extent, and on the lowest possible terms; and,ladies, let me venture to say to you, that you never dida wiser thing in all your lives than when you turned yourfavourable regard on such an establishment as this -forwherever the light of knowledge is diffused, wherever thehumanizing influence of the arts and sciences extends itself,wherever there is the clearest perception of what is beautiful,and good, and most redeeming, amid all the faults and vicesof mankind, there your character, your virtues, your graces,your better nature, will be the best appreciated, and therehe truest homage will be proudly paid to you. You show1844.THE HIGHEST NOBILITY.£7best, trust me, in the clearest light; and every ray that fallsupon you at your own firesides, from any book or thoughtcommunicated within these walls, will raise you nearer tothe angels in the eyes you care for most.I will not longer interpose myself, ladies and gentlemen,between you and the pleasure we all anticipate in hearingother gentlemen, and in enjoying those social pleasures withwhich it is a main part of the wisdom of this society to adornand relieve its graver pursuits. We all feel, I am sure, beinghere, that we are truly interested in the cause of human improvement and rational education, and that we pledge ourselves, everyone as far as in him lies, to extend the knowledge of the benefits afforded in this place, and to bearhonest witness in its favour. To those who yet remainwithout its walls, but have the means of purchasing itsadvantages, we make appeal, and in a friendly and forbearing spirit say, Come in, and be convinced— 66'Who enters here, leaves doubt behind. " "If you, happily, have been well taught yourself, and aresuperior to its advantages, so much the more should youmake one in sympathy with those who are below you.Beneath this roof we breed the men who, in the time tocome, must be found working for good or evil, in everyquarter of society. If mutual respect and forbearanceamong various classes be not found here, where so manymen are trained up in so many grades, to enter on so manyroads of life , dating their entry from one common startingpoint, as they are all approaching, by various paths, onecommon end, where else can that great lesson be imbibed?Differences of wealth, of rank, of intellect, we know theremust be, and we respect them; but we would give to all themeans of taking out one patent of nobility, and we define it,88 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 26, 1844in the words of a great living poet, who is one of us, andwho uses his great gifts, as he holds them in trust, for thegeneral welfare" Howe'er it be, it seems to me'Tis only noble to be good:True hearts are more than coronets,And simple faith than Norman blood. "TENNYSON, Lady Clara Vere de Vere, then newly published in the collection of 1842.-ED.10:335-0%VIII.BIRMINGHAM, FEBRUARY 28, 1844.[The following speech was delivered at a Conversazione, in aid of thefunds of the Birmingham Polytechnic Institution, at which Mr Dickens presided .]JOU will think it very unwise, or very self-denying inme, in such an assembly, in such a splendid scene,and after such a welcome, to congratulate myself onhaving nothing new to say to you: but I do so, notwithstanding. To say nothing of places nearer home, I had thehonour of attending at Manchester, shortly before Christmas,and at Liverpool, only the night before last, for a purposesimilar to that which brings you together this evening; andlooking down a short perspective of similar engagements, Ifeel gratification at the thought that I shall very soon havenothing at all to say; in which case, I shall be content tostake my reputation, like the Spectator of Addison, and thatother great periodical speaker, the Speaker of the House ofCommons, on my powers of listening.This feeling, and the earnest reception I have met with,are not the only reasons why I feel a genuine, cordial, andpeculiar interest in this night's proceedings. The Polytechnic Institution of Birmingham is in its infancy-strug.90 105CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES.Feb.28,gling into life under all those adverse and disadvantageouscircumstances which, to a greater or less extent, naturallybeset all infancy; but I would much rather connect myselfwith it now, however humble, in its days of difficulty and ofdanger, than look back on its origin when it may have become strong, and rich, and powerful. I should prefer anintimate association with it now, in its early days and apparent struggles, to becoming its advocate and acquaintance,its fair-weather friend, in its high and palmy days. I wouldrather be able to say I knew it in its swaddling-clothes, thanin maturer age. Its two elder brothers have grown old anddied their chests were weak-about their cradles nursesshook their heads, and gossips groaned; but the presentinstitution shot up, amidst the ruin of those which havefallen, with an indomitable constitution, with vigorous andwith steady pulse; temperate, wise, and of good repute;and by perseverance it has become a very giant. Birminghamis, in my mind and in the minds of most men, associatedwith many giants; and I no more believe that this younginstitution will turn out sickly, dwarfish, or of stunted growth,than I do that when the glass-slipper of my chairmanshipshall fall off, and the clock strike twelve to-night, this hallwill be turned into a pumpkin. I found that strong beliefupon the splendid array of grace and beauty by which I amsurrounded, and which, if it only had one-hundredth part of the effect upon others it has upon me, could do anything itpleased with anything and anybody. I found my strongconviction, in the second place, upon the public spirit ofthe town of Birmingham-upon the name and fame of itscapitalists and working men; upon the greatness and importance of its merchants and manufacturers; upon its inventions, which are constantly in progress; upon the skilland intelligence of its artisans, which are daily developed;1244and the increasing knowledge of all portions of the community. All these reasons lead me to the conclusion that yourinstitution will advance-that it will and must progress, andthat you will not be content with lingering leagues behind.I have another peculiar ground of satisfaction in connexion with the object of this assembly; and it is, that theresolutions about to be proposed do not contain in themselves anything of a sectarian or class nature; that they donot confine themselves to any one single institution, butassert the great and omnipotent principles of comprehensiveeducation everywhere and under every circumstance. I begleave to say that I concur, heart and hand, in those principles, and will do all in my power for their advancement;for I hold, in accordance with the imperfect knowledgewhich I possess, that it is impossible for any fabric of societyto go on day after day, and year after year, from father toson, and from grandfather to grandson, punishing men fornot engaging in the pursuit of virtue and for the practice ofcrime, without showing them what virtue is, and where it best can be found-in justice, religion, and truth. Theonly reason that can possibly be adduced against it is onefounded on fiction-namely, the case where an obdurate oldgeni, in the " Arabian Nights," was bound upon taking thelife of a merchant, because he had struck out the eye ofhis invisible son. I recollect, likewise, a tale in the samebook of charming fancies, which I consider not inappropriate: it is a case where a powerful spirit has been imprisoned at the bottom of the sea, in a casket with a leadencover, and the seal of Solomon upon it; there he had lainneglected for many centuries, and during that period hadmade many different vows: at first, that he would rewardmagnificently those who should release him; and at last,that he would destroy them. Now, there is a spirit of greatBIRMINGHAM.9202 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 28,power-the Spirit of Ignorance—which is shut up in a vesselof leaden composition, and sealed with the seal of many,many Solomons, and which is effectually in the same position: release it in time, and it will bless, restore, and reanimate society; but let it lie under the rolling waves of years,and its blind revenge is sure to lead to certain destruction.That there are classes which, if rightly treated, constitutestrength, and if wrongly, weakness, I hold it impossible todeny-by these classes I mean industrious, intelligent, andhonourably independent men, in whom the higher classes ofBirmingham are especially interested, and bound to affordthem the means of instruction and improvement, and toameliorate their mental and moral condition. Far be itfrom me (and I wish to be most particularly understood) toattempt to depreciate the excellent Church InstructionSocieties, or the worthy, sincere, and temperate zeal`ofthose reverend gentlemen by whom they are usually conducted; on the contrary, I believe that they have done, andare doing, much good, and are deserving of high praise;but I hope that, without offence, in a community such asBirmingham, there are other objects not unworthy in thesight of heaven, and objects of recognised utility which areworthy of support-principles which are practised in wordand deed in Polytechnic Institutions-principles for the diffusion of which honest men of all degrees and of every creedmight associate together, on an independent footing and onneutral ground, and at a small expense, for the better understanding and the greater consideration of each other, andfor the better cultivation of the happiness of all: for it surelycannot be allowed that those who labour day by day, surrounded bymachinery, shall be permitted to degenerate intomachines themselves, but, on the contrary, they should asserttheir common origin from their Creator, at the hands of1844. IGNORANCE. 93those who are responsible and thinking men. There is, indeed, no difference in the main with respect to the dangersof ignorance and the advantages of knowledge betweenthose who hold different opinions-for it is to be observed,that those who are most distrustful of the advantages ofeducation, are always the first to exclaim against the resultsof ignorance. This fact was pleasantly illustrated on therailway, as I came here. In the same carriage with methere sat an ancient gentleman (I feel no delicacy in alludingto him, for I know that he is not in the room, having gotout far short of Birmingham), who expressed himself mostmournfully as to the ruinous effects and rapid spread of railways, and was most pathetic upon the virtues of the slowgoing old stage coaches. Now I, entertaining some littlelingering kindness for the road, made shift to express myconcurrence with the old gentleman's opinion, withoutany great compromise of principle. Well, we got on tolerably comfortably together, and when the engine, with afrightful screech, dived into some dark abyss, like somestrange aquatic monster, the old gentleman said it wouldnever do, and I agreed with him. When it parted fromeach successive station , with a shock and a shriek as if ithad had a double-tooth drawn, the old gentleman shook hishead, and I shook mine. When he burst forth against suchnew-fangled notions, and said no good could come of them,I did not contest the point. But I found that when thespeed of the engine was abated, or there was a prolongedstay at any station, up the old gentleman was at arms, andhis watch was instantly out of his pocket, denouncing theslowness of our progress. Now I could not help comparingthis old gentleman to that ingenious class of persons whoare in the constant habit of declaiming against the vices andcrimes of society, and at the same time are the first andCHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 28,1foremost to assert that vice and crime have not their common origin in ignorance and discontent.The good work, however, in spite of all political andparty differences, has been well begun; we are all interestedin it; it is advancing, and cannot be stopped by any opposition, although it may be retarded in this place or in that,by the indifference of the middle classes, with whom its successful progress chiefly rests. Of this success I cannotentertain a doubt; for whenever the working classes haveenjoyed an opportunity of effectually rebutting accusationswhich falsehood or thoughtlessness have brought againstthem, they always avail themselves of it, and show themselves in their true characters; and it was this which madethe damage done to a single picture in the National Galleryof London, by some poor lunatic or cripple, a mere matterof newspaper notoriety and wonder for some few days.This, then, establishes a fact evident to the meanest comprehension—that any given number of thousands of individuals, in the humblest walks of life in this country, can passthrough the national galleries or museums in seasons ofholiday-making, without damaging, in the slightest degree,those choice and valuable collections. I do not myself believe that the working classes ever were the wanton or mischievous persons they were so often and so long representedto be; but I rather incline to the opinion that some mentake it into their heads to lay it down as a matter of fact,without being particular about the premises; and that theidle and the prejudiced, not wishing to have the trouble offorming opinions for themselves, take it for granted—untilthe people have an opportunity of disproving the stigma andvindicating themselves before the world.Now this assertion is well illustrated by what occurredrespecting an equestrian statue in the metropolis, with9411844.respect to which a legend existed that the sculptor hangedhimself, because he had neglected to put a girth to thehorse. This story was currently believed for many years,until it was inspected for altogether a different purpose, andit was found to have had a girth all the time.But surely if, as is stated, the people are ill-disposed andmischievous, that is the best reason that can be offered forteaching them better; and if they are not, surely that is areason for giving them every opportunity of vindicating theirinjured reputation; and no better opportunity could possiblybeafforded than that of associating together voluntarilyfor suchhigh purposes as it is proposed to carry out by the establishment of the Birmingham Polytechnic Institution. In any case-nay, in every case-if we would reward honesty, if we wouldhold out encouragement to good, if we would eradicate thatwhich is evil or correct that which is bad, education-comprehensive, liberal education—is the one thing needful, andthe only effective end. If I might apply to my purpose, andturn into plain prose some words of Hamlet-not with reference to any government or party (for party being, for themost part, an irrational sort of thing, has no connexion withthe object we have in view)—if I might apply those wordsto education as Hamlet applied them to the skull of Yorick,I would say "Now hie thee to the council-chamber, andtell them, though they lay it on in sounding thoughts andlearned words an inch thick, to this complexion they mustcome at last. "THE WORKING CLASses. 95In answer to a vote of thanks, * Mr. Dickens said, at theclose of the meeting"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now quite even--for every" That this meeting, while conveying its cordial thanks to CharlesDickens, Esq. , for his presence this evening, and for his able and courteous96CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES. Feb. 28, 1844effect which I may have made upon you, the complimenthas been amply returned to me; but at the same time I amas little disposed to say to you, ' go and sin no more, ' as Iam to promise for myself that ' I will never do so again.' Solong as I can make you laugh and cry, I will; and you willreadily believe me, when I tell you, you cannot do too mucion your parts to show that we are still cordial and lovingfriends. To you, ladies of the Institution , I am deeply andespecially indebted. I sometimes [pointing to the wordBoz, in front of the great gallery] think there is somesmall quantity of magic in that very short name, and that itmust consist in its containing as many letters as the threegraces, and they, every one of them, being of your fair sisterhood.6A story is told of an eastern potentate of modern times,who, for an eastern potentate, was a tolerably good man,sometimes bowstringing his dependants indiscriminately inhis moments of anger, but burying them in great splendourin his moments of penitence, that whenever intelligence wasbrought him of a new plot or turbulent conspiracy, his firstinquiry was, ' Who is she?' meaning that a woman was atthe bottom. Now, in my small way, I differ from thatpotentate; for when there is any good to be attained, theservices of any ministering angel required, my first inquiryis, ' Where is she?' and the answer invariably is, ‘ Here. 'Proud and happy am I indeed to thank you for your generosity'Athousand times, good night;A thousand times the worse to want your light. 'conduct as President, cannot separate without tendering the warmestexpression of its gratitude and admiration to one whose writings have soloyally inculcated the lessons ofbenevolence and virtue, and so richly contri buted to the stores of public pleasure and instruction. "IX.LONDON, APRIL 6, 1846 .[The first anniversary festival of the General Theatrical Fund Association was held on the evening of the above date at the London Tavern. Thechair was taken by Mr. Dickens, who thus proposed the principal toast:]| ENTLEMEN, -In offering to you a toast which hasnot as yet been publicly drunk in auy company, itbecomes incumbent on me to offer a few words inexplanation: in the first place, premising that the toast willbe "The General Theatrical Fund."The Association, whose anniversary we celebrate to-night,was founded seven years ago, for the purpose of grantingpermanent pensions to such of the corps dramatique as hadretired from the stage, either from a decline in their yearsor a decay of their powers. Collected within the scope ofits benevolence are all actors and actresses, singers, ordancers, of five years' standing in the profession. To relievetheir necessities and to protect them from want is the greatend of the Society, and it is good to know that for sevenyears the members of it have steadily, patiently, quietly, andperseveringly pursued this end, advancing by regular con798CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES.April6,tribution, moneys which many of them could ill afford, andcheered by no external help or assistance of any kind whatsoever. It has thus served a regular apprenticeship, but Itrust that we shall establish to-night that its time is out, andthat henceforth the Fund will enter upon a flourishing and brilliant career.I have no doubt that you are all aware that there are,and were when this institution was founded, two other institutions existing of a similar nature-Covent Garden andDrury Lane-both of long standing, both richly endowed.It cannot, however, be too distinctly understood, that thepresent Institution is not in any way adverse to those. Howcan it be when it is only a wide and broad extension of allthat is most excellent in the principles on which they arefounded? That such an extension was absolutely necessarywas sufficiently proved by the fact that the great body ofthe dramatic corps were excluded from the benefits conferred by a membership of either of these institutions; forit was essential, in order to become a member of the DruryLane Society, that the applicant, either he or she, shouldhave been engaged for three consecutive seasons as a performer. This was afterwards reduced, in the case of CoventGarden, to a period of two years, but it really is as exclusive one way as the other, for I need not tell you that CoventGarden is now but a vision of the past. You might playthe bottle conjuror with its dramatic company and put themall into a pint bottle. The human voice is rarely heardwithin its walls save in connexion with corn, or the ambidextrous prestidigitation of the Wizard of the North. Inlike manner, Drury Lane is conducted now with almost asole view to the opera and ballet, insomuch that the statueof Shakespeare over the door serves as emphatically to pointout his grave as his bust did in the church of StratfordTHE THEATRICAL FUND.upon-Avon. How can the profession generally hope toqualify for the Drury Lane or Covent Garden institution,when the oldest and most distinguished members have beendriven from the boards on which they have earned theirreputations, to delight the town in theatres to which theGeneral Theatrical Fund alone extended?1846. 99I will again repeat that I attach no reproach to thoseother Funds, with which I have had the honour of beingconnected at different periods of mylife. At the time thoseAssociations were established, an engagement at one ofthose theatres was almost a matter of course, and a successful engagement would last a whole life; but an engagementof two months' duration at Covent Garden would be a perfect Old Parr of an engagement just now. It should neverbe forgotten that when those two funds were established,the two great theatres were protected by patent, and that atthat time the minor theatres were condemned by law to therepresentation of the most preposterous nonsense, and somegentlemen whom I see around me could no more belong tothe minor theatres of that day than they could now belongto St. Bartholomew fair.As I honour the two old funds for the great good whichthey have done, so I honour this for the much greater goodit is resolved to do. It is not because I love them less, butbecause I love this more-because it includes more in itsoperation.Let us ever remember that there is no class of actors whostand so much in need of a retiring fund as those who donot win the great prizes, but who are nevertheless an essential part of the theatrical system, and by consequence beara part in contributing to our pleasures. We owe them adebt which we ought to pay. The beds of such men arenot of roses, but of very artificial flowers indeed. Their100 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. April 6,lives are lives of care and privation, and hard struggles withvery stern realities. It is from among the poor actors whodrink wine from goblets, in colour marvellously like toastand water, and who preside at Barmecide feasts with wonderful appetites for steaks, -it is from their ranks that themost triumphant favourites have sprung. And surely, besides this, the greater the instruction and delight we derivefrom the rich English drama, the more we are bound to succour and protect the humblest of those votaries of the artwho add to our instruction and amusement.66Hazlitt has well said that " There is no class of society"whom so many persons regard with affection as actors."We greet them on the stage, we like to meet them in thestreets; they almost always recal to us pleasant associa"tions. " * When they have strutted and fretted their hourupon the stage, let them not be heard no more—but let thembe heard sometimes to say that they are happy in their oldage. When they have passed for the last time from behindthat glittering row of lights with which we are all familiar, letthem not pass away into gloom and darkness, —but let thempass into cheerfulness and light-into a contented and happyhome.This is the object for which we have met; and I am tocfamiliar with the English character not to know that it willbe effected. When we come suddenly in a crowded streetupon the careworn features of a familiar face—crossing uslike the ghost of pleasant hours long forgotten-let us notrecal those features with pain, in sad remembrance of whatthey once were, but let us in joy recognise it, and go back apace or two to meet it once again, as that of a friend whohas beguiled us of a moment of care, who has taught us to

• Table ronde de Hazlitt (Édimbourg, 1917, vol. II, p. 242), § Sur les acteurs et le jeu.

1346. THE THEATRICAL FUND.sympathize with virtuous grief, cheating us to teais for sorrows not our own-and we all know how pleasant are suchtears. Let such a face be ever remembered as that of ourbenefactor and our friend.ΙΟΥI tried to recollect, in coming here, whether I had everbeen in any theatre in my life from which I had not broughtaway some pleasant association, however poor the theatre,and I protest, out of my varied experience, I could not remember even one from which I had not brought some favourable impression, and that, commencing with the period whenI believed the clown was a being born into the world with infinite pockets, and ending with that in which I saw the othernight, outside one of the " Royal Saloons, " a playbill whichshowed me ships completely rigged, carrying men, andcareering over boundless and tempestuous oceans. Andnow, bespeaking your kindest remembrance of our theatresand actors, I beg to propose that you drink as heartily andfreely as ever a toast was drunk in this toast-drinking city,"Prosperity to the General Theatrical Fund."335X.LEEDS, DECEMBER 1, 1847.[On the above evening a Soirée of the Leeds Mechanics' Institution tookplace, at which about 1200 persons were present. The chair was takenby Mr. Dickens, who thus addressed the meeting:]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -Believe me, speaking to you with a most disastrous cold, which makesmy ownvoice sound very strangely in my ears--thatif I were not gratified and honoured beyond expression byyour cordial welcome, I should have considered the invitation to occupy my present position in this brilliant assemblage in itself a distinction not easy to be surpassed. Thecause in which we are assembled and the objects we aremet to promote, I take, and always have taken to be, thecause and the objects involving almost all others that , areessential to the welfare and happiness of mankind. And ina celebration like the present, commemorating the birth andprogress of a great educational establishment, I recognisea something, not limited to the spectacle of the moment,beautiful and radiant though it be—not limited even to thesuccess of the particular establishment in which we are moreimmediately interested—but extending from this place andthrough swarms of toiling men elsewhere, cheering andDec. 1, 1847. LEEDS MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. 103stimulating them in the onward, upward path that lies beforeus all. Wherever hammers beat, or wherever factory chimneys smoke, wherever hands are busy, or the clanking ofmachinery resounds-wherever, in a word, there are massesof industrious human beings whom their wise Creator didnot see fit to constitute all body, but into each and everyone of whom He breathed a mind-there, I would fain believe, some touch of sympathy and encouragement is feltfrom our collective pulse now beating in this Hall.Ladies and gentlemen, glancing with such feelings at thereport of your Institution for the present year sent to mebyyour respected President-whom I cannot help feeling it,by-the-bye, a kind of crime to depose, even thus peacefully,and for so short a time-I say, glancing over this report, Ifound one statement of fact in the very opening which gaveme an uncommon satisfaction. It is, that a great numberof the members and subscribers are among that class of persons for whose advantage Mechanics' Institutions wereoriginated, namely, persons receiving weekly wages. Thiscircumstance gives me the greatest delight. I am sure thatno better testimony could be borne to the merits and usefulness of this Institution, and that no better guarantee couldbe given for its continued prosperity and advancement.To such Associations as this, in their darker hours, theremay yet reappear now and then the spectral shadow of acertain dead and buried opposition; but before the light ofa steady trust in them on the part of the general people,bearing testimony to the virtuous influences of such Institutions by their own intelligence and conduct, the ghost willmelt away like early vapour from the ground. Fear of suchInstitutions as these! We have heard people sometimesspeak with jealousy of them, -with distrust of them! Imagine here, on either hand, two great towns like Leeds, full104 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.Dec. I,of busy men, all ofthem feeling necessarily, and some ofthemheavily, the burdens and inequalities inseparable from civilized society. In this town there is ignorance, dense anddark; in that town, education—the best of education; thatwhich the grown man from day to day and year to year furnishes for himself and maintains for himself, and in right ofwhich his education goes on all his life, instead of leavingoff, complacently, just when he begins to live in the socialsystem. Now, which of these two towns has a good man,or a good cause, reason to distrust and dread? "The educated one," does some timid politician, with a marvellouslyweak sight, say (as I have heard such politicians say), “ because knowledge is power, and because it won't do to havetoo much power abroad." Why, ladies and gentlemen, reflect whether ignorance be not power, and a very dreadfulpower. Look where we will, do we not find it powerful forevery kind of wrong and evil? Powerful to take its enemiesto its heart, and strike its best friends down-powerful tofill the prisons, the hospitals, and the graves-powerful forblind violence, prejudice, and error, in all their gloomy anddestructive shapes. Whereas the power of knowledge, if Iunderstand it, is, to bear and forbear; to learn the path ofduty and to tread it; to engender that self-respect whichdoes not stop at self, but cherishes the best respect for thebest objects--to turn an always enlarging acquaintance withthe joys and sorrows, capabilities and imperfections of ourrace to daily account in mildness of life and gentleness ofconstruction, and humble efforts for the improvement, stoneby stone, of the whole social fabric.I never heard but one tangible position taken againsteducational establishments for the people, and that was,that in this or that instance, or in these or those instances,education for the people has failed. And I have never1347. LEEDS MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. 105traced even this to its source but I have found that the termeducation, so employed, meant anything but education—implied the mere imperfect application of old, ignorant, preposterous spelling-book lessons to the meanest purposes—as if you should teach a child that there is no higher end inelectricity, for example, than expressly to strike a muttonpie out of the hand of a greedy boy-and on which it is asunreasonable to found an objection to education in a comprehensive sense, as it would be to object altogether to thecombing of youthful hair, because in a certain charity schoolthey had a practice of combing it into the pupils' eyes.Now, ladies and gentlemen, I turn to the report of thisInstitution, on whose behalf we are met; and I start withthe education given there, and I find that it really is an education that is deserving of the name. I find that there arepapers read and lectures delivered, on a variety of subjectsof interest and importance. I find that there are eveningclasses formed for the acquisition of sound, useful Englishinformation, and for the study of those two important languages, daily becoming more important in the business oflife, the French and German. I find that there is a classfor drawing, a chemical class, subdivided into the elementarybranch and the manufacturing branch, most important here.I find that there is a day- school at twelve shillings a quarter,which small cost, besides including instruction in all that isuseful to the merchant and the man of business, admits toall the advantages of the parent institution. I find thatthere is a School of Design established in connexion withthe Government School; and that there was in January thisyear, a library of between six and seven thousand books.Ladies and gentlemen, if any man would tell me that anything but good could come of such knowledge as this, all Ican say is, that I should consider him a new and most lament"105 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. I,able proof ofthe necessity of such institutions, and shouldregard him in his own person as a melancholy instance ofwhat a man may come to by never having belonged to oneor sympathized with one.There is one other paragraph in this report which struckmy eye in looking over it, and on which I cannot help offering a word of joyful notice. It is the steady increase thatappears to have taken place in the number of lady members-amongwhom I hope I may presume are included someof the bright fair faces that are clustered around me. Gentlemen, I hold that it is not good for man to be alone― evenin Mechanics' Institutions; and I rank it as very far fromamong the last or least of the merits of such places, that heneed not be alone there, and that he is not. I believe thatthe sympathy and society of those who are our best anddearest friends in infancy, in childhood, in manhood, and inold age, the most devoted and least selfish natures that weknow on earth, who turn to us always constant and unchanged, when others turn away, should greet us here, ifanywhere, and go on with us side by side.I know, gentlemen, by the evidence of my own propersenses at this moment, that there are charms and graces insuch greetings, such as no other greeting can possess. Iknow that in every beautiful work of the Almighty hand,which is illustrated in your lectures, and in every real orideal portraiture of fortitude and goodness that you find inyour books, there is something that must bring you homeagain to them for its brightest and best example. Andtherefore, gentlemen, I hope that you will never be withoutthem, or without an increasing number of them in yourstudies and your commemorations; and that an immensenumber of new marriages, and other domestic festivalsnaturally consequent upon those marriages, may be traced1847.back from time to time to the Leeds Mechanics' Institution.LEEDS MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. 107There are many gentlemen around me, distinguished bytheir public position and service, or endeared to you by frequent intercourse, or by their zealous efforts on behalf ofthecause which brings us together; and to them I shall beg leaveto refer you for further observations on this happy and interesting occasion; begging to congratulate you finally upon theoccasion itself; upon the prosperity and thriving prospectsof your institution; and upon our common and generalgood fortune in living in these times, when the means ofmental culture and improvement are presented cheaply,socially, and cheerfully, and not in dismal cells or lonelygarrets. And lastly, I congratulate myself, I assure youmost heartily, upon the part with which I am honoured onan occasion so congenial to my warmest feelings and sympathies, and I beg to thank you for such evidences of yourgood-will, as I never can coldly remember and neverforget.In acknowledging the vote of thanks, Mr. Dickens said:—Ladies and Gentlemen, -It is a great satisfaction tome that this question has been put by the Mayor, inasmuchas I hope I may receive it as a token that he has forgivenme those extremely large letters, which I must say, from theglimpse I caught of them when I arrived in the town, lookedlike a leaf from the first primer of a very promising younggiant.I will only observe, in reference to the proceeding of thisevening, that after what I have seen, and the excellentspeeches I have heard from gentlemen of so many different108 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. 1 , 1847.callings and persuasions, meeting here as on neutral ground,I do more strongly and sincerely believe than I ever havein my life, and that is saying a great deal, -that institutions such as this will be the means of refining and improving that social edifice which has been so often mentionedto-night, until,-unlike that Babel tower that would havetaken heaven by storm, -it shall end in sweet accord andharmony amongst all classes of its builders.Ladies and gentlemen, most respectfully and heartily Ibid you good night and good-bye, and I trust the next timewe meet it will be in even greater numbers, and in a largerroom, and that we often shall meet again, to recal thisevening, then of the past, and remember it as one ofa seriesof increasing triumphs of your excellent institution.XI.GLASGOW, DECEMBER 28, 1847.[The first Soirée, commemorative of the opening of the Glasgow Athenæum took place on the above evening in the City Hall. Mr. CharlesDickens presided, and made the following speech:]ADIESAND GENTLEMEN-Letmebeginbyendeavouring to convey to you the assurance that not eventhe warmth of your reception can possibly exceed, insimple earnestness, the cordiality of the feeling with which Icome amongst you. This beautiful scene and your generousgreeting would naturally awaken, under any circumstances,no common feeling within me; but when I connect themwith the high purpose of this brilliant assembly—when Iregard it as an educational example and encouragement tothe rest of Scotland-when I regard it no less as a recognition on the part of everybody here of the right, indisputableand inalienable, of all those who are actively engaged in thework and business of life to elevate and improve themselvesso far as in them lies, by all good means-I feel as if Istand here to swear brotherhood to all the young men inGlasgow;-and I may say to all the young women in Glasgow; being unfortunately in no position to take any tenderer vows upon myself—and as if we were pledged from thistime henceforth to make common cause together in one ofthe most laudable and worthy of human objects.IΙΙΟ CHARLES Dickens's speeches. Dcc. 28,Ladies and gentlemen, a common cause must be made insuch a design as that which brings us together this night; forwithout it, nothing can be done, but with it everything. Itis a common cause of right, God knows; for it is idle tosuppose that the advantages of such an institution as theGlasgow Athenæum will stop within its own walls or beconfined to its own members. Through all the society ofthis great and important city, upwards to the highest anddownwards to the lowest, it must, I know, be felt for good.Downward in a clearer perception of, and sympathy with,those social miseries which can be alleviated, and thosewide-open doors to vice and crime that can be shut andbarred; and upward in a greater intelligence, increasedefficiency, and higher knowledge, of all who partake of itsbenefits themselves, or who communicate, as all must do, ina greater or less degree, some portion to the circle of relatives or friends in which they move.Nor, ladies and gentlemen, would I say for any man,however high his social position, or however great his attainments, that he might not find something to be learnteven from immediate contact with such institutions. Ifhe only saw the goddess Knowledge coming out of hersecluded palaces and high places to mingle with the throng,and to give them shining glimpses of the delights whichwere long kept hoarded up, he might learn something. Ifhe only saw the energy and the courage with which thosewho earn their daily bread by the labour of their handsor heads, come night after night, as to a recreation, to thatwhich was, perhaps, the whole absorbing business of hisyouth, there might still be something very wholesome forhim to learn. But when he could see in such places theirgenial and reviving influences, their substituting of the contemplation of the beauties of nature and art, and of the1847.THE GLASGOW ATHENÆUM.wisdom of great men, for mere sensual enjoyment or stupididleness at any rate he would learn this—that it is at oncethe duty and the interest of all good members of society toencourage and protect them.IIII took occasion to say at an Athenæum in Yorkshire afew weeks since, * and I think it a point most important to beborne in mind on such commemorations as these, that whensuch societies are objected to, or are decried on the groundthat in the views of the objectors, education among thepeople has not succeeded, the term education is used withnot the least reference to its real meaning, and is whollymisunderstood. Mere reading and writing is not education;it would be quite as reasonable to call bricks and mortararchitecture oils and colours art - reeds and cat-gutmusic-or the child's spelling-books the works of Shakespeare, Milton, or Bacon-as to call the lowest rudimentsof education, education, and to visit on that most abusedand slandered word their failure in any instance; and precisely because they were not education; because, generallyspeaking, the word has been understood in that sense a greatdeal too long; because education for the business of life,and for the due cultivation of domestic virtues, is at leastas important from day to day to the grown person as to thechild; because real education, in the strife and contentionfor a livelihood, and the consequent necessity incumbenton a great number of young persons to go into the worldwhen they are very young, is extremely difficult. It is because of these things that I look upon mechanics' institutions and athenæums as vitally important to the well-beingof society. It is because the rudiments of education maythere be turned to good account in the acquisition of soundVide suprà, p. 105.―112 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dcc. 28,principles, and of the great virtues, hope, faith, and charity,to which all our knowledge tends; it is because of that, Itake it, that you have met in education's name to-night.It is a great satisfaction to me to occupy the place I doin behalf of an infant institution; a remarkably fine childenough, of a vigorous constitution, but an infant still. Iesteem myself singularly fortunate in knowing it before itsprime, in the hope that I may have the pleasure of remembering in its prime, and when it has attained to its lustymaturity, that I was a friend of its youth. It has alreadypassed through some of the disorders to which children areliable; it succeeded to an elder brother of a very meritoriouscharacter, but of rather a weak constitution, and which expired when about twelve months old, from, it is said, a destructive habit of getting up early in the morning: it succeeded this elder brother, and has fought manfully througha sea of troubles. Its friends have often been much concerned for it; its pulse has been exceedingly low, beingonly 1250, when it was expected to have been 10,000;several relations and friends have even gone so far as towalk off once or twice in the melancholy belief that it wasdead. Through all that, assisted by the indomitable energyof one or two nurses, to whom it can never be sufficientlygrateful, it came triumphantly, and now, of all the youthfulmembers of its family I ever saw, it has the strongest attitude,the healthiest look, the brightest and most cheerful air. Ifind the institution nobly lodged; I find it with a readingroom, a coffee-room, and a news-room; I find it withlectures given and in progress, in sound, useful and wellselected subjects; I find it with morning and eveningclasses for mathematics, logic, grammar, music, French,German, Spanish, and Italian, attended by upwards of fivehundred persons; but, best and first of all, and what is to1847. THE GLASGOW ATHENÆUM. 113me more satisfactory than anything else in the history of theinstitution, I find that all this has been mainly achieved bythe young men of Glasgow themselves, with very little assistance. And, ladies and gentlemen, as the axiom,"Heaven helps those who help themselves, " is truer in nocase than it is in this, I look to the young men of Glasgow,from such a past and such a present, to a noble future.Everything that has been done in any other athenæum, Iconfidently expect to see done here; and when that shallbe the case, and when there shall be great cheap schools inconnexion with the institution, and when it has boundtogether for ever all its friends, and brought over to itselfall those who look upon it as an objectionable institution,—then, and not till then, I hope the young men of Glasgowwill rest from their labours, and think their study done.If the young men of Glasgow want any stimulus or encouragement in this wise, they have one beside them in thepresence of their fair townswomen, which is irresistible. Itis a most delightful circumstance to me, and one fraughtwith inestimable benefits to institutions of this kind, that ata meeting of this nature those who in all things are our bestexamples, encouragers, and friends, are not excluded. Theabstract idea of the Graces was in ancient times associatedwith those arts which refine the human understanding; andit is pleasant to see now, in the rolling of the world, theGraces popularising the practice of those arts by their example, and adorning it with their presence.I am happy to know that in the Glasgow Athenæum thereis a peculiar bond of union between the institution and thefairest part of creation. I understand that the necessaryaddition to the small library of books being difficult andexpensive to make, the ladies have generally resolved tohold a fancy bazaar, and to devote the proceeds to this ad 8114 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dcc. 28.mirable purpose; and I learn with no less pleasure that herMajesty the Queen, in a graceful and womanly sense of theexcellence of this design, has consented that the bazaar shallbe held under her royal patronage. I can only say, that ifyou do not find something very noble in your books afterthis, you are much duller students than I take you to be.The ladies--the single ladies, at least-however disinterestedI know they are by sex and nature, will, I hope, resolve tohave some of the advantages of these books, by never marry ing any but members of the Athenæum. It seems to me itought to be the pleasantest library in the world.Hazlitt says, in speaking of some of the graceful fanciesof some familiar writer of fiction, " How long since I first"became acquainted with these characters; what old-fash❝ioned friends they seem; and yet I am not tired of them"like so many other friends, nor they of , me." In this casethe books will not only possess all the attractions of theirown friendships and charms, but also the manifold—I maysay womanfold-associations connected with their donors.I can imagine how, in fact, from these fanciful associations,some fair Glasgow widow may be taken for the remoter onewhom Sir Roger de Coverley could not forget; I can imagine how Sophia's muff may be seen and loved, but not byTom Jones, going down the High Street on any winter day;or I can imagine the student finding in every fair form theexact counterpart of the Glasgow Athenæum, and takinginto consideration the history of Europe without the consentof Sheriff Alison. I can imagine, in short, how through allthe facts and fictions of this library, these ladies will bealways active, and that64' Age will not wither them, nor custom staleTheir infinite variety. "It seems to me to be a moral, delightful, and happy1847.THE GLASGOW ATHENEUM. 115chance, that this meeting has been held at this genial seasonof the year, when a new time is, as it were, opening beforeus, and when we celebrate the birth of that divine andblessed Teacher, who took the highest knowledge into thehumblest places, and whose great system comprehended allmankind. I hail it as a most auspicious omen, at thistime of the year, when many scattered friends and familiesare re-assembled, for the members of this institution to becalling men together from all quarters, with a brotherly viewto the general good, and a view to the general improvement; as I consider that such designs are practically worthyof the faith we hold, and a practical remembrance of thewords, "On earth peace, and good will toward men. " Ihope that every year which dawns on your Institution, willfind it richer in its means of usefulness, and grayer-headedin the honour and respect it has gained. ' It can hardlyspeak for itself more appropriately than in the words of anEnglish writer, when contemplating the English emblem ofthis period of the year, the holly- tree:[ Mr. Dickens concluded by quoting the last three stanzas of Southey's poem, The Holly Tree. ][In acknowledging a vote of thanks proposed by Sir Archibald (then Mr.)Alison, Mr. Dickens said: ]Ladies and Gentlemen,-I am no stranger-and I say itwith the deepest gratitude-to the warmth of Scottishhearts; but the warmth of your present welcome almost deprives me of any hope of acknowledging it. I will not detain you any longer at this late hour; let it suffice to assureyou, that for taking the part with which I have been116 CHARLES Dickens's sPEECHES. Dec. 28, 1847honoured in this festival, I have been repaid a thousandfold by your abundant kindness, and by the unspeakablegratification it has afforded me. I hope that, before manyyears are past, we mayhave another meeting in public, whenwe shall rejoice at the immense progress your institution willhave made in the meantime, and look back upon this nightwith new pleasure and satisfaction. I shall now, in conclusion, repeat most heartily and fervently the quotation ofDr. Ewing, the late Provost of Glasgow, which Bailie NicolJarvie, himself " a Glasgow body," observed was " elegantlyputten round the town's arms. ”BXII.MACREADY.LONDON, MARCH 1, 1851 .[On the evening of the above day the friends and admirers of Mr. Macready entertained him at a public dinner. Upwards of six hundred gentlemenassembled to do honour to the great actor on his retirement from the stage.Sir E. B. Lytton took the chair. Among the other speakers were BaronBunsen, Sir Charles Eastlake, Mr. Thackeray, Mr. John Forster, Mr.W. J. Fox, and Mr. Charles Dickens, who proposed " The Health of the Chairman" in the following words:-]ENTLEMEN, -After all you have already heard, andso rapturously received, I assure you that not eventhe warmth of your kind welcome would emboldenme to hope to interest you if I had not full confidence inthe subject I have to offer to your notice. But my relianceon the strength of this appeal to you is so strong that I amrather encouraged than daunted by the brightness of thetrack on which I have to throw my little shadow.Gentlemen, as it seems to me, there are three greatrequisites essential to the perfect realisation of a scene sounusual and so splendid as that in which we are now assembled. The first, and I must say very difficult requisite, is a118 CHARLES DICKENS'S speeches. March 1,man possessing the stronghold in the general remembrance,the indisputable claim on the general regard and esteem,which is possessed by my dear and much valued friend ourguest. The second requisite is the presence of a body ofentertainers,—a great multitude of hosts so cheerful andgood-humoured (under, I am sorry to say, some personalinconvenience), --so warm-hearted and so nobly in earnest,as those whom I have the privilege of addressing. Thethird, and certainly not the least of these requisites, is apresident who, less by his social position, which he mayclaim by inheritance, or by fortune, which may have beenadventitiously won, and may be again accidentally fost, thanby his comprehensive genius, shall fitly represent the bestpart of him to whom honour is done, and the best part ofthose who unite in the doing of it. Such a president Ithink we have found in our chairman of to-night, and I needscarcely add that our chairman's health is the toast I have topropose to you.Many of those who now hear me were present, I daresay,at that memorable scene on Wednesday night last, * whenthe great vision which had been a delight and a lesson, —very often, I daresay, a support and a comfort to you, whichhad for many years improved and charmed us, and to whichwe had looked for an elevated relief from the labours of ourlives, faded from our sight for ever. I will not stop to inquire whether our guest may or may not have looked backward, through rather too long a period for us, to some remoteand distant time when he might possibly bear some far-offlikeness to a certain Spanish archbishop whom Gil Blas onceserved. Nor will I stop to inquire whether it was a reasonable disposition in the audience of Wednesday to seize uponthe words

• 26 février 1851. Bénéfice d'adieu de M. Macready à Drury Lane

Théâtre, à cette occasion il a joué le rôle de Macbeth. -ED.1851. MACREADY. "Et j'ai acheté des opinions dorées de toutes sortes de personnes, qui seraient portées maintenant dans leur plus récent gloss, pas mises de côté si tôt -" * 119 mais je me risquerai à faire comprendre à ceux à qui je m'adresse comment, dans mon esprit, je me connecte principalement cette occasion avec le présent. Quand j'ai regardé autour du vaste assemblage, et j'ai observé l'immense fosse étouffée dans l'immobilité sur le lever du rideau, et cette puissante galerie en plein essor, où les hommes dans leurs manches de chemise avaient frappé leurs bras comme des nageurs puissants, quand j'ai vu cet humain bruyant l'inondation devenait encore de l'eau en un instant, et le restait de l'ouverture à la fin de la pièce, cela me suggérait autre chose que la fiabilité d'une foule anglaise, et l'illusion dans laquelle travaillent ceux qui sont susceptibles de la dénigrer et de la calomnier : cela suggérait de moi qu'en me réunissant ici ce soir, nous avons entrepris de représenter quelque chose du sentiment général de cette foule, à travers tous ses degrés intermédiaires, de la dame entièrement habillée, avec ses diamants étincelants sur sa poitrine dans le proscenium-box, à la demi-déshabillée monsieur, qui attend son heure pour prendre un rafraîchissement dans la rangée arrière de la galerie. Et je considère, messieurs, que personne qui pourrait éventuellement être placé dans cette chaise ne pourrait si bien diriger cette représentation complète, et pourrait si bien donner la grâce suprême à nos festivités, comme celui dont le génie complet a dans ses diverses œuvres les a tous embrassés, et qui a, dans son génie dramatique, les a enchantés et captivés tous à la fois. Messieurs, ce n'est pas à moi ici de rappeler, après ce que vous avez entendu cette nuit, ce que j'ai vu et connu dans les temps passés de la gestion de M. Macready, de la forte amitié de Sir Bulwer Lytton pour lui, de l'association

• Macbeth, Acte I. , sc. 7.

120 Discours de CHARLES Dickens. March Lof sa plume avec ses premiers succès, ou des services zélés et infatigables de M. Macready; mais il peut m'être permis de dire ce que, dans aucune mention publique de lui, je ne peux jamais réprimer, que dans le chemin que nous suivons tous les deux, je l'ai uniformément trouvé dès le début le plus généreux des hommes ; prompt à encourager, lent à dénigrer, toujours soucieux d'affirmer l'ordre dont il est un si grand ornement ; ne condescendant jamais à le mélanger et à le laisser à l'extérieur des salles d'État, comme un musulman pourrait laisser ses pantoufles à l'extérieur d'une mosquée. Il existe un préjugé populaire, une sorte de superstition selon laquelle les auteurs ne sont pas un corps particulièrement uni, qu'ils ne sont pas invariablement et inséparablement attachés les uns aux autres. Je crains de devoir concéder un demi-grain de vérité à cette superstition ; mais ce que je sais, c'est qu'il ne peut guère y avoir - qu'il ne peut guère y avoir eu - parmi les disciples de la littérature, un homme de plus haut standing plus loin au-dessus de ces petites jalousies réticentes, qui dénigrent parfois sa luminosité, que Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.Et j'ai la raison la plus forte juste à l'heure actuelle pour porter mon témoignage à sa grande considération pour ces maux qui sont parfois malheureusement présents sur elle, mais pas sur lui. Car, en collaboration avec d'autres messieurs maintenant présents, je viens de me lancer dans un dessein avec Sir Bulwer Lytton, pour adoucir la manière rude des jeunes travailleurs, tant dans la littérature que dans les beaux-arts, et pour adoucir, mais par aucun moyen eleemosynaire, les années déclinantes de l'âge méritoire. Et si ce projet réussit comme je l'espère, et comme je sais qu'il le devrait, ce sera un jour un honneur pour l'Angleterre où il y a maintenant des reproches; originaire de ses sympathies, mis en action par son activité, et doté dès son berceau par sa générosité. Il y en a beaucoup parmi vous qui auront chacun leur raison préférée de boire à la santé de notre président, s'appuyant probablement sur certains de ses succès diversifiés de 1851. Selon la nature de vos lectures, certains d'entre vous l'associeront à la prose, d'autres l'associeront à la poésie. L'un le rattachera à la comédie, l'autre aux passions romantiques de la scène, et son affirmation d'une noble ambition et d'une lutte sérieuse contre MACREADY. la contemplation de Rienzi et des rues de Rome, une autre dans les rues reconstruites et repeuplées de Pompéi, une autre dans l'histoire touchante du coin du feu où la famille Caxton a appris à discipliner sa nature et à apprivoiser ses espoirs fous. , je suis sûr qu'avec un accord chacun s'aidera l'autre, et tous gonfleront la salutation, avec laquelle je vais maintenant vous proposer "la santé de notre président, Sir Edward BulwerLytton. "XIII.LONDRES, 14 AVRIL 1851. [Le sixième dîner annuel du General Theatrical Fund a eu lieu à la London Tavern à la date ci-dessus. M. Charles Dickens a occupé la chaise et, en portant le toast de la soirée, a déclaré :-] ONT j'ai eu si souvent la satisfaction de porter mon témoignage, en ce lieu, sur l'utilité de l'excellente institution au nom de laquelle nous sommes assemblés, que je serais vraiment sensible à l'inconvénient de n'avoir plus rien à dire en proposant le toast que vous anticipez tous, si j'étais pas bien assuré qu'il n'y a vraiment rien qui doit être dit. Je dois faire appel à vous sur les anciens motifs, et aucune ingéniosité de ma part ne pourrait rendre ces motifs d'un plus grand poids qu'ils ne vous l'ont jusqu'ici prouvé avec succès. Bien que la General Theatrical Fund Association, contrairement à beaucoup d'autres sociétés publiques et dotations, n'est représentée par aucun bâtiment, qu'il soit en pierre, en brique ou en verre, comme cette preuve étonnante de la compétence et de l'énergie de mon ami M. Paxton, que tout le monde est maintenant appelé à admirer, et le grand dont le mérite, comme vous l'apprenez des meilleures autorités, est qu'il aurait dû s'effondrer avant d'être construit, et pourtant qu'il ne consentirait en aucun cas à le faire, bien que, dis-je, cette association ne possède pas de maison architecturale, elle est néanmoins aussi simple, repose sur une fondation aussi solide, et porte aussi droit aApril 14, 1851.LE fonds théâtral. 123front, comme n'importe quel bâtiment dans le monde. Et le meilleur et le meilleur que son exposant et son avocat puissent faire, debout ici, est de le signaler à ceux qui se rassemblent autour de lui, et de dire : « Jugez par vous-mêmes. partie de l'entreprise dont la connaissance antérieure avec elle peut avoir été limitée, ce qu'elle n'est pas. Ce n'est pas une association théâtrale dont les bénéfices sont confinés à un corps restreint et exclusif d'acteurs. C'est une société dont les revendications sont toujours préférées au nom de l'ensemble de l'art histrionique. Ce n'est pas une association théâtrale adaptée à un état de choses théâtrales entièrement passées et disparues, et pas plus adaptée aux exigences théâtrales qu'une chaîne de chevaux de bât ne serait adapté à l'acheminement du trafic entre Londres et Birmingham. Ce n'est pas un vieux monsieur riche, avec la goutte dans ses signes vitaux, brossé et levé une fois par an pour avoir l'air aussi vigoureux que possible, et présenté pour une diffusion publique par les quelques survivants d'une grande famille de neveux et nièces, qui ensuite double- verrouillez la porte de la rue sur les relations pauvres. Ce n'est pas une association théâtrale qui insiste sur le fait qu'aucun acteur ne peut partager sa générosité s'il n'a pas marché tant d'années sur ces planches où la langue anglaise n'a jamais été entendue - entre les petits bars de musique dans une volière d'oiseaux chanteurs, auxquels le cygne d'Avon peu maniable n'est jamais admis-cette générosité qui a été recueillie au nom et pour l'élévation d'un art global.Non, s'il y a de telles choses, cette chose n'est pas de ce genre.Il s'agit d'une association théâtrale, expressément adaptée aux désirs et à la moyen de l'ensemble du théâtre professionnel sur l'Angleterre. C'est une société dans laquelle le mot exclusivité est totalement inconnu. C'est une société qui inclut chaque acteur, qu'il soit Benedict ou Hamlet, ou le Fantôme, ou le Bandit, ou le médecin de la cour, ou, dans le seul124 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 14 avril.personne, toute l'armée du roi. Il peut faire du "petit commerce", ou du "lourd", ou du comique, ou de l'excentrique. Il peut être le capitaine qui courtise la jeune femme, dont l'oncle persiste encore inexplicablement à se vêtir d'un costume cent ans plus vieux que son temps. Ou peut-être le frère de la demoiselle aux gants blancs et aux inexprimables, dont le devoir dans la famille semble être d'écouter les membres féminins de celle-ci chaque fois qu'ils chantent, et de serrer la main de tout le monde entre tous les couplets. Ou hemay être le baron qui donne la fête, et qui s'assoit mal à l'aise sur le canapé sous un auvent avec la baronne pendant que la fête se déroule. Ou ce peut être le paysan de la fête qui vient grossir le chœur des buveurs et qui, on le remarque, retourne toujours son verre avant de commencer à y boire. Ou il peut être le clown qui emporte le pas de la porte de la maison où se déroule la soirée. Ou il peut être le monsieur qui sort de la maison sur la fausse alerte, et est précipité dans la région. Ou, pour en venir aux actrices, elle peut-être la fée qui réside pour toujours dans une étoile tournante avec une visite occasionnelle dans une tonnelle ou un palais. Ou l'acteur peut-être le chef armé du chaudron de la sorcière ; ou même cette sorcière extraordinaire, concernant laquelle j'ai observé des lieux incountry, qu'il est beaucoup moins comme la notion formée à partir de la description de Hopkins que le Malcolm orDonalbain des scènes précédentes. Cette société, en bref, dit : " Soyez ce que vous pouvez, soyez acteur ou actrice, au-delà de votre chemin dans votre métier jamais si haut, ni si bas, jamais si hautain, ni si humble, nous vous offrons les moyens de faire du bien à vous-mêmes et de faire du bien à vos frères. « Cette société est essentiellement une institution de prévoyance, faisant appel à une classe d'hommes pour veiller à leurs propres intérêts, et1851. LE FONDS DE THÉÂTRE.donnant une sécurité continue uniquement en échange d'un sacrifice et d'efforts continus. L'acteur, par le biais de cette société, obtient son propre droit, sans le tort de personne ; et quand, dans la vieillesse ou dans des temps désastreux, il fait valoir son droit à l'institution, il peut dire : « Je ne suis ni un mendiant, ni un suppliant. Je ne fais que récolter ce que j'ai semé depuis longtemps. Et c'est pourquoi je ne puis vous soutenir qu'en aidant ce fonds vous faites un acte de charité dans l'acception commune de cette expression. De tous les abus de ce terme dont on abuse, aucun n'a plus soulevé mon indignation que ce que j'ai entendu autrefois dans cette salle, à propos de cette institution. Je dis, si vous aidez cette institution, vous aiderez le wagon qui a résolument mis son propre épaule à la roue, et qui n'est pas resté inactif dans la boue. En donnant cette aide, vous ferez un acte de justice, et vous ferez un acte de gratitude ; et c'est ce que je sollicite de vous ; mais je ne ferai pas si mal à ceux qui luttent vaillamment pour leur propre indépendance qu'à prétendre vous demander un acte de charité. J'ai employé le mot gratitude ; et que n'importe quel homme demande à son propre cœur, et avoue s'il n'a pas des reconnaissances reconnaissantes pour l'art de l'acteur ? Pas particulièrement parce que c'est une profession souvent exercée, et pour ainsi dire marquée par la pauvreté et le malheur pour d'autres appels, Dieu sait, ont leurs détresses, ni parce que l'acteur doit parfois venir de scènes de [ maladie, de souffrance, ay, même de la mort elle-même , pour jouer son rôle devant nous - car nous tous, dans nos sphères, devons aussi souvent faire violence à nos sentiments et cacher nos cœurs en combattant cette grande bataille de la vie, et en nous acquittant de nos devoirs et de nos responsabilités. Mais l'art de l'acteur suscite des réflexions sombres ou grotesques, affreuses ou humoristiques, que nous connaissons tous. Si quelqu'un me disait qu'il a nié ses aveux aux discours de 325126 CHARLES dickens. 14 avril 1851.stade, je lui poserais simplement une question : si vous vous êtes souvenu de sa première pièce ? Si vous, messieurs, ne ferez que ramener votre souvenir à cette grande nuit, et rappeler le monde lumineux et inoffensif qui s'est alors ouvert à votre vue , nous entendrons, je pense, entendre favorablement l'effet sur votre libéralité à cette occasion de notre secrétaire. C'est la sixième année de réunions de ce genre, la sixième fois que nous avons eu ce bel enfant après le dîner. Hisnurse, une personne très digne du nom de Buckstone, qui a un excellent caractère de plusieurs endroits, vous rapportera que sa poitrine est parfaitement saine, et que sa santé générale est dans l'état le plus prospère. Long peut être ainsi ; puisse-t-il prospérer et grandir longtemps ; puissions-nous nous rencontrer longtemps (c'est mon souhait sincère) pour échanger nos félicitations sur sa prospérité; et plus longue que la ligne de Banquo peut être cette ligne de chiffres qui, comme sa part patriotique dans la dette nationale, dans un siècle sera déclarée par la Governorand Company de la Banque d'Angleterre.XIV.RÉFORME SANITAIRE.-.00000LONDRES, LE 10 MAI, 1851.[Les membres et amis de la Metropolitan Sanitary Association ont dîné ensemble le soir ci-dessus à Gore House, Kensington. Le comte de Carlisle occupait le fauteuil. M. Charles Dickens était présent, et inproposant " Le Conseil de la santé ", a prononcé le discours suivant :—] il y a très peu de mots pour moi à dire sur la nécessité de la réforme sanitaire, ou sur l'utilité conséquente du Conseil de la santé. Qu'aucun homme ne peut estimer la quantité de méfaits cultivés dans la saleté, - qu'aucun homme ne peut dire que le mal s'arrête ici ou s'arrête là, dans ses effets moraux ou physiques, ou peut nier qu'il commence dans le berceau et n'est pas en repos dans la misérable tombe, est certain que l'air de Gin Lane sera transporté par un vent d'est dans Mayfair, ou que la peste furieuse qui fait rage dans la liste non mortelle des patronesses de St. Giles peut rester hors d'Almack. Il y a quinze ans, certains des précieux rapports de M. Chadwick et du Dr SouthwoodSmith, renforçant et élargissant considérablement mes connaissances, 128 discours de CHARLES DICKENS. Le 10 mai m'a rendu sérieux dans cette cause dans ma propre sphère ; et je peux honnêtement déclarer que l'usage que j'ai fait depuis de mes yeux et de mon nez n'a fait que renforcer la conviction que certaines réformes sanitaires doivent précéder tous les autres remèdes sociaux, et que ni l'éducation ni la religion ne peuvent rien faire d'utile tant que la voie n'a pas été pavée pour leurs administrations par la propreté. et la décence.Je ne veux pas d'autorité pour cette opinion : vous avez entendu le discours du très révérend prélat* ce soir-discours qu'aucun réformateur sanitaire ne peut avoir entendu sans émotion. De quoi est-il utile d'envoyer des missionnaires à l'homme misérable condamné à travailler dans une cour fétide, avec tous les sens qui lui sont conférés pour sa santé et son bonheur transformé en tourment, chaque mois de sa vie s'ajoutant au tas de maux sous lesquels il est condamné à exister ? À quelle sympathie humaine en lui cet instructeur doit-il s'adresser ? quelle vieille corde naturelle doit-il toucher en lui ? Est-ce le souvenir de ses enfants ? - un souvenir de misère, de maladie, de fièvre et de scrofule ? Est-ce ses espoirs, ses espoirs latents d'immortalité ? Il est tellement entouré et enfoncé dans la saleté matérielle, que son âme ne peut s'élever à la contemplation des grandes vérités de la religion. Ou s'il s'agit d'un enfant misérable élevé et nourri dans un endroit répugnant et répugnant, et tenté, en ces jours meilleurs, dans l'école en lambeaux, que peuvent faire quelques heures d'enseignement contre la leçon toujours renouvelée d'une existence entière ? Mais donnez-leur un aperçu du ciel à travers un peu de sa lumière et de son air ; donnez-leur de l'eau; aidez-les à être purs; alléger cette atmosphère lourde dans laquelle leurs spiritsflag et dans laquelle ils deviennent les choses insensibles qu'ils sont ; prendre le corps du parent mort de la pièce fermée dans laquelle les vivants vivent avec lui, et où la mort, étant

• L'évêque de Ripon (Dr Longley) .

RÉFORME SANITAIRE. 1851.familier, perd sa crainte ; et ensuite ils seront amenés à entendre parler de lui dont les pensées étaient tellement avec les pauvres, et qui avait de la compassion pour toutes les souffrances humaines.Le toast que j'ai à proposer, le Conseil de santé, a droit à tout l'honneur qui peut être conféré Nous avons très près de nous, à Kensington, une illustration transparente qu'aucune très grande chose ne peut jamais être accomplie sans qu'une immense quantité d'abus ne soit entassée dessus. En relation avec le Conseil de la santé, nous entendons toujours un très grand mot qui est toujours prononcé avec un très grand goût le mot centralisation. Maintenant, je soutiens qu'à l'époque du choléra, nous avons eu une assez bonne occasion de juger entre cette soi-disant centralisation et ce que je peux, je pense, appeler "vestrylisation". J'ose dire que la société présente a lu les rapports du Cholera Board of Health, et je daresay ils ont également lu des rapports de certainsvestries. J'ai l'honneur d'appartenir à une circonscription qui a élu cet organe incroyable, la sacristie de Marylebone, et je pense que si la société présente se tournera vers ce qui a été fait par le Conseil de santé de Glasgow, puis contrastera ces procédures avec la merveilleuse intelligence avec laquelle les affaires ont été géré à la même période par myvestry, il y aura très peu de difficulté à juger entre eux. Ma sacristie a même pris sur elle de nier l'existence du choléra en tant que faible invention de l'ennemi, et cette négation n'a eu que peu ou pas d'effet pour arrêter la progression de la maladie. Nous pouvons maintenant opposer ce qu'est la centralisation telle qu'elle est représentée par quelques messieurs bruyants et intéressés, et ce qu'est la centralisation lorsqu'elle est élaborée par un corps combinant des habitudes d'affaires, de solides connaissances médicales et sociales, et une sincère sympathie pour les souffrances des classes laborieuses. Board of Health est transmis dans9130 les discours de CHARLES Dickens. 10 mai 1851. un mot moins grand que l'autre : « Délai ». Je suggérerais, à cet égard, qu'il serait très déraisonnable de se plaindre qu'un chronomètre de premier ordre ne marche pas quand son maître ne l'a pas remonté. Le Conseil de la santé peut être parfaitement adapté pour aller et très désireux et anxieux d'aller, et pourtant peut ne pas être autorisé à aller parce que son maître légitime est tombé dans un doux sommeil et a oublié de le mettre en marche. L'un des orateurs de ce soir a évoqué la mise en garde de Lord Castlereagh "ne pas crier tant qu'ils ne sont pas sortis du bois". En ce qui concerne le Board of Trade, je dirais qu'ils ne devraient pas crier tant qu'ils ne sont pas sortis des bois et forêts. Dans cette région feuillue, le Conseil de santé subit toutes sortes de retards, et cela doit toujours être gardé à l'esprit. Avec le toast du Conseil de santé, je joindrai le nom d'un noble (Ashley), dont aucun homme ne peut douter du sérieux dans les œuvres de bienveillance, et qui a le courage en toutes occasions d'affronter le cant qui est le pire et le plus commun de tous - le dévers sur le dévers de la philanthropie.XV.GARDENING.LONDRES, LE 9 JUIN 1851.[Lors du dîner d'anniversaire de la Gardeners' Benevolent Institution, tenue sous la présidence de M., après Sir Joseph Paxton, M. Charles Dickens a fait ce qui suit Discours :-]SENSEZ un intérêt illimité et délicieux pour tous les buts et associations de jardinage. Il n'y a probablement aucun sentiment dans l'esprit humain plus fort que l'amour du jardinage. Le prisonnier fera un jardin dans sa prison, et cultivera sa fleur solitaire dans la fente d'un mur. Le pauvre mécanicien enchaînera son haricot écarlate d'un côté à l'autre de sa fenêtre, et le regardera et le tendra avec un intérêt incessant. C'est un devoir sacré dans les pays étrangers de décorer les tombes des morts avec des fleurs, et ici aussi, les lieux de repos de ceux qui nous sont décédés seront bientôt des jardins. Depuis cette époque où le Seigneur marchait dans le jardin dans la fraîcheur du soir, jusqu'au jour où un poète lauréat a chanté132 les discours de CHARLES dickens du 9 juin. et sa femmeSourient aux affirmations d'une longue descendance, "de tout temps et à toutes les époques, les jardins ont été parmi les objets du plus grand intérêt pour l'humanité. Il y en a peut-être quelques-uns, mais je crois qu'ils ne sont que quelques-uns, qui ne s'intéressent pas aux produits du jardinage, sauf peut-être dans « LondonPride », ou un certain type dégénéré de « Stock », qui est apte à se développer ici, cultivé par une espèce ofgeled-outgardeners qu'aucun dégel ne peut jamais pénétrer : à l'exception de ceux-ci, l'art des jardiniers a contribué au plaisir de tous les menin leur temps. Qu'il devrait y avoir une institution de prévoyance bienveillante pour les jardiniers est dans la forme des choses, et qu'une telle institution devrait s'épanouir et s'épanouir l'est encore plus. Je me suis levé pour vous proposer la santé d'un gentlemanqui est un grand jardinier, et non seulement un grand jardinier mais un grand homme—la croissance d'une fine racine saxonne cultivée avec une puissance d'intellect à une plante qui est à ce moment-là le sujet du monde civilisé—je fais allusion, bien sûr, à mon amile président du jour. J'ai pris l'occasion de dire lors d'une assemblée publique difficile, il y a un mois ou deux, en parlant de ce merveilleux bâtiment que M. Paxton a conçu pour la GreatExhibition à Hyde Park, qu'il aurait dû tomber, mais qu'il a refusé de le faire . On nous a dit que le verre aurait dû être tout brisé, les gouttières toutes étouffées, et le bâtiment inondé, et que le toit et les côtés auraient dû être soufflés; en bref que tout aurait dû faire ce que tout s'obstinait à ne pas faire. La terre, l'air, le feu et l'eau semblent tous avoir conspiré en faveur de M. Paxton - tous ont conspiré ensemble pour un résultat, qui, lorsque la génération actuelle est poussière ,1851.GARDENING.sera un temple durable à son honneur, et à l'énergie, au talent et aux ressources des Anglais. homme, mais il y a une objection à lui que vous ne pouvez jamais surmonter, c'est-à-dire qu'il est jardinier." Maintenant c'est notre cas ce soir, qu'il est jardinier, et nous en sommes extrêmement fiers. C'est un grand âge, avec tous ses défauts, où un homme, par la puissance de son propre génie et de son bon sens, peut escalader une hauteur aussi audacieuse que celle que M. Paxton a atteinte, et placer calmement sa forme sur le dessus. C'est un grand âge, où un homme animé d'une idée utile peut réaliser son projet sans être emprisonné, ni bridé, ni persécuté sous aucune forme. Je peux bien comprendre que vous, à qui le génie, l'intelligence, l'industrie et les réalisations de notre ami sont bien connus, teniez à lui faire honneur en le plaçant dans la position qu'il occupe ce soir; et je vous assure, vous avez conféré une grande satisfaction à l'un de ses amis, en lui permettant d'avoir l'occasion de proposer sa santé, ce que cet ami fait maintenant le plus cordialement et avec tous les honneurs.XVI.GARDENERS AND GARDENING.LONDRES, LE 14 JUIN 1852 .[Le dîner du neuvième anniversaire de la Gardeners' Benevolent Institution a eu lieu à la date ci-dessus à la taverne de Londres. La compagnie comptait plus de 150 personnes. Le dessert était digne de l'occasion, et un effet admirable a été produit par une profusion de fleurs naturelles sur les tables et dans la décoration de la salle. La chaise a été prise par M. Charles Dickens, qui, en proposant le toast de la soirée, a parlé comme suit :—] ,OU trois fois trois ans, la BenevolentInstitution des jardiniers a été stimulée et encouragée par des réunions comme celle-ci, et par trois fois threecheers nous l'encouragerons dans sa carrière prospère. [ Thecheers were warmlygiven.]Occupant le poste que je fais maintenant, je me sens quelque chose comme un avocat pour le demandeur avec personne de l'autre côté ; buteven si j'avais été placé dans cette position quatre-vingt-dix fois neuf, il serait toujours de mon devoir d'énoncer quelques faits du brief veryshort avec lequel j'ai été fourni.Cette institution a été fondée en l'an 1838. Au cours des cinq premières années de son existence, il n'était pas particulièrement robuste, et semblait avoir été placé dans une position plutôt ombragée, recevant un peu plus que son allocationd'eau froide nécessaire. En 1843, il a été retiré dans une position plus favorableJune 14, 1852.JARDINIERS ET JARDINAGE.capable, et greffé sur un stock plus noble, et il a porté des fruits, et est devenu un arbre si vigoureux qu'à présent trente-cinq personnes âgées s'assoient quotidiennement dans le Abri d'itsbranches, et tous les retraités sur la liste ont été de véritables jardiniers, ou les épouses de jardiniers. Il est géré par des jardiniers, et il a dans ses livres l'excellente règle que tout jardinier qui y a souscrit pendant quinze ans, et s'est conformé aux règles, peut, s'il le veut, être placé sur la liste des retraités sans élection, sans toile, sans sollicitation, et comme son droit indépendant. J'insiste beaucoup sur cette caractéristique honorable de la charité, car le principe essentiel d'une telle institution devrait être d'aider ceux qui s'aident eux-mêmes. Que les retraités de la Société ne le deviennent pas tant qu'ils sont capables de subvenir à leurs besoins, est démontré par le fait significatif que l'âge moyen de ceux qui sont maintenant sur la liste est de soixante-dix-sept ans ; qu'ils ne gaspillent pas est prouvé par le fait que la somme totale dépensée pour leur soulagement n'est que de 500 £ par an ; que l'Institution ne se limite pas à des limites étroites, est démontré par la circonstance que les pensionnés viennent de toutes les parties de l'Angleterre, tandis que toutes les dépenses sont payées sur le revenu annuel et les intérêts sur le stock, et ne sont donc pas disproportionnées à ses moyens. Telle est l'institution qui vous appelle à travers moi, en tant qu'avocat le plus indigne, pour la sympathie et le soutien, anInstitution qui a pour président un noble dont l'ensemble des possessions est remarquable pour le goût et la beauté, et dont les lauriers du jardinier sont célèbres dans le monde entier. Dans le liste de ses vice-présidents il y a les noms de manynobles et messieurs de grande influence et station, et j'ai été frappé en regardant à travers la liste de ses partisans, avec les sommes écrites contre les noms des

• Le duc de Devonshire.

105136 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS, 14 juin.de nombreux pépiniéristes et semenciers y compris . J'espère que le jour viendra où chaque jardinier d'Angleterre sera membre de l'organisme de bienfaisance. Le jardinier a particulièrement besoin d'une telle disposition que cette institution offre. Ses gains ne sont pas grands; il connaît l'or et l'argent plus comme étant de la couleur des fruits et des fleurs que par sa présence dans ses poches ; il est soumis à ce genre de travail qui le rend particulièrement sujet à l'infirmité ; et quand la vieillesse l'atteint, le jardinier est peut-être de tous les hommes le mieux à même d'apprécier les mérites d'une telle institution. la société sont évidentes. Dans la culture des fleurs, il ne peut y avoir, de par leur nature même, rien de solitaire ou d'exclusif. Le vent qui souffle sur le cottager'sporch balaye également les terres du noble; et comme la pluie tombe sur les justes et sur les injustes, elle communique à tous les jardiniers, riches et pauvres, un échange de plaisir et de jouissance ; et le jardinier de l'homme riche, en développant et en améliorant une saveur fructueuse ou un parfum agréable, est, en quelque sorte, le jardinier de tout le monde. L'amour du jardinage est associé à toutes les conditions des hommes et à toutes les périodes de temps. Le savant et l'homme d'État, hommes de paix et hommes de guerre, se sont accordés de tout temps à se complaire dans les jardins. Les peuples les plus anciens de la terre avaient des jardins où il n'y a plus que des tas de terre solitaires. Le pauvre homme dans les jardins des villes surpeuplées, toujours dans des cruches, des bassins et des bouteilles : dans les usines et les ateliers, les gens jardinent ; et même le prisonnier est retrouvé gar.1852.JARDINIERS ET JARDINAGE.dening dans sa cellule solitaire, après des années et des années de confinement solitaire. Assurément, alors, le jardinier qui produit des formes et des objets si beaux et si réconfortants devrait avoir une certaine emprise sur le souvenir du monde lorsqu'il aura lui-même besoin de réconfort. supplie de coupler avec ce toast le nom de son noble président, le duc de Devonshire, dont la valeur est écrite dans tous ses actes, et qui a communiqué à son titre et à sa richesse un lustre qu'aucun titre et aucune richesse ne pourraient conférer.[ Plus tard dans la soirée, M. Dickens a dit :-]Mon bureau m'a obligé à fleurir si souvent que je pourrais souhaiter qu'il y ait un parallèle plus étroit entre moi et l'aloès américain. Il est particulièrement agréable et approprié de savoir que les parents de cette institution se trouvent dans le commerce des semences et des pépinières ; et la semence ayant produit de si bons fruits, et la pépinière ayant produit un enfant si sain, j'ai le plus grand plaisir de proposer la santé des parents de l'institution. [En proposant la santé des trésoriers, M. Dickens a déclaré :-] Mon observation des enseignes de ce pays m'a appris que ses jardiniers conventionnels sont toujours joyeux, et toujours au nombre de trois. Est-ce que cette convention fait référence aux Trois Grâces, ou à ces lettres très significatives, L., S. , D. , je ne sais pas. Ces lettres mystiques sont cependant les plus importantes, et aucune société ne peut avoir des officiers plus importants que ses trésoriers, ni peut-être leur donner trop à faire.SXVII.BIRMINGHAM, LE 6 JANVIER 1853.[Le jeudi 6 janvier 1853, à les salles de la Society of Artists, à Temple Row, Birmingham, une grande entreprise réunie pour assister à la présentation d'un témoignage à M. Charles Dickens, composé d'un salver doré et d'une bague en diamant. M. Dickens a reconnu l'hommage, et l'adresse qui l'accompagnait, dans les termes suivants :-]ENTLEMEN, je pense qu'il est très difficile, je vous assure, de vous offrir des myacknowledgements, et à travers vous, à ces nombreux amis que vous représentez, pour cet honneur et distinction que vous m'avez conférée. Je peux très honnêtement vous assurer qu'il est au pouvoir d'un grand représentant d'un grand nombre de personnes d'éveiller en moi le bonheur tel qu'il est inspiré par ce gage de bonne volonté et de souvenir, venant à moi directement et frais de les chiffres eux-mêmes. Je suis vraiment sensible, messieurs, que mes amis qui se sont unis dans cette adresse sont partiels dans leur gentillesse, et considèrent ce que j'ai fait avec une trop grande faveur. Mais je peux dire, en référence à une classe, dont certains membres, je présume, sont inclus là-que je devrais à mes propres yeux être très indigne à la fois du don généreux et du sentiment généreux qui a été démontré, et cette occasion, au lieu de plaisir, ne me donnerait que de la douleur, si je n'étais pas en mesure de les assurer, et ceux qui sont enjanv. 6, 1953.LITTÉRATURE D'ANGLETERRE.devant cette assemblée, que ce que les travailleurs m'ont trouvé envers eux dans mes livres, je le suis tout au long de ma vie. Messieurs, toutes les fois que j'ai essayé de faire admirer leur force d'âme, leur patience, leur douceur, le caractère raisonnable de leur nature, si accessible à la persuasion, et leur extraordinaire bonté les uns envers les autres, je l'ai fait parce que j'ai d'abord sincèrement ressenti cette admiration moi-même, et ont été profondément imprégnés du sentiment que je cherchais à communiquer aux autres. Je vous assure, et avec la plus vive gratitude. Vous vous rappelez quelque chose, j'ose dire, des vieilles histoires romantiques de ces bagues charmées qui perdaient leur éclat quand leur porteur était en danger, ou pressaient son doigt avec reproche quand il allait faire le très mauvais événement. improbable que je sois dans le moindre danger d'avoir abandonné les principes qui m'ont valu ces jetons, je suis sûr que le diamant de cette bague prendrait un aspect assombri à mon œil infidèle et, je le sais, expulserait une douleur de mon cœur traître. Mais je n'ai pas la moindre inquiétude sur ce point ; et, dans cette attente confiante, je retirerai ma propre vieille bague en diamant de ma main gauche, et porterai à l'avenir la bague de Birmingham sur ma droite, où sa prise me gardera à l'esprit des bons amis que j'ai ici, et en souvenir vif de cette happyhour.Messieurs, en conclusion, permettez-moi de vous remercier, ainsi que la société à qui appartiennent ces salles, que la présentation s'est déroulée dans une atmosphère si agréable pour moi, et dans un appartement décoré de tant de belles œuvres d'art, parmi lesquelles je reconnais devant moi les productions de140 LES DISCOURS DE CILARLES DICKENS du 6 janvier, .amis à moi, dont les travaux et les triomphes ne seront jamais des sujets d'indifférence pour moi. Je remercie ces messieurs de me pardonner l'occasion de les rencontrer ici à une occasion qui a un lien avec leurs propres travaux ; et, bien que ce ne soit pas le moins important, je présente mes remerciements à cette charmante présence, sans laquelle rien de beau ne peut être complet, et qui est affectueusement associé à des bagues d'une description plus simple, et qui, je dois l'avouer, éveille dans mon esprit à l'heure actuelle un sentiment de regret que je ne sois pas en état de faire une offre de ces témoignages. Je vous prie, messieurs, de me recommander sincèrement et avec gratitude à nos amis absents, et de les assurer de mon respect affectueux et sincère. La société s'est ensuite ajournée à Dee's Hotel, où a eu lieu un banquet, auquel environ 220 personnes étaient présentes, parmi lesquelles étaient parmi les plus distingués des académiciens royaux. Au toast de « The Literatureof England », M. Dickens a répondu comme suit :M. Monsieur le Maire et Messieurs, je suis heureux, au nom de nombreux ouvriers de ce grand domaine de la littérature auquel vous avez porté le toast, de vous remercier de l'hommage que vous lui avez rendu. Un tel honneur, rendu par acclamation dans un endroit comme celui-ci, me semble, si je peux suivre du même côté que le vénérable archidiacre (Sandford) qui s'est adressé à vous, et qui m'a inspiré une gratification que je ne pourrai jamais oublier, un tel l'honneur, messieurs, rendu ici, me semble une illustration à double face de la position que la littérature occupe en ces derniers jours et, bien sûr, "dégénérés". À la grande phalange compacte du peuple, dont l'industrie, la persévérance et l'intelligence, et leur résultat en richesse monétaire, des endroits tels que Birming1353.ham, et bien d'autres comme lui, ont surgi - à ce grand centre de soutien, cette expérience complète , et le cœur battant, la littérature s'est heureusement détournée des patrons individuels, parfois munificents, souvent sordides, toujours peu nombreux, et y a trouvé à la fois son objectif le plus élevé, sa gamme d'action naturelle et sa meilleure récompense. Il est donc juste aussi, me semble-t-il, non seulement que la littérature reçoive ici des honneurs, mais qu'elle y rende aussi des honneurs, en se rappelant que si elle a assurément fait du bien à Birmingham, Birmingham lui a assurément fait du bien. De la honte de la dédicace achetée, du travail calomnieux et sale de Grub Street, du siège dépendant de la souffrance à la table de mon seigneur duc aujourd'hui, et de la maison spongieuse ou Marshalsea demain-de cette vénalité qui, par une belle morale la rétribution, a dégradé les hommes d'État encore plus que les auteurs, parce que l'homme d'État entretenait une faible croyance en l'universalité de la corruption, tandis que l'auteur n'a cédé qu'à la nécessité extrême de son appel—de tous ces maux, le peuple a libéré la littérature. Et mon credo dans l'exercice de cette profession est que la littérature ne peut pas être trop fidèle au peuple en retour, ne peut pas défendre trop ardemment la cause de son avancement, de son bonheur et de sa prospérité. J'ai entendu dire parfois - et ce qui est pis, comme exprimant quelque chose de plus froid, je l'ai parfois vu écrit - que la littérature a souffert de ce changement, qu'elle a dégénéré en étant rendue moins chère. Je n'ai pas trouvé que c'était le cas : je ne crois pas non plus que vous ayez fait la découverte. Mais qu'un bon livre en ces «mauvais» temps soit rendu accessible, même sur un sujet abstrus et difficile, afin qu'il soit d'un intérêt légitime pour l'humanité, - et ma vie dessus, il sera largement acheté, lu et bien considéré. LITTÉRATURE D'ANGLETERRE. 141143 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 6 janvier, pourquoi dis-je cela ? Parce que je crois qu'il y a à Birmingham en ce moment beaucoup d'ouvriers infiniment mieux versés dans Shakespeare et dans Milton que la moyenne des gentilshommes officieux à l'époque des dédicaces achetées et vendues et des chers livres. Je demande à quiconque de considérer par lui-même qui, à l'heure actuelle, donne le plus grand encouragement relatif à la diffusion de publications aussi utiles que "l'histoire de Macaulay", "les recherches de Layard", "les poèmes de Tennyson", "les dépêches publiées du duc de Wellington", ou les vérités les plus infimes (si une vérité peut être appelée infime) découvertes par le génie d'un Herschel ou d'un Faraday ? C'est avec toutes ces choses comme avec la grande musique de Mendelssohn, ou une conférence sur l'art-si nous avons eu la chance d'en écouter une demain-par mon distingué ami le président de l'Académie royale. Aussi petit que soit le public, peu importe le cercle contracté dans l'eau, en premier lieu, les gens sont plus proches de la gamme plus large à l'extérieur, et les SisterArts, pendant qu'ils les instruisent, tirent un avantage et une amélioration sains de leur sympathie immédiate et de leur réponse cordiale . Je peux citer le cas de la magnifique photo de mon ami Mr. Ward ; * et la réception de cette image ici est un exemple qu'il n'est pas maintenant de la province de l'art en peinture de se tenir dans l'isolement monastique, qu'il ne peut pas espérer reposer sur une seule fondation pour son grand temple,—sur la simple pose classique d'un figure, ou les plis de l'adraperie, mais qu'il doit être imprégné de passions et d'action humaines, informé du bien et du mal de l'homme, et, étant ainsi informé, il peut sans crainte se mettre à son procès, comme le criminel d'autrefois, pour être jugé par Dieu et sa patrie. Messieurs, pour revenir et conclure, car j'aurai encore l'occasion de vous troubler. Pour cette fois, je n'ai qu'une fois de plus à répéter ce que j'ai déjà dit. Comme j'ai commencé avec

• Charlotte Corday passe à l'Exécution.

1853.INSTITUTIONS DE BIRMINGHAM. La littérature, je finirai par là. Je dirais simplement que je crois qu'aucun vrai homme, avec quelque chose à dire, n'a besoin d'avoir le moindre doute, que ce soit pour lui-même ou pour son message, devant un grand nombre d'auditeurs - en supposant toujours qu'il ne soit pas affligé de l'idée coxcombique d'écrire à l'intelligence populaire , au lieu d'écrire l'intelligence populaire jusqu'à lui-même, si, par hasard, il est au-dessus d'elle;—et, à condition toujours qu'il se livre clairement de ce qui est en lui, ce qui ne semble pas être une stipulation déraisonnable, il est supposé qu'il a quelques dim conception de se faire comprendre. Au nom de cette littérature à laquelle vous avez fait tant d'honneur, je vous prie de vous remercier très cordialement, et en mon nom propre, pour l'accueil le plus flatteur que vous avez donné à celui dont la revendication est, qu'il a la distinction d'en faire sa profession. Plus tard dans la soirée, M. Dickens a porté un toast, "TheEducational Institutions of Birmingham", dans le discours suivant:Je suis prié de proposer—ou, selon l'hypothèse de mon ami, M. Owen, je suis dans le caractère temporaire d'un publicité ambulante pour vous faire de la publicité - les institutions éducatives de Birmingham ; annonce sur laquelle j'ai le plus grand plaisir d'attirer votre attention. Messieurs, il est juste que je mentionne en tant de mots la plus éminente de ces institutions, non parce que vos souvenirs locaux exigent une incitation quelconque, mais parce que l'énumération implique ce qui a été fait ici, ce que vous faites et ce que vous ferez encore. Je crois que la première est la King Edward's Grammar School, avec ses diverses branches, et parmi elles se trouve le moyen le plus admirable de former les épouses d'hommes qui travaillent à être de bonnes épouses et des épouses qui travaillent, l'ornement principal de leurs maisons, et les 144 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 6 janvier, cause de bonheur pour les autres, je veux dire ces excellentes écoles de filles dans diverses parties de la ville, que, sous l'excellente surveillance du principal, je voudrais sincèrement voir dans toutes les villes d'Angleterre. Ensuite, Ibelieve, est le Spring Hill College, une institution savante appartenant au corps des indépendants, au premier rang desquels les professeurs de littérature sont fiers de saluer M. HenryRogers comme l'un des contributeurs les plus solides et les plus capables de l'Edinburgh Review. Le suivant est le Queen's College, qui, je puis dire, n'est qu'un nouveau-né ; mais, entre les mains d'un si admirable docteur, on peut espérer le voir arriver à une maturité vigoureuse. La prochaine est l'école de design, qui, comme l'a bien observé mon ami SirCharles Eastlake, est inestimable dans un endroit comme celui-ci ; et, enfin, il y a l'Institution polytechnique, à l'égard de laquelle j'ai eu il y a longtemps l'occasion d'exprimer ma profonde conviction qu'elle était d'une importance indicible pour une communauté telle que celle-ci, lorsque j'ai eu l'honneur d'être présent, sous les auspices de votre excellent représentant, M. Scholefield. C'est le dernier de ce qui a été fait de manière éducative. Ils sont tous admirables dans leur genre, mais je suis heureux de constater que plus est encore en train de faire. Il y a quelques jours, j'ai reçu un journal de Birmingham, contenant un compte rendu très intéressant d'une réunion préliminaire pour la formation d'une école réformatrice pour jeunes délinquants. Vous n'êtes pas exempts ici de l'honneur de sauver ces pauvres, négligés et misérables parias. J'ai lu un bébé de six ans, qui a été deux fois plus souvent entre les mains de la police que les années ont passé sur sa tête dévouée. Ce sont les œufs à partir desquels les oiseaux de prison sont éclos; si vous souhaitez vérifier cette terrible couvée, vous devez prendre les jeunes et les innocents, et les faire élever par des mains chrétiennes.1853.INSTITUTIONS ÉDUCATIVES. 145Enfin, je me réjouis de constater qu'il y a sur le pied un plan pour une nouvelle Institution Littéraire et Scientifique, qui serait digne même de cette place, s'il n'y avait rien de ce genre en elle - une institution, telle que je la comprends, où les mots " exclusion " et " l'exclusivité " seront tout à fait inconnues - où toutes les classes peuvent se réunir dans une confiance, un respect et une confiance communs - où il y aura une grande galerie de peinture et de statuaire ouverte à l'inspection et à l'admiration de tous - où il y aura un musée de modèles dans lesquels l'industrie peut observer ses diverses sources de fabrication, et le mécanicien peut élaborer de nouvelles combinaisons et arriver à de nouveaux résultats - où les mines mêmes sous la terre et sous la mer ne seront pas oubliées, mais présentées en peu à l'œil curieux - une institution, en bref, où de nombreux et nombreux obstacles qui se dressent inévitablement sur le chemin accidenté du pauvre inventeur seront aplanis, et où, s'il a quelque chose en lui, il trouvera encouragement et espoir. J'observe avec un intérêt inhabituel et la gratification, qu'un groupe de messieurs vont pour un temps mettre de côté leurs prétentions individuelles sur d'autres sujets, et, en tant que bons citoyens, doivent être engagés dans un dessein aussi patriotique que possible. Ils ont l'intention de se réunir dans quelques jours pour faire avancer ce grand objet, et je vous demande, en buvant ce toast, de boire le succès à leur effort, et d'en faire l'engagement par tous les bons moyens de le promouvoir.Si je suis strictement suivi la liste des établissements d'enseignement à Birmingham, je n'aurais pas dû le faire ici, mais j'ai l'intention de m'arrêter, observant simplement que j'ai vu à quelques pas de cet endroit l'une des institutions les plus intéressantes et les plus pratiques pour les sourds-muets qui ait jamais été sous mon observation. J'ai vu dans les usines et les ateliers de Birmingham de si beaux ordres et regula10146 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 6 janvier 1853.rity, et une si grande considération pour les travailleurs fournis, qu'ils pourraient à juste titre être également considérés comme éducatifs. J'ai vu dans votre magnifique hôtel de ville, quand les concerts bon marché s'y déroulent, également une admirable institution d'enseignement. J'en ai vu les résultats dans le comportement de vos travailleurs, parfaitement équilibré par un bel instinct, aussi exempt de servilité d'un côté, que de vanité de l'autre. C'est un plaisir parfait d'avoir besoin de poser une question, ne serait-ce que de la manière de la réponse, une manière que je n'ai jamais su passer inaperçue par un étranger observateur. Rassemblez ces fils, et beaucoup d'autres que je n'ai pas abordés, et en tissant tout le bon tissu intoone, rappelez-vous combien est inclus sous le chef général des établissements d'enseignement de votre ville.XVIII.LONDRES, 30 AVRIL 1853.Lors de l'assemblée annuelle Dîner de l'Académie royale, le président, Sir Charles Eastlake, a proposé comme un toast, " Les intérêts de la littérature, " et sélectionné pour les représentants du monde des lettres, le doyen de St. Paul's andMr. Charles Dickens. Dean Milman ayant remercié, ]M. DICKENS s'est alors adressé au président, qui, il convient de le mentionner, occupait une grande et belle chaise, le dossier recouvert de velours cramoisi, placé juste avant la photo de Stanfield de la victoire.M. Dickens, après avoir offert ses remerciements pour le toast, et l'honneur qui lui a été fait d'y associer son nom, a dit que ces remerciements n'étaient pas moins sincères parce qu'il était incapable de reconnaître dans ce toast le désintéressement habituel du président ; puisque la littérature anglaise pouvait à peine être rappelée dans n'importe quel endroit, et, certainement, pas dans une école d'art, sans un souvenir très distinct de ses propres écrits de bon goût, pour ne rien dire de cette autre et meilleure partie de lui-même, qui, malheureusement, n'était pas visible sur ces occasions.Si, comme le noble Lord, le commandant en chef (ViscountHardinge), il (M. Dickens) pourrait se risquer à illustrer hisbriefthanks avec un mot de référence à la noble pictureT148 DISCOURS DE CHARLES Dickens. Le 30 avril 1853peint par un de ses très chers amis, qui était un peu éclipsé ce soir-là par la chaise radieuse et rubicond que le président maintenant si heureusement atténuait, il demanderait la permission de dire que, comme la littérature ne pouvait nulle part être honorée de manière plus appropriée qu'en cet endroit, alors il pensait qu'elle ne pouvait nulle part ressentir une plus grande gratification dans les liens qui la liaient aux arts sœurs. Il s'est jamais senti dans cet endroit que la littérature a trouvé, grâce à leur instrumentalité, toujours une nouvelle expression, et dans une langue universelle.VEXIX.LONDRES, 1 MAI 1853 .64 [Lors d'un dîner donné par le Lord Maire à la Mansion House, le abovedate , M. le juge Talfourd proposa comme toast la littérature anglo-saxonne, "et fit allusion à M. Dickens comme ayant employé la fiction comme moyen d'éveiller l'attention sur la condition des classes opprimées et souffrantes :-] 66. M. DICKENS répondit à ce toast en Dans la première partie de la soirée, en réponse à un toast sur le département de la chancellerie, le vice-chancelier Wood, qui a parlé en l'absence du lord chancelier, a fait une sorte de défense de la cour de la chancellerie, sans faire distinctement allusion à Bleak House, butévidemment non sans y faire référence. Le montant de ce qu'il a dit était que la Cour avait reçu un grand nombre d'opinions morehard qu'elle ne méritait ; qu'ils avaient été parcimonieusement obligés d'effectuer une grande quantité d'affaires par un nombre très insuffisant de juges ; mais que plus récemment, le nombre de juges avait été porté à sept, et il y avait des raisons d'espérer que toutes les affaires portées devant lui seraient désormais exécutées sans retard inutile. il, comme il avait confiance maintenant150 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS le 1er mai 1853. .qu'un costume, dans lequel il était très intéressé, arriverait rapidement à une fin. J'ai entendu une petite conversation entre M. Dickens et un gentleman du barreau, qui était assis en face de moi, dans lequel ce dernier semblait réitérer les mêmes affirmations, et j'ai compris qu'il disait qu'un cas pas extraordinairement compliqué pourrait être résolu en trois mois. M. Dickens a dit qu'il était très heureux de l'entendre; mais j'ai pensé il y avait une petite nuance d'incrédulité dans ses manières ; cependant, l'incident montra une chose, c'est que la chancellerie n'était pas insensible aux représentations de Dickens ; mais le ton général de la chose était tout à fait bon enfant et agréable. "*

• Ce qui précède est extrait de « Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands » de Mme Stowe, un livre dans lequel ses propensions à écouter indiscrète étaient déjà développées sous une forme suffisamment laide.-ED.

XX.BIRMINGHAM, DECEMBER 30, 1853.[The first of the Readings generously given by Mr. Charles Dickens onbehalf of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, took place on Tuesdayevening, December 27, 1853, at the Birmingham Town Hall, where, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, nearly two thousand personshad assembled. The work selected was the Christmas Carol. The highmimetic powers possessed by Mr. Dickens enabled him to personate withremarkable force the various characters of the story, and with admirableskill to pass rapidly from the hard, unbelieving Scrooge, to trusting andthankful Bob Cratchit, and from the genial fulness of Scrooge's nephew, tothe hideous mirth of the party assembled in Old Joe the Ragshop-keeper'sparlour. The reading occupied more than three hours, but so interestedwere the audience, that only one or two left the Hall previously to its termination, andthe loud and frequent bursts of applause attested the successfuldischarge ofthe reader's arduous task. On Thursday evening Mr. Dickensread The Cricket on the Hearth. The Hall was again well filled, and thetale, though deficient in the dramatic interest of the Carol, was listened towith attention, and rewarded with repeated applause. On Fridayevening,the Christmas Carol was read a second time to a large assemblage ofwork-people, for whom, at Mr. Dickens's special request, the major partof the vast edifice was reserved. Before commencing the tale, Mr. Dickensdelivered the following brief address, almost every sentence of which was received with loudly expressed applause. ]Y GOOD FRIENDS, -When I first imparted to thecommittee of the projected Institute my particularwish that on one of the evenings of my readingshere the main body of my audience should be composed ofworking men and their families, I was animated by two desires; first, by the wish to have the great pleasure of meet152 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.Dec. 30,ing you face to face at this Christmas time, and accompanyyou myself through one of my little Christmas books; andsecond, by the wish to have an opportunity of stating publicly in your presence, and in the presence of the committee,my earnest hope that the Institute will, from the beginning,recognise one great principle-strong in reason and justice-which I believe to be essential to the very life of such anInstitution. It is, that the working man shall, from the firstunto the last, have a share in the management of an Institution which is designed for his benefit, and which callsitself by his name.I have no fear here of being misunderstood-of beingsupposed to mean too much in this. If there ever was atime when any one class could of itself do much for itsown good, and for the welfare of society—which I greatlydoubt that time is unquestionably past. It is in the fusionof different classes, without confusion; in the bringing together of employers and employed; in the creating of abetter common understanding among those whose interestsare identical, who depend upon each other, who are vitallyessential to each other, and who never can be in unnaturalantagonism without deplorable results, that one of the chiefprinciples of a Mechanics' Institution should consist. Inthis world a great deal of the bitterness among us arisesfrom an imperfect understanding of one another. Erect inBirmingham a great Educational Institution, properly educational; educational of the feelings as well as of thereason; to which all orders of Birmingham men contribute;in which all orders of Birmingham men meet; wherein allorders of Birmingham men are faithfully represented -andyou will erect a Temple of Concord here which will be amodel edifice to the whole of England.Contemplating as I do the existence of the Artisans'A TEMPLE OF CONCORD.Committee, which not long ago considered the establishmentof the Institute so sensibly, and supported it so heartily, Iearnestly entreat the gentlemen-earnest I know in thegood work, and who are now among us,-by all means toavoid the great shortcoming of similar institutions; and inasking the working man for his confidence, to set him thegreat example and give him theirs in return. You willjudge for yourselves if I promise too much for the workingman, when I say that he will stand by such an enterprisewith the utmost of his patience, his perseverance, sense,and support; that I am sure he will need no charitable aidor condescending patronage; but will readily and cheerfullypay for the advantages which it confers; that he will prepare himself in individual cases where he feels that theadverse circumstances around him have rendered it necessary; in a word, that he will feel his responsibility like anhonest man, and will most honestly and manfully dischargeit. I now proceed to the pleasant task to which I assureyou I have looked forward for a long time.1853.153At the close of the reading Mr. Dickens received a vote of thanks, and "three cheers, with three times three." As soon as the enthusiasm of theaudience would allow him to speak, Mr. Dickens said:You have heard so much of my voice since we met tonight, that I will only say, in acknowledgment of this affecting mark of your regard, that I am truly and sincerelyinterested in you; that any little service I have rendered toyou I have freely rendered from my heart; that I hope tobecome an honorary member of your great Institution, andwill meet you often there when it becomes practicallyuseful; that I thank you most affectionately for this newmark of your sympathy and approval; and that I wishyou many happy returns of this great birthday-time, andmany prosperous years.SummeXXI.COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS.LONDON, DECEMBER 30, 1854.[The following speech was made by Mr. Dickens at the Anniversary Dinner in commemoration of the foundation of the Commercial Travellers'Schools, held at the London Tavern on the above date. Mr. Dickenspresided on this occasion, and proposed the toasts. ]THINK it may be assumed that most of us hepresent knowsomething about travelling. I do notmean in distant regions or foreign countries, althoughI dare say some of us have had experience in that way, butat home, and within the limits of the United Kingdom. Idare say most of us have had experience of the extinct "fastcoaches," the " Wonders," " Taglionis," and " Tallyhos," ofother days. I daresay most of us remember certain modestpostchaises, dragging us down interminable roads, throughslush and mud, to little country towns with no visible population, except half-a-dozen men in smock-frocks, half-a-dozenwomen with umbrellas and pattens, and a washed- out dogor so shivering under the gables, to complete the desolatepicture. We can all discourse, I dare say, if so minded,about our recollections of the "Talbot," the " Queen'sHead," or the " Lion " of those days. We have all been tothat room on the ground floor on one side of the old innDec. 30, 1854.yard, not quite free from a certain fragrant smell of tobacco,where the cruets on the sideboard were usually absorbed bythe skirts of the box-coats that hung from the wall; whereawkward servants waylaid us at every turn, like so manyhuman man-traps; where county members, framed andglazed, were eternally presenting that petition which, somehow or other, had made their glory in the county, althoughnothing else had ever come of it. Where the books in thewindows always wanted the first, last, and middle leaves,and where the one man was always arriving at some unusualhour in the night, and requiring his breakfast at a similarlysingular period of the day. I have no doubt we could allbe very eloquent on the comforts of our favourite hotel,wherever it was-its beds, its stables, its vast amount ofposting, its excellent cheese, its head waiter, its capital dishes,its pigeon-pies, or its 1820 port. Or possibly we could recal our chaste and innocent admiration of its landlady, orour fraternal regard for its handsome chambermaid. A celebrated domestic critic once writing of a famous actress, renowned for her virtue and beauty, gave her the character ofbeingan " eminently gatherable-to-one's-arms sort ofperson. "Perhaps some one amongst us has borne a somewhat similartribute to the mental charms of the fair deities who presidedat our hotels.COMMERCIAL TRAVEllers. 155With the travelling characteristics of later times, we areall, no doubt, equally familiar. We know all about thatstation to which we must take our ticket, although we neverget there; and the other one at which we arrive after dark,certain to find it half a mile from the town, where the oldroad is sure to have been abolished, and the new road is goingto be made where the old neighbourhood has been tumbleddown, and the new one is not half built up. We know allabout that party on the platform who, with the best inten156 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. 30,tions, can do nothing for our luggage except pitch it into allsorts of unattainable places. We know all about that shortomnibus, in which one is to be doubled up, to the imminentdanger of the crown of one's hat; and about that fly, whoseleading peculiarity is never to be there when it is wanted.We know, too, how instantaneously the lights of the stationdisappear when the train starts, and about that grope to thenew Railway Hotel, which will be an excellent house whenthe customers come, but which at present has nothing to offerbut a liberal allowance of damp mortar and new lime.I record these little incidents of home travel mainly withthe object of increasing your interest in the purpose of thisnight's assemblage. Every traveller has a home of his own,and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.If he has no home, he learns the same lesson unselfishly byturning to the homes of other men. He may have his experiences of cheerful and exciting pleasures abroad; buthome is the best, after all, and its pleasures are the mostheartily and enduringly prized. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, every one must be prepared to learn that commercialtravellers, as a body, know how to prize those domestic relations from which their pursuits so frequently sever them; forno one could possibly invent a more delightful or more convincing testimony to the fact than they themselves haveoffered in founding and maintaining a school for the children.of deceased or unfortunate members of their own body; thosechildren who now appeal to you in mute but eloquent termsfrom the gallery.It is to support that school, founded with such high andfriendly objects, so very honourable to your calling, and souseful in its solid and practical results, that we are here tonight. It is to roof that building which is to shelter the children of your deceased friends with one crowning ornament,1854 COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS. 157the best that any building can have, namely, a receipt stampfor the full amount ofthe cost. It is for this that your activesympathy is appealed to, for the completion of your owngood work. You know how to put your hands to theplough in earnest as well as any men in existence, for thislittle book informs me that you raised last year no less asum than £8000, and while fully half of that sum consistedof new donations to the building fund, I find that the regularrevenue of the charity has only suffered to the extent of£30.After this, I most earnestly and sincerely say that were we allauthors together, I might boast, if in my profession were exhibited the same unity and steadfastness I find in yours.I will not urge on you the casualties of a life of travel, orthe vicissitudes of business, or the claims fostered by thatbond of brotherhood which ought always to exist amongstmen who are united in a common pursuit. You have alreadyrecognized those claims so nobly, that I will not presume tolay them before you in any further detail. Suffice it to saythat I do not think it is in your nature to do things by halves.I do not think you could do so if you tried, and I have amoral certainty that you never will try. To those gentlemenpresent who are not members of the travellers' body, I willsay in the words of the French proverb, " Heaven helpsthose who help themselves. " The Commercial Travellershaving helped themselves so gallantly, it is clear that thevisitors who come as a sort of celestial representatives oughtto bring that aid in their pockets which the precept teachesus to expect from them. With these few remarks, I beg togive you as a toast, " Success to the Commercial Travellers'School."[In proposing the health ofthe Army in the Crimea, Mr. Dickens said:—]T does not require any extraordinary sagacity in acommercial assembly to appreciate the dire153 CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES. Dcc. 30,evils of war. The great interests of trade enfeebled byit, the enterprise of better times paralysed by it, all thepeaceful arts bent down before it, too palpably indicate itscharacter and results, so that far less practical intelligencethan that by which I am surrounded would be sufficient toappreciate the horrors of war. But there are seasons whenthe evils of peace, though not so acutely felt, are immeasurably greater, and when a powerful nation, by admittingthe right of any autocrat to do wrong, sows by such complicity the seeds of its own ruin, and overshadows itself intime to come with that fatal influence which great and ambitious powers are sure to exercise over their weaker neighbours.Therefore it is, ladies and gentlemen, that the tree hasnot its root in English ground from which the yard wandcan be made that will measure-the mine has not its placein English soil that will supply the material of a pair ofscales to weigh the influence that may be at stake in thewar in which we are now straining all our energies. Thatwar is, at any time and in any shape, a most dreadful anddeplorable calamity, we need no proverb to tell us; but itis just because it is such a calamity, and because that calamity must not for ever be impending over us at the fancy ofone man against all mankind, that we must not allow thatman to darken from our view the figures of peace and justice between whom and us he now interposes.Ladies and gentlemen, if ever there were a time when thetrue spirits of two countries were really fighting in the causeof human advancement and freedom-no matter what diplomatic notes or other nameless botherations, from numberone to one hundred thousand and one, may have precededtheir taking the field-if ever there were a time when noblehearts were deserving well of mankind by exposing them1854 COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS.selves to the obedient bayonets of a rash and barbariantyrant, it is now, when the faithful children of England andFrance are fighting so bravely in the Crimea. Those faithful children are the admiration and wonder of the world, sogallantly are they discharging their duty; and therefore Ipropose to an assembly, emphatically representing the interests and arts of peace, to drink the health of the AlliedArmies of England and France, with all possible honours.159[In proposing the health of the Treasurer, Mr. Dickens said:---]If the President ofthis Institution had been here, I shouldpossibly have made one of the best speeches you everheard; but as he is not here, I shall turn to the next toaston my list:-" The health of your worthy Treasurer, Mr.George Moore," a name which is a synonym for integrity,enterprise, public spirit, and benevolence. He is one ofthemost zealous officers I ever saw in my life; he appears tome to have been doing nothing during the last week butrushing into and out of railway-carriages, and making eloquent speeches at all sorts of public dinners in favour ofthis charity. Last evening he was at Manchester, and thisevening he comes here, sacrificing his time and convenience,and exhausting in the meantime the contents of two vastleaden inkstands and no end of pens, with the energy offifty bankers' clerks rolled into one. But I clearly foreseethat the Treasurer will have so much to do to-night, suchgratifying sums to acknowledge and such large lines offigures to write in his books, that I feel the greatest consideration I can show him is to propose his health withoutfurther observation, leaving him to address you in his ownbehalf. I propose to you, therefore, the health of Mr.George Moore, the Treasurer of this charity, and I needhardly add that it is one which is to be drunk with all thehonours.160 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.Dcc. 30[Later in the evening, Mr. Dickens rose and said: —]So many travellers have been going up Mont Blanc lately,both in fact and in fiction, that I have heard recently of aproposal for the establishment of a Company to employ SirJoseph Paxton to take it down. Only one of those travellers, however, has been enabled to bring Mont Blanc toPiccadilly, and, by his own ability and good humour, so tothaw its eternal ice and snow, as that the most timid ladymay ascend it twice a-day, " during the holidays," without thesmallest danger or fatigue. Mr. Albert Smith, who is present amongst us to- night, is undoubtedly "a traveller." Ido not know whether he takes many orders, but this I cantestify, on behalf of the children of his friends, that he givesthem in the most liberal manner.We have also amongst us my friend Mr. Peter Cunningham, who is also a traveller, not only in right of his ableedition of Goldsmith's " Traveller," but in right of his admirable Handbook, which proves him to be a traveller in theright spirit through all the labyrinths of London. We havealso amongst us my friend Horace Mayhew, very well knownalso for his books, but especially for his genuine admirationof the company at that end of the room [Mr. Dickens herepointed to the ladies' gallery] , and who, whenever the fair sexis mentioned, will be found to have the liveliest personal interest in the conversation.Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to propose to you thehealth of these three distinguished visitors . They are alladmirable speakers, but Mr. Albert Smith has confessed tome, that on fairly balancing his own merits as a speaker anda singer, he rather thinks he excels in the latter art. Ihave, therefore, yielded to his estimate of himself, and Ihave now the pleasure of informing you that he will lead offthe speeches of the other two gentlemen with a song. Mr.1854.COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS.Albert Smith has just said to me in an earnest tone ofvoice,"What song would you recommend?" and I replied, “ Galignani's Messenger. " Ladies and gentlemen, I thereforebeg to propose the health of Messrs. Albert Smith, PeterCunningham, and Horace Mayhew, and call on the firstnamed gentleman for a song.161IIXXII.ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE, WEDNESDAY,JUNE 27, 1855.JJSCANNOT, I am sure, better express my sense ofthe kind reception accorded to me by this greatassembly, than by promising to compress what Ishall address to it within the closest possible limits. It ismore than eighteen hundred years ago, since there was a setof men who "thought they should be heard for their muchspeaking. " As they have propagated exceedingly since thattime, and as I observe that they flourish just now to a surprising extent about Westminster, I will do my best to avoidadding to the numbers of that prolific race. The noble lordat the head of the Government, when he wondered in Parliament about a week ago, that my friend, Mr. Layard, didnot blush for having stated in this place what the wholecountry knows perfectly well to be true, and what no manin it can by possibility better know to be true than thosedisinterested supporters of that noble lord, who had the advantage of hearing him and cheering him night after night,June 27, 1855.ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 163when he first became premier-I mean that he did officiallyand habitually joke, at a time when this country was plungedin deep disgrace and distress—I say, that noble lord, when hewondered so much that the man of this age, who has, by hisearnest and adventurous spirit, done the most to distinguishhimself and it, did not blush for the tremendous audacity ofhaving so come between the wind and his nobility, turned anairy period with reference to the private theatricals at DruryLane Theatre. Now, I have some slight acquaintance withtheatricals, private and public, and I will accept that figure ofthe noble lord. I will not say that if I wanted to form a company of Her Majesty's servants, I think I should know whereto put my hand on "the comic old gentleman;" nor, thatif I wanted to get up a pantomime, I fancy I should knowwhat establishment to go to for the tricks and changes; also,for a very considerable host of supernumeraries, to trip oneanother up in that contention with which many of us arefamiliar, both on these and on other boards, in which theprincipal objects thrown about are loaves and fishes. ButI will try to give the noble lord the reason for these privatetheatricals, and the reason why, however ardently he maydesire to ring the curtain down upon them, there is not thefaintest present hope of their coming to a conclusion. It isthis:-The public theatricals which the noble lord is so condescending as to manage are so intolerably bad, the machinery is so cumbrous, the parts so ill-distributed, the companyso full of " walking gentlemen, " the managers have such largefamilies, and are so bent upon putting those families intowhat is theatrically called " first business "—not because oftheir aptitude for it, but because they are their families, thatwe find ourselves obliged to organize an opposition. Wehave seen the Comedy of Errors played so dismally like atragedy that we really cannot bear it. We are, therefore,II -2164 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 27making bold to get up the School of Reform, and we hope,before the play is out, to improve that noble lord by ourperformance very considerably. If he object that we haveno right to improve him without his license, we venture toclaim that right in virtue of his orchestra, consisting of a verypowerful piper, whom we always pay.Sir, as this is the first political meeting I have ever attended,and as my trade and calling is not associated with politics,perhaps it may be useful for me to show how I came to behere, because reasons similar to those which have influencedme may still be trembling in the balance in the minds ofothers. I want at all times, in full sincerity, to do my dutyby my countrymen. If I feel an attachment towards them,there is nothing disinterested or meritorious in that, for Ican never too affectionately remember the confidence andfriendship that they have long reposed in me. My sphereof action-which I shall never change-I shall never overstep, further than this, or for a longer period than I do tonight. By literature I have lived, and through literature Ihave been content to serve my country; and I am perfectlywell aware that I cannot serve two masters. In my sphereof action I have tried to understand the heavier social grievances, and to help to set them right. When the Timesnewspaper proved its then almost incredible case, in referenceto the ghastly absurdity of that vast labyrinth of misplacedmen and misdirected things, which had made England unableto find on the face of the earth, an enemy one- twentieth partso potent to effect the misery and ruin of her noble defendersas she has been herself, I believe that the gloomy silence intowhich the country fell was by far the darkest aspect in whicha great people had been exhibited for many years. Withshame and indignation lowering among all classes of society,and this new element of discord piled on the heaving basis1355.ADMINISTRAtive reform. 165of ignorance, poverty and crime, which is always below us--with little adequate expression of the general mind, orapparent understanding of the general mind, in Parliament--with the machinery of Government and the legislaturegoing round and round, and the people fallen from it andstanding aloof, as if they left it to its last remaining functionof destroying itself, when it had achieved the destructionof so much that was dear to them-I did and do believethat the only wholesome turn affairs so menacing could possibly take, was, the awaking of the people, the outspeakingof the people, the uniting of the people in all patriotism andloyalty to effect a great peaceful constitutional change in theadministration of their own affairs. At such a crisis thisassociation arose; at such a crisis I joined it: consideringits further case to be-if further case could possibly beneeded that what is everybody's business is nobody'sbusiness, that men must be gregarious in good citizenship as well as in other things, and that it is a law in naturethat there must be a centre of attraction for particles tofly to, before any serviceable body with recognised functions can come into existence. This association has arisen,and we belong to it. What are the objections to it? Ihave heard in the main but three, which I will now brieflynotice. It is said that it is proposed by this associationto exercise an influence, through the constituencies, onthe House of Commons. I have not the least hesitation insaying that I have the smallest amount of faith in the Houseof Commons at present existing, and that I consider theexercise of such influence highly necessary to the welfareand honour of this country. I was reading no later thanyesterday the book of Mr. Pepys, which is rather a favouriteof mine, in which he, two hundred years ago, writing of the House of Commons, says:156 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 27,"My cousin Roger Pepys tells me that it is matter of the greatest grief to him in the world that he should be put upon this trust of being a Parliament man; because he says nothing is done, that he can see, out ofany truth and sincerity, but mere envy and design. "Now, how it comes to pass that after two hundred years,and many years after a Reform Bill, the House of Commonsis so little changed, I will not stop to inquire. I will notask how it happens that bills which cramp and worry thepeople, and restrict their scant enjoyments, are so easilypassed, and how it happens that measures for their real interests are so very difficult to be got through Parliament. I willnot analyse the confined air of the lobby, or reduce to theirprimitive gases its deadening influences on the memory ofthat Honourable Member who was once a candidate for thehonour of your-and my-independent vote and interest.I will not ask what is that Secretarian figure, full of blandishments, standing on the threshold, with its finger on itslips. I will not ask how it comes that those personal altercations, involving all the removes and definitions of Shakespeare's Touchstone-the retort courteous—the quip modest-the reply churlish-the reproof valiant-the countercheckquarrelsome-the lie circumstantial and the lie direct-areof immeasurably greater interest in the House of Commonsthan the health, the taxation, and the education, of a wholepeople. I will not penetrate into the mysteries of that secretchamber in which the Bluebeard of Party keeps his strangledpublic questions, and with regard to which, when he givesthe key to his wife, the new comer, he strictly charges heron no account to open the door. I will merely put it to theexperience of everybody here, whether the House of Commons is not occasionally a little hard of hearing, a little dimof sight, a little slow of understanding, and whether, in short,it is not in a sufficiently invalided state to require close1855 ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 167watching, and the occasional application of sharp stimulants;and whether it is not capable of considerable improvement?I believe that, in order to preserve it in a state of real usefulness and independence, the people must be very watchfuland very jealous of it; and it must have its memory jogged;and be kept awake when it happens to have taken too muchMinisterial narcotic; it must be trotted about, and must behustled and pinched in a friendly way, as is the usage in such cases. I hold that no power can deprive us of theright to administer our functions as a body comprisingelectors from all parts of the country, associated togetherbecause their country is dearer to them than drowsy twaddle,unmeaning routine, or worn-out conventionalities.This brings me to objection number two. It is statedthat this Association sets class against class. Is this so?(Cries of "No.") No, it finds class set against class, andseeks to reconcile them. I wish to avoid placing in opposition those two words-Aristocracy and People. I am onewho can believe in the virtues and uses of both, and wouldnot on any account deprive either of a single just rightbelonging to it. I will use, instead of these words, theterms, the governors and the governed. These two bodiesthe Association finds with a gulf between them, in whichare lying, newly- buried, thousands on thousands of thebravest and most devoted men that even England everbred. It is to prevent the recurrence of innumerablesmaller evils, of which, unchecked, that great calamity wasthe crowning height and the necessary consummation, andto bring together those two fronts looking now so strangelyat each other, that this Association seeks to help to bridgeover that abyss, with a structure founded on common justice and supported by common sense. Setting class againstclass! That is the very parrot prattle that we have so long158 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 27.heard: Try its justice by the following example:-A. respectable gentleman had a large establishment, and a greatnumber of servants, who were good for nothing, who, whenhe asked them to give his children bread, gave them stones;who, when they were told to give those children fish, gavethem serpents. When they were ordered to send to theEast, they sent to the West; when they ought to have beenserving dinner in the North, they were consulting explodedcookery books in the South; who wasted, destroyed, tumbled over one another when required to do anything, andwere bringing everything to ruin. At last the respectablegentleman calls his house steward, and says, even then morein sorrow than in anger, "This is a terrible business; nofortune can stand it—no mortal equanimity can bear it! Imust change my system; I must obtain servants who willdo their duty." The house steward throws up his eyes inpious horror, ejaculates " Good God, master, you are settingclass against class!" and then rushes off into the servants'hall, and delivers a long and melting oration on that wickedfeeling.I now come to the third objection, which is commonamong young gentlemen who are not particularly fit foranything but spending money which they have not got. Itis usually comprised in the observation, " How very extraordinary it is that these Administrative Reform fellows can'tmind their own business." I think it will occur to all thata very sufficient mode of disposing of this objection is tosay, that it is our own business we mind when we comeforward in this way, and it is to prevent it from being mismanaged by them. I observe from the Parliamentary debates-which have of late, by- the-bye, frequently suggestedto me that there is this difference between the bull of Spainand the bull of Nineveh, that, whereas, in the Spanish case,1855.ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. 169the bull rushes at the scarlet, in the Ninevite case, the scarlet rushes at the bull-I have observed from the Parliamentary debates that, by a curious fatality, there has been agreat deal of the reproof valiant and the counter- checkquarrelsome, in reference to every case, showing the necessity of Administrative Reform, by whomsoever produced,whensoever, and wheresoever. I daresay I should have nodifficulty in adding two or three cases to the list, which Iknow to be true, and which I have no doubt would be contradicted, but I consider it a work of supererogation; for,if the people at large be not already convinced that a sufficient general case has been made out for AdministrativeReform, I think they never can be, and they never will be.There is, however, an old indisputable, very well knownstory, which has so pointed a moral at the end of it that Iwill substitute it for a new case: by doing of which I mayavoid, I hope, the sacred wrath of St. Stephen's. Ages agoa savage mode of keeping accounts on notched sticks wasintroduced into the Court of Exchequer, and the accountswere kept, much as Robinson Crusoe kept his calendar onthe desert island. In the course of considerable revolutions of time, the celebrated Cocker was born, and died;Walkinghame, of the Tutor's Assistant, and well versed infigures, was also born, and died; a multitude of accountants, book-keepers, and actuaries, were born, and died.Still official routine inclined to these notched sticks, as ifthey were pillars of the constitution, and still the Exchequer accounts continued to be kept on certain splints ofelm wood called " tallies." In the reign of George III. aninquiry was made by some revolutionary spirit, whetherpens, ink, and paper, slates and pencils, being in existence,this obstinate adherence to an obsolete custom ought to becontinued, and whether a change ought not to be effected170 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 27,All the red tape in the country grew redder at the baremention of this bold and original conception, and it tooktill 1826 to get these sticks abolished. In 1834 it wasfound that there was a considerable accumulation of them;and the question then arose, what was to be done with suchworn-out, worm-eaten, rotten old bits of wood? I dare saythere was a vast amount of minuting, memoranduming, anddespatch-boxing, on this mighty subject. The sticks werehoused at Westminster, and it would naturally occur to anyintelligent person that nothing could be easier than to allowthem to be carried away for fire-wood by the miserablepeople who live in that neighbourhood. However, theynever had been useful, and official routine required that theynever should be, and so the order went forth that they wereto be privately and confidentially burnt. It came to pass.that they were burnt in a stove in the House of Lords. Thestove, overgorged with these preposterous sticks, set fire tothe panelling; the panelling set fire to the House of Lords;the House of Lords set fire to the House of Commons;the two houses were reduced to ashes; architects were calledin to build others; we are now in the second million of thecost thereof; the national pig is not nearly over the stileyet; and the little old woman, Britannia, hasn't got hometo-night.Now, I think we may reasonably remark, in conclusion,that all obstinate adherence to rubbish which the time haslong outlived, is certain to have in the soul of it more orless that is pernicious and destructive; and that will someday set fire to something or other; which, if given boldlyto the winds would have been harmless; but which, obstinately retained, is ruinous. I believe myself that whenAdministrative Reform goes up it will be idle to hope to putit down, on this or that particular instance. The great,

1855. ADMINISTRATIVE Reform.broad, and true cause that our public progress is far behindour private progress, and that we are not more remarkablefor our private wisdom and success in matters of businessthan we are for our public folly and failure, I take to be asclearly established as the sun, moon, and stars. To set thisright, and to clear the way in the country for merit everywhere: accepting it equally whether it be aristocratic ordemocratic, only asking whether it be honest or true, is, Itake it, the true object of this Association. This object itseeks to promote by uniting together large numbers of thepeople, I hope, of all conditions, to the end that they maybetter comprehend, bear in mind, understand themselves,and impress upon others, the common public duty. Also,of which there is great need, that by keeping a vigilant eyeon the skirmishers thrown out from time to time by theParty of Generals, they may see that their feints andmanœuvres do not oppress the small defaulters and releasethe great, and that they do not gull the public with a merefield-day Review of Reform, instead of an earnest, hardfought Battle. I have had no consultation with any oneupon the subject, but I particularly wish that the directorsmay devise some means of enabling intelligent workingmen to join this body, on easier terms than subscriberswho have larger resources. I could wish to see great numbers ofthem belong to us, because I sincerely believe that itwould be good for the common weal.Said the noble Lord at the head of the Government,when Mr. Layard asked him for a day for his motion, " Letthe hon. gentleman find a day for himself. "171"Now, in the names of all the gods at once,Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed That he is grown so great?"If our Cæsar will excuse me, I would take the liberty of172 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 27, 1855.reversing that cool and lofty sentiment, and I would say,"First Lord, your duty it is to see that no man is left tofind a day for himself. See you, who take the responsibilityof government, who aspire to it, live for it, intrigue for it,scramble for it, who hold to it tooth-and-nail when you canget it, see you that no man is left to find a day for himself.In this old country, with its seething hard-worked millions,its heavy taxes, its swarms of ignorant, its crowds of poor,and its crowds of wicked, woe the day when the dangerousman shall find a day for himself, because the head of theGovernment failed in his duty in not anticipating it by abrighter and a better one! Name you the day, First Lord;make a day; work for a day beyond your little time, LordPalmerston, and History in return may then-not otherwise-find a day for you; a day equally associated with thecontentment of the loyal, patient, willing-hearted Englishpeople, and with the happiness of your Royal Mistress andher fair line of children. "CODODOMXXIII.SHEFFIELD, DECEMBER 22, 1855.[On Saturday Evening Mr. Charles Dickens read his Christmas Carol in the Mechanics' Hall in behalf of the funds of the Institute.After the reading the Mayor said, he had been charged by a few gentlemenin Sheffield to present to Mr. Dickens for his acceptance a very handsomeservice of table cutlery, a pair of razors, and a pair of fish carvers, as somesubstantial manifestation of their gratitude to Mr. Dickens for his kindnessin coming to Sheffield . Henceforth the Christmas of 1855 would be asso ciated in his mind with the name of that gentleman. ]CHARLES DICKENS, in receiving the presentaMtion, said, he accepted with heartfelt delight andcordial gratitude such beautiful specimens of Sheffield workmanship; and he begged to assure them that thekind observations which had been made by the Mayor, andthe way in which they had been responded to by that assembly, would never be obliterated from his remembrance.The present testified not only to the work of Sheffield hands,but to the warmth and generosity of Sheffield hearts. Itwas his earnest desire to do right by his readers, and to leaveimaginative and popular literature associated with the privatehomes and public rights of the people of England. The caseof cutlery with which he had been so kindly presented,174 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. 22, 1855.should be retained as an heirloom in his family; and he assured them that he should ever be faithful to his death to theprinciples which had earned for him their approval. Intaking his reluctant leave of them, he wished them manymerry Christmases, and many happy new years.XXIV.boomom .....00THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND.LONDON, MARCH 12, 1856.[The Corporation of the Royal Literary Fund was established in 1790, its object being to administer assistance to authors of genius and learning,who may be reduced to distress by unavoidable calamities, or deprived, byenfeebled faculties or declining life, of the power of literary exertion . Atthe annual general meeting held at the house of the society on the abovedate, the following speech was made by Mr. Charles Dickens:}IR, —I shall not attempt to follow my friend Mr. Bell,who, in the profession of literature, represents uponthis committee a separate and distinct branch of theprofession, that, like"The last rose of summerStands blooming alone,While all its companionsAre faded and gone, "into the very prickly bramble-bush with which he has ingeniously contrived to beset this question. In the remarks Ihave to make I shall confine myself to four points: —1. Thatthe committee find themselves in the painful condition ofnot spending enough money, and will presently apply themselves to the great reform of spending more. 2. Thatwith regard to the house, it is a positive matter of history,176 CHARLES dickensS SPEECHES. March 12,that the house for which Mr. Williams was so anxious wasto be applied to uses to which it never has been applied,and which the administrators of the fund decline to recognise. 3. That, in Mr. Bell's endeavours to remove theArtists' Fund from the ground of analogy it unquestionablyoccupies with reference to this fund, by reason of their continuing periodical relief to the same persons, I beg to tellMr. Bell what every gentleman at that table knows -that itis the business of this fund to relieve over and over againthe same people.MR. BELL: But fresh inquiry is always made first.MR. C. DICKENS: I can only oppose to that statementmy own experience when I sat on that committee, and whenI have known persons relieved on many consecutive occasions without further inquiry being made. As to the suggestion that we should select the items of expenditure thatwe complain of, I think it is according to all experience thatwe should first affirm the principle that the expenditure istoo large. If that be done by the meeting, then I will proceed to the selection of the separate items. Now, in risingto support this resolution, I may state at once that I havescarcely any expectation of its being carried, and I am happyto think it will not. Indeed, I consider it the strongestpoint ofthe resolution's case that it should not be carried,because it will show the determination ofthe fund's managers.Nothing can possibly be stronger in favour of the resolution.than that the statement should go forth to the world thattwice within twelve months the attention of the committeehas been called to this great expenditure, and twice thecommittee have considered that it was not unreasonable. Icannot conceive a stronger case for the resolution than thisstatement of fact as to the expenditure going forth to thepublic accompanied by the committee's assertion that it isz856. THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND. 177reasonable. Now, to separate this question from details, letus remember what the committee and their supporters asserted last year, and, I hope, will re-assert this year. Itseems to be rather the model kind of thing than otherwisenow that if you get £100 you are to spend £40 in management; and if you get £1000, of course you may spend£400 in giving the rest away. Now, in case there shouldbe any ill-conditioned people here who may ask what occasion there can be for all this expenditure, I will give youmy experience. I went last year to a highly respectableplace of resort, Willis's Rooms, in St. James's, to a meetingof this fund. My original intention was to hear all I could,and say as little as possible. Allowing for the absence ofthe younger and fairer portion of the creation, the generalappearance of the place was something like Almack's in themorning. A number of stately old dowagers sat in a row onone side, and old gentlemen on the other. The ball wasopened with due solemnity by a real marquis, who walked aminuet with the secretary, at which the audience were muchaffected. Then another party advanced, who, I am sorry tosay, was only a member of the House of Commons, and hetook possession of the floor. To him, however, succeededa lord, then a bishop, then the son of a distinguished lord,then one or two celebrities from the City and Stock Exchange, and at last a gentleman, who made a fortune by thesuccess of " Candide," sustained the part of Pangloss, andspoke much of what he evidently believed to be the verybest management of this best of all possible funds. Now it isin this fondness for being stupendously genteel, and keepingup fine appearances-this vulgar and common social vice ofhanging on to great connexions at any price, that the moneygoes. The last time you got a distinguished writer at apublic meeting, and he was called on to address you some12178 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. March 12,where amongst the small hours, he told you he felt like theman in plush who was permitted to sweep the stage downafter all the other people had gone. If the founder of thissociety were here, I should think he would feel like a sortof Rip van Winkle reversed, who had gone to sleep backwards for a hundred years and woke up to find his fundstill lying under the feet of people who did nothing for itinstead of being emancipated and standing alone long ago.This Bloomsbury house is another part of the same desirefor show, and the officer who inhabits it. (I mean, of course,in his official capacity, for, as an individual, I much respecthim. ) When one enters the house it appears to be hauntedby a series of mysterious-looking ghosts, who glide aboutengaged in some extraordinary occupation, and, after theapproved fashion of ghosts, but seldom condescend to disclose their business. What are all these meetings and inquiries wanted for? As for the authors, I say, as a writerby profession, that the long inquiry said to be necessary toascertain whether an applicant deserves relief, is a preposterous pretence, and that working literary men would have afar better knowledge of the cases coming before the boardthan can ever be attained by that committee. Further, Isay openly and plainly, that this fund is pompously and unnaturally administered at great expense, instead of beingquietly administered at small expense; and that the secrecyto which it lays claim as its greatest attribute, is not kept;for through those " two respectable householders," to whomreference must be made, the names of the most deservingapplicants are to numbers of people perfectly well known.The members have now got before them a plain statement offact as to these charges; and it is for them to say whetherthey are justifiable, becoming, or decent. I beg mostearnestly and respectfully to put it to those gentlemen who1856. THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND.belong to this institution, that must now decide, and cannot help deciding, what the Literary Fund is for, and whatit is not for. The question raised by the resolution is whether this is a public corporation for the relief of men ofgenius and learning, or whether it is a snug, traditional, andconventional party, bent upon maintaining its own usageswith a vast amount of pride; upon its own annual pufferyat costly dinner-tables, and upon a course of expensivetoadying to a number of distinguished individuals . This isthe question which you cannot this day escape.179XXV.LONDON, NOVEMBER 5, 1857.[At the fourth anniversary dinner of the Warehousemen and ClerksSchools, which took place on Thursday evening, Nov. 5th, 1857, at the London Tavern, and was very numerously attended, Mr. Charles Dickensoccupied the chair. On the subject which had brought the companytogether Mr. Dickens spoke as follows:-]AGMUST now solicit your attention for a few minutesto the cause ofyour assembling together-the mainand real object of this evening's gathering; for Isuppose we are all agreed that the motto ofthese tables is not" Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die;" but, " Let useat and drink, for to-morrow we live. " It is because a greatand good work is to live to-morrow, and to-morrow, and tomorrow, and to live a greater and better life with every succeeding to-morrow, that we eat and drink here at all. Conspicuous on the card of admission to this dinner is the word"Schools. " This set me thinking this morning what are thesorts of schools that I don't like. I found them on consideration, to be rather numerous. I don't like to beginwith, and to begin as charity does at home-1 don't like thesort of school to which I once went myself-the respectedproprietor of which was by far the most ignorant man Ihave ever had the pleasure to know; one of the worst-tempered men perhaps that ever lived, whose business it was tomake as much out of us and put as little into us as possible,and who sold us at a figure which I remember we used todelight to estimate, as amounting to exactly £2 45. 6d. per1857. WAREHOUSEMEN AND CLERKS' SCHOOLS.head. I don't like that sort of school, because I don't seewhat business the master had to be at the top of it insteadof the bottom, and because I never could understand thewholesomeness of the moral preached by the abject appearance and degraded condition of the teachers who plainlysaid to us by their looks every day of their lives, " Boys,never be learned; whatever you are, above all things bewarned from that in time by our sunken cheeks, by ourpoor pimply noses, by our meagre diet, by our acid-beer,and by our extraordinary suits of clothes, of which nohuman being can say whether they are snuff-coloured turnedblack, or black turned snuff-coloured, a point upon which weourselves are perfectly unable to offer any ray of enlightenment, it is so very long since they were undarned and new."I do not like that sort of school, because I have never yetlost my ancient suspicion touching that curious coincidencethat the boy with four brothers to come always got theprizes. In fact, and short, I do not like that sort of school,which is a pernicious and abominable humbug altogether.Again, ladies and gentlemen, I don't like that sort of schoola ladies' school-with which the other school used todance on Wednesdays, where the young ladies, as I lookback upon them now, seem to me always to have beenin new stays and disgrace—the latter concerning a place ofwhich I know nothing at this day, that bounds Timbuctooon the north-east-and where memory always depicts theyouthful enthraller of my first affection as for ever standingagainst a wall, in a curious machine of wood, which confinedher innocent feet in the first dancing position, while thosearms, which should have encircled my jacket, those preciousarms, I say, were pinioned behind her by an instrument oftorture called a backboard, fixed in the manner of a doubledirection post. Again, I don't like that sort of school, of181182 CHARLES Dickens's SPEECHES Nov. 5.which we have a notable example in Kent, which was established ages ago by worthy scholars and good men longdeceased, whose munificent endowments have been monstrously perverted from their original purpose, and which,in their distorted condition, are struggled for and fought overwith the most indecent pertinacity. Again, I don't like thatsort of school-and I have seen a great many such in theselatter times-where the bright childish imagination is utterlydiscouraged, and where those bright childish faces, which itis so very good for the wisest among us to remember in afterlife-when the world is too much with us, early and late*———are gloomily and grimly scared out of countenance; whereI have never seen among the pupils, whether boys or girls,anything but little parrots and small calculating machines.Again, I don't by any means like schools in leather breeches,and with mortified straw baskets for bonnets, which filealong the streets in long melancholy rows under the escortof that surprising British monster—a beadle, whose systemof instruction, I am afraid, too often presents that happyunion of sound with sense, of which a very remarkable instance is given in a grave report of a trustworthy schoolinspector, to the effect that a boy in great repute at schoolfor his learning, presented on his slate, as one of the tencommandments, the perplexing prohibition, " Thou shaltnot commit doldrum. " Ladies and gentlemen, I confess,also, that I don't like those schools, even though the instruction given in them be gratuitous, where those sweet littlevoices which ought to be heard speaking in very differentaccents, anathematise by rote any human being who doesnot hold what is taught there. Lastly, I do not like, andI did not like some years ago, cheap distant schools, where

• Une allusion à un Sonnet bien connu de Wordsworth, commençant

"The world is too much with us-late and soon, " &c. - ED.€857. WAREHOUSemen and CLERKS' SCHOOLS. 183neglected children pine from year to year under an amountof neglect, want, and youthful misery far too sad even tobe glanced at in this cheerful assembly.And now, ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you will permitme to sketch in a few words the sort of school that I dolike. It is a school established by the members of an industrious and useful order, which supplies the comforts andgraces of life at every familiar turning in the road of ourexistence; it is a school established by them for the Orphanand Necessitous Children of their own brethren and sisterhood; it is a place giving an education worthy of them-aneducation by them invented, by them conducted, by themwatched over; it is a place of education where, while thebeautiful history ofthe Christian religion is daily taught, andwhile the life of that Divine Teacher who Himself took littlechildren on His knees is daily studied, no sectarian ill-willnor narrow human dogma is permitted to darken the faceof the clear heaven which they disclose. It is a children'sschool, which is at the same time no less a children's home,a home not to be confided to the care of cold or ignorantstrangers, nor, by the nature of its foundation, in the courseof ages to pass into hands that have as much natural rightto deal with it as with the peaks of the highest mountains orwith the depths of the sea, but to be from generation togeneration administered by men living in precisely suchhomes as those poor children have lost; by men alwaysbent upon making that replacement, such a home as theirown dear children might find a happy refuge in if they themselves were taken early away. And I fearlessly ask you, isthis a design which has any claim to your sympathy? Isthis a sort of school which is deserving of your support?This is the design, this is the school, whose strong andsimple claim I have to lay before you to- night. I must par184 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Nov. 5.ticularly entreat you not to suppose that my fancy andunfortunate habit of fiction has anything to do with the picture I have just presented to you. It is sober matter offact. The Warehousemen and Clerks' Schools, establishedfor the maintaining, clothing, and educating of the Orphanand Necessitous Children of those employed in the wholesale trades and manufactures of the United Kingdom, are,in fact, what I have just described. These schools for bothsexes were originated only four years ago. In the first sixweeks of the undertaking the young men of themselves andquite unaided, subscribed the large sum of £3,000. Theschools have been opened only three years, they have nowon their foundation thirty-nine children, and in a few daysthey will have six more, making a total of forty- five . Theyhave been most munificently assisted by the heads of greatmercantile houses, numerously represented, I am happy tosay, around me, and they have a funded capital of almost£14,000. This is wonderful progress, but the aim muststill be upwards, the motto always " Excelsior. " You donot need to be told that five-and-forty children can form buta very small proportion of the Orphan and NecessitousChildren of those who have been entrusted with the wholesale trades and manufactures of the United Kingdom: youdo not require to be informed that the house at New-cross ,rented for a small term of years, in which the schools areat present established, can afford but most imperfect accommodation for such a breadth of design. To carry this goodwork through the two remaining degrees of better and bestthere must be more work, more co-operation, more friends,more money. Then bethe friends and give the money. BeforeI conclude, there is one other feature in these schools whichI would commend to your special attention and approval,1857. WAREHOUSEMEN AND CLERKS SCHOOLS.Their benefits are reserved for the children of subscribers;that is to say, it is an essential principle of the institutionthat it must help those whose parents have helped them, andthat the unfortunate children whose father has been so lax,or so criminal, as to withhold a subscription so exceedinglysmall that when divided by weeks it amounts to only threepence weekly, cannot, in justice, be allowed to jostle outand shoulder away the happier children, whose father hashad that little forethought, or done that little kindness whichwas requisite to secure for them the benefits of the institution. I really cannot believe that there will long be anysuch defaulting parents.. I cannot believe that any ofthe intelligent young men who are engaged in the wholesalehouses will long neglect this obvious, this easy duty. Ifthey suppose that the objects of their love, born or unborn,will never want the benefits of the charity, that may be afatal and blind mistake-it can never be an excuse, for,supposing them to be right in their anticipation, they shoulddo what is asked for the sake oftheir friends and comradesaround them, assured that they will be the happier and thebetter for the deed.185not to hear me—ILadies and gentlemen, this little "labour of love" of mine isnow done. I most heartily wish that I could charm younow not to see me, not to think of me,most heartily wish that I could make you see in my steadthe multitude of innocent and bereaved children who arelooking towards these schools, and entreating with upliftedhands to be let in. A very famous advocate once said, inspeaking ofhis fears of failure when he had first to speak incourt, being very poor, that he felt his little children tuggingat his skirts, and that recovered him. Will you think ofthe number of little children who are tugging at my skirts,186 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Nov. 5, 1857.when I ask you, in their names, on their behalf, and in theirlittle persons, and in no strength of my own, to encourageand assist this work?At a later period of the evening Mr. Dickens proposedthe health of the President of the Institution, Lord JohnRussell. He said he should do nothing so superfluous andso unnecessary as to descant upon his lordship's many faithful, long, and great public services, upon the honour andintegrity with which he had pursued his straightforwardpublic course through every difficulty, or upon the manly,gallant, and courageous character, which rendered him certain, in the eyes alike of friends and opponents, to rise withevery rising occasion, and which, like the seal of Solomon,in the old Arabian story, enclosed in a not very large casketthe soul of a giant. In answer to loud cheers, he said hehad felt perfectly certain, that that would be the response;for in no English assembly that he had ever seen was itnecessary to do more than mention the name of Lord JohnRussell to ensure a manifestation of personal respect andgrateful remembrance.Dα000000XXVI.LONDON, FEBRUARY 9 , 1858.At the Anniversary Festival of the Hospital for Sick Children, on Tuesday,February the 9th, 1858, about one hundred and fifty gentlemen sat downto dinner, in the Freemasons' Hall. Later in the evening all the seats inthe gallery were filled with ladies interested in the success of the Hospital. After the usual loyal and other toasts, the Chairman, Mr. Dickens,proposed " Prosperity to the Hospital for Sick Children, " and said:-]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, It is one of myrules in life not to believe a man who may happento tell me that he feels no interest in children. Ihold myself bound to this principle by all kind consideration, because I know, as we all must, that any heart whichcould really toughen its affections and sympathies againstthose dear little people must be wanting in so manyhumanising experiences of innocence and tenderness, as tobe quite an unsafe monstrosity among men. Therefore I setthe assertion down, whenever I happen to meet with it—which is sometimes, though not often-as an idle word,originating possibly in the genteel languor of the hour, andmeaning about as much as that knowing social lassitude,which has used up the cardinal virtues and quite found out things in general, usually does mean. I suppose it may betaken for granted that we, who come together in the nameof children and for the sake of children, acknowledge thatx03 CHARLES Dickens's speeches. Feb. 9,we have an interest in them; indeed, I have observed sinceI sat down here that we are quite in a childlike state altogether, representing an infant institution, and not even yet agrown-up company. A few years are necessary to the increase of our strength and the expansion of our figure; andthen these tables, which now have a few tucks in them, willbe let out, and then this hall, which now sits so easilyupon us, will be too tight and small for us. Nevertheless,it is likely that even we are not without our experience nowand then of spoilt children. I do not mean of our ownspoilt children, because nobody's own children ever werespoilt, but I mean the disagreeable children of our particularfriends. We know by experience what it is to have themdown after dinner, and, across the rich perspective of a miscellaneous dessert to see, as in a black dose darkly, thefamily doctor looming in the distance. We know, I haveno doubt we all know, what it is to assist at those little maternal anecdotes and table entertainments illustrated withimitations and descriptive dialogue which might not beinaptly called, after the manner of my friend Mr. AlbertSmith, the toilsome ascent of Miss Mary and the eruption(cutaneous) of Master Alexander. We know what it iswhen those children won't go to bed; we know how theyprop their eyelids open with their forefingers when they willsit up; how, when they become fractious, they say aloudthat they don't like us, and our nose is too long, and whydon't we go? And we are perfectly acquainted with thosekicking bundles which are carried off at last protesting. Aneminent eye-witness told me that he was one of a companyof learned pundits who assembled at the house of a verydistinguished philosopher of the last generation to hear himexpound his stringent views concerning infant education andearly mental development, and he told me that while the1953. SICK CHILDREN. 129philosopher did this in very beautiful and lucid language,the philosopher's little boy, for his part, edified the assembled sages by dabbling up to the elbows in an apple piewhich had been provided for their entertainment, havingpreviously anointed his hair with the syrup, combed it withhis fork, and brushed it with his spoon. It is probable thatwe also have our similar experiences sometimes, of principles that are not quite practice, and that we know peopleclaiming to be very wise and profound about nations of menwho show themselves to be rather weak and shallow aboutunits of babies.But, ladies and gentlemen, the spoilt children whom Ihave to present to you after this dinner of to-day are not ofthis class. I have glanced at these for the easier and lighterintroduction of another, a very different, a far more numerous, and a far more serious class. The spoilt childrenwhom I must show you are the spoilt children ofthe poorin this great city, the children who are, every year, for everand ever irrevocably spoilt out of this breathing life of oursby tens of thousands, but who may in vast numbers be preserved if you, assisting and not contravening the ways ofProvidence, will help to save them. The two grim nurses,Poverty and Sickness, who bring these children before you,preside over their births, rock their wretched cradles, naildown their little coffins, pile up the earth above their graves.`Of the annual deaths in this great town, their unnaturaldeaths form more than one-third. I shall not ask you, according to the custom as to the other class-I shall not askyou on behalf of these children to observe how good theyare, how pretty they are, how clever they are, how promisingthey are, whose beauty they most resemble--I shall onlyask you to observe how weak they are, and how like deaththey are! And I shall ask you, by the remembrance of190 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 9,everything that lies between your own infancy and that somiscalled second childhood when the child's graces are gone,and nothing but its helplessness remains; I shall ask you toturn your thoughts to these spoilt children in the sacred.names of Pity and Compassion.Some years ago, being in Scotland, I went with one ofthe most humane members of the humane medical profession, on a morning tour among some of the worst lodgedinhabitants of the old town of Edinburgh. In the closesand wynds of that picturesque place-I am sorry to remindyou what fast friends picturesqueness and typhus often are-we saw more poverty and sickness in an hour than manypeople would believe in a life. Our way lay from one toanother ofthe most wretched dwellings, reeking with horrible odours; shut out from the sky, shut out from the air,mere pits and dens. In a room in one of these places,where there was an empty porridge-pot on the cold hearth,with a ragged woman and some ragged children crouchingon the bare ground near it-where, I remember as I speak,that the very light, refracted from a high damp-stained andtime-stained house-wall, came trembling in, as if the feverwhich had shaken everything else there had shaken even it-there lay, in an old egg-box which the mother had beggedfrom a shop, a little feeble, wasted, wan, sick child . Withhis little wasted face, and his little hot, worn hands foldedover his breast, and his little bright, attentive eyes, I cansee him now, as I have seen him for several years, lookingsteadily at us. There he lay in his little frail box, whichwas not at all a bad emblem of the little body from whichhe was slowly parting-there he lay, quite quiet, quitepatient, saying never a word. He seldom cried, the mothersaid; he seldom complained; " he lay there, seemin' towoonder what it was a' aboot." , God knows, I thought, as I1853.stood looking at him, he had his reasons for wonderingreasons for wondering how it could possibly come to bethat he lay there, left alone, feeble and full of pain, when heought to have been as bright and as brisk as the birds thatnever got near him-reasons for wondering how he came tobe left there, a little decrepid old man pining to death, quitea thing of course, as if there were no crowds of healthy andhappy children playing on the grass under the summer's sunwithin a stone's throw of him, as if there were no bright,moving sea on the other side of the great hill overhangingthe city; as if there were no great clouds rushing over it;as if there were no life, and movement, and vigour anywherein the world-nothing but stoppage and decay. There helay looking at us, saying, in his silence, more patheticallythan I have ever heard anything said by any orator in mylife, "Will you please to tell me what this means, strangeman? and if you can give me any good reason why I shouldbe so soon, so far advanced on my way to Him who saidthat children were to come into His presence, and were notto be forbidden, but who scarcely meant, I think, that theyshould come by this hard road by which I am travelling;pray give that reason to me, for I seek it very earnestly andwonder about it very much;" and to my mind he has beenwondering about it ever since. Many a poor child, sickand neglected, I have seen since that time in this London;many a poor sick child I have seen most affectionately andkindly tended by poor people, in an unwholesome houseand under untoward circumstances, wherein its recovery wasquite impossible; but at all such times I have seen my poorlittle drooping friend in his egg-box, and he has always addressed his dumb speech to me, and I have always foundhim wondering what it meant, and why, in the name of agracious God, such things should be!SICK CHILdren. 191192 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. aNow, ladies and gentlemen, such things need not be, andwill not be, if this company, which is a drop of the life-bloodof the great compassionate public heart, will only accept themeans of rescue and prevention which it is mine to offer.Within a quarter of a mile of this place where I speak,stands a courtly old house, where once, no doubt, bloomingchildren were born, and grew up to be men and women, andmarried, and brought their own blooming children back topatter up the old oak staircase which stood but the otherday, and to wonder at the old oak carvings on the chimneypieces. In the airy wards into which the old state drawingrooms and family bedchambers of that house are now converted are such little patients that the attendant nurses looklike reclaimed giantesses, and the kind medical practitionerlike an amiable Christian ogre. Grouped about the littlelow tables in the centre of the rooms are such tiny convalescents that they seem to be playing at having been ill. Onthe doll's beds are such diminutive creatures that each poorsufferer is supplied with its tray of toys; and, looking round,you may see how the little tired, flushed cheek has toppledover half the brute creation on its way into the ark; or howone little dimpled arm has mowed down (as I saw myself)the whole tin soldiery of Europe. On the walls of theserooms are graceful, pleasant, bright, childish pictures. Atthe beds' heads, are pictures of the figure which is the universal embodiment of all mercy and compassion, the figureof Him who was once a child himself, and a poor one.Besides these little creatures on the beds, you may learn inthat place that the number of small Out-patients brought tothat house for relief is no fewer than ten thousand in thecompass of one single year. In the room in which theseare received, you may see against the wall a box, on whichit is written, that it has been calculated, that if every grate1853.SICK CHILDREN.ful mother who brings a child there will drop a penny intoit, the Hospital funds may possibly be increased in a yearby so large a sum as forty pounds. And you may read inthe Hospital Report, with a glow of pleasure, that thesepoor women are so respondent as to have made, even in atoiling year of difficulty and high prices, this estimated forty,fifty pounds. In the printed papers of this same Hospital,you may read with what a generous earnestness the highestand wisest members of the medical profession testify to thegreat need ofit; to the immense difficulty of treating children in the same hospitals with grown-up people, by reasonof their different ailments and requirements, to the vastamount of pain that will be assuaged, and of life that willbe saved, through this Hospital; not only among the poor,observe, but among the prosperous too, by reason of the increased knowledge of children's illnesses, which cannot failto arise from a more systematic mode of studying them.Lastly, gentlemen, and I am sorry to say, worst of all—(forI must present no rose-coloured picture of this place to you-I must not deceive you; ) lastly, the visitor to this Children's Hospital, reckoning up the number of its beds, willfind himself perforce obliged to stop at very little overthirty; and will learn, with sorrow and surprise, that eventhat small number, so forlornly, so miserably diminutive,compared with this vast London, cannot possibly be maintained, unless the Hospital be made better known; I limitmyselfto saying better known, because I will not believethat in a Christian community of fathers and mothers, andbrothers and sisters, it can fail, being better known, to bewell and richly endowed.Now, ladies and gentlemen, this, without a word of adornment-which I resolved when I got up not to allow myself-this is the simple case. This is the pathetic case which I19313194 CHARLES DICKENS'S speechesS. Feb. 9, 1858:have to put to you; not only on behalf ofthe thousands ofchildren who annually die in this great city, but also on behalfofthe thousands of children who live half developed,racked with preventible pain, shorn of their natural capacityfor health and enjoyment. If these innocent creatures cannot move you for themselves, how can I possibly hope tomove you in their name? The most delightful paper, themost charming essay, which the tender imagination of CharlesLamb conceived, represents him as sitting by his fireside ona winter night telling stories to his own dear children, anddelighting in their society, until he suddenly comes to hisold, solitary, bachelor self, and finds that they were butdream-children who might have been, but never were. "Weare nothing," they say to him; " less than nothing, anddreams. We are only what' might have been, and we mustwaitupon the tedious shore of Lethe, millions of ages, beforewe have existence and a name." "And immediatelyawaking," he says, "I found myself in my arm chair." Thedream-children whom I would now raise, if I could, beforeevery one of you, according to your various circumstances,should be the dear child you love, the dearer child youhave lost, the child you might have had, the child you certainly have been. Each of these dream-children shouldhold in its powerful hand one of the little children nowlying in the Child's Hospital, or nowshut out of it to perish.Each of these dream-children should say to you, " O, helpthis little suppliant in my name; O, help it for my sake!"Well!-And immediately awaking, you should find yourselves in the Freemasons' Hall, happily arrived at the endof a rather long speech, drinking " Prosperity to the Hospital for Sick Children," and thoroughly resolved that it shall flourish.1XXVII.EDINBURGH, MARCH, 26, 1858.[On the above date Mr. Dickens gave a reading of his Christmas Carol inthe Music Hall, before the members and subscribers of the PhilosophicalInstitution . At the conclusion of the reading the Lord Provost of Edin Durgh presented him with a massive silver wassail cup. Mr. Dickensacknowledged the tribute as follows: ]MY LORD PROVOST, ladies, and gentlemen, I begto assure you I am deeply sensible of your kind welcome, and of this beautiful and great surprise; andthat I thank you cordially with all my heart. I never haveforgotten, and I never can forget, that I have the honour tobe a burgess and guild-brother of the Corporation of Edinburgh. As long as sixteen or seventeen years ago, the firstgreat public recognition and encouragement I ever received.was bestowed on me in this generous and magnificent cityin this city so distinguished in literature and so distinguishedin the arts. You will readily believe that I have carried intothe various countries I have since traversed, and throughall mysubsequent career, the proud and affectionate remembrance of that eventful epoch in my life; and that comingback to Edinburgh is to me like coming home.196 CHARLES Dickens's sPEECHES. March 26, 1858.Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard so much of myvoice to-night, that I will not inflict on you the additionaltask of hearing any more. I am better reconciled to limitingmyselfto these very few words, because I know and feelfullwell that no amount of speech to which I could give utterancecould possibly express my sense of the honour and distinctionyou have conferred on me, or the heartfelt gratification Iderive from this reception.1XXVIII.LONDON, MARCH 29, 1858.[At the thirteenth anniversary festival of the General Theatrical Fund, heldat the Freemasons' Tavern, at which Thackeray presided, Mr. Dickensmade the following speech:]IN our theatrical experience as playgoers we are allequally accustomed to predict by certain little signsand portents on the stage what is going to happenthere. When the young lady, an admiral's daughter, is leftalone to indulge in a short soliloquy, and certain smartspirit-rappings are heard to proceed immediately from beneath her feet, we foretell that a song is impending. Whentwo gentlemen enter, for whom, by a happy coincidence, twochairs, and no more, are in waiting, we augur a conversation,and that it will assume a retrospective biographical character.When any of the performers who belong to the sea-faring ormarauding professions are observed to arm themselves withvery small swords to which are attached very large hilts, wepredict that the affair will end in a combat. Carrying outthe association of ideas, it may have occurred to some that199 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. March 29when I asked my old friend in the chair to allow me to propose a toast I had him in my eye; and I have him now onmy lips.The duties of a trustee of the Theatrical Fund, an officewhich I hold, are not so frequent or so great as its privileges.He is in fact a mere walking gentleman, with the melancholy difference that he has no one to love. If this advantage could be added to his character it would be one of amore agreeable nature than it is, and his forlorn positionwould be greatly improved. His duty is to call every halfyear at the bankers' , when he signs his name in a large greasyinconvenient book, to certain documents of which he knowsnothing, and then he delivers it to the property man andexits anywhere.He, however, has many privileges. It is one of his privileges to watch the steady growth of an institution in whichhe takes great interest; it is one of his privileges to bear histestimony to the prudence, the goodness, the self-denial, andthe excellence of a class of persons who have been too longdepreciated, and whose virtues are too much denied, out ofthe depths of an ignorant and stupid superstition. Andlastly, it is one of his privileges sometimes to be called on topropose the health of the chairman at the annual dinners ofthe institution, when that chairman is one for whose geniushe entertains the warmest admiration, and whom he respectsas a friend, and as one who does honour to literature, and inwhom literature is honoured. I say when that is the case,he feels that this last privilege is a great and high one. Fromthe earliest days of this institution I have ventured to impresson its managers, that they would consult its credit and successby choosing its chairmen as often as possible within the circleof literature and the arts; and I will venture to say that nosimilar institution has been presided over by so many re1858. THACKERAY. 199markable and distinguished men. I am sure, however, thatit never has had, and that it never will have, simply becauseit cannot have, a greater lustre cast upon it than by the presence of the noble English writer who fills the chair to-night.It is not for me at this time, and in this place, to take onmyself to flutter before you the well-thumbed pages of Mr.Thackeray's books, and to tell you to observe howfull theyare of wit and wisdom, how out- speaking, and how devoid offear or favour; but I will take leave to remark, in payingmy due homage and respect to them, that it is fitting thatsuch a writer and such an institution should be broughttogether. Every writer of fiction, although he may notadopt the dramatic form, writes in effect for the stage. Hemay never write plays; but the truth and passion which arein him must be more or less reflected in the great mirrorwhich he holds up to nature. Actors, managers, and authorsare all represented in this company, and it may be supposedthat they all have studied the deep wants of the human heartin many theatres; but none of them could have studied itsmysterious workings in any theatre to greater advantage thanin the bright and airy pages of Vanity Fair. To this skilfulshowman, who has so often delighted us, and who hascharmed us again to-night, we have now to wish God speed,and that he may continue for many years* to exercise hispotent art. To him fill a bumper toast, and fervently utter,God bless him!

• Hélas! les « nombreuses années devaient être à peine six, lorsque l'orateur était

lui-même destiné à écrire quelques pages commémoratives commémoratives de son illustre ami (Cornhill Magazine, février 1864. ) -ED.19}SubXXIX.LONDRES, 29 AVRIL 1858..[Le lecteur aura déjà observé que dans la semaine de Noël de 1853 .et à plusieurs reprises par la suite, M. Dickens avait lu le ChristmasCarol et les carillons devant des audiences publiques, mais toujours à l'aide des fonds d'une institution, ou à d'autres fins bienveillantes. La première lecture qu'il a jamais donnée pour son propre bénéfice a eu lieu à la date ci-dessus, inSt. Martin's Hall, (maintenant converti en Queen's Theatre). Cette lecture que M. Dickens a précédée du discours suivant :-]ADIES ET MESSIEURS, -il se peut que vous sachiez que, depuis quelques années, j'ai été habitué à lire occasionnellement certains de mes livres plus courts, à divers publics, à l'aide de une variété de bons objets, et à une certaine charge pour moi-même, à la fois en temps et en argent.il étant devenu impossible pour quelque raison que ce soit de se conformer à ces exigences toujours croissantes, j'ai dû définitivement choisir entre maintenant et ensuite la lecture sur mon propre compte, comme une de mes occupations reconnues, ou ne pas lire du tout. J'ai eu peu ou pas de difficulté à choisir l'ancien cours. Les raisons qui m'y ont conduit, outre la considération qu'elle ne nécessite aucune dérogation aux poursuites choisies de ma vie, sont de trois ordres : premièrement, je me suis assuré qu'elle ne peut impliquer le 29 avril 1858. Lectures PUBLIQUES. et indépendance de la littérature; deuxièmement, j'ai longtemps soutenu l'opinion, et j'ai longtemps agi sur cette opinion, qu'en ces temps tout ce qui met un homme public et son public face à face, en termes de confiance et de respect mutuels, est une bonne chose ; troisièmement, j'ai eu une assez grande expérience de l'intérêt que mes auditeurs sont si généreux qu'ils prennent à ces occasions, et du plaisir qu'ils me donnent, comme un moyen éprouvé de renforcer ces relations - je pourrais presque dire d'amitié personnelle dont c'est mon grand privilège et fierté, car c'est ma grande responsabilité, de tenir avec une multitude de personnes qui n'entendront jamais ma voix ni ne verront mon visage. C'est ainsi que je viens, tout naturellement, être ici parmi vous en ce moment ; et c'est ainsi que je procède à la lecture de ce petit livre, aussi calmement que je pourrais procéder à l'écrire ou à le publier de toute autre manière.201XXX .LONDRES, LE 1ER MAI 1858.[Le bref discours suivant a été prononcé lors du banquet de la Royal Academy, après que la santé de M. Dickens et de M. Thackeray ait été proposée par le président, Sir Charles Eastlake :—]SUIVANT l'ordre de votre toast, je dois prendre la première partie du duo à exécuter en reconnaissance du compliment que vous avez fait à la littérature. Dans cette maison d'art, je sens que c'est trop un échange de compliments, pour ainsi dire, entre parents proches, pour entrer dans une expression prolongée de nos remerciements pour l'honneur que vous nous avez fait. Je sens que ce serait changer cette belle assemblée en une sorte de fête de famille. Je puis cependant me permettre de dire que votre sœur, que je représente, est forte et bien portante ; qu'elle a une très grande affection pour vous et un intérêt éternel pour vous, et que c'est toujours une très grande gratification pour elle de se voir si bien rappelée dans ces murs, et de savoir qu'elle est une invitée d'honneur à votre conseil hospitalier. 10 : 33 : 0XXXI.LONDRES, LE 8 MAI 1858.[Le quarante-huitième anniversaire de la création du fonds de bienfaisance des artistes a eu lieu à la date ci-dessus à la taverne des francs-maçons, Thechair a été prise par M. Charles Dickens, qui, après avoir disposé du des toasts préliminaires avec sa félicité habituelle, ont procédé à l'avocat des revendications de l'institution dans l'intérêt de laquelle la société s'était réunie, dans les termes suivants :-]ADIES ET MESSIEURS, -il y a une histoire théâtrale absurde qui m'a été une fois racontée par un ami cher et estimé, qui est maintenant passé de ce stade sublunaire, et qui n'est pas sans sa morale appliquée à moi-même, dans ma position présidentielle actuelle. Dans une certaine compagnie théâtrale était inclus un homme qui, en cas d'urgence, était capable de prendre part à tout le tour du drame britannique, à condition qu'il soit autorisé à utiliser sa propre langue pour passer à travers le dialogue. Ithappened une nuit que Reginald, dans le Castle Spectre, a été malade, et ce vétéran d'une centaine de personnages a été, bien sûr, appelé pour la partie vacante. Il répondit avec sa promptitude habituelle, bien qu'il ne sût rien du personnage, mais pendant qu'ils le mettaient dans la robe, il exprima un désir non déraisonnable de savoir d'une manière vague de quoi il s'agissait. Il n'était pas particulier quant aux détails, mais afin qu'il puisse correctement 204 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 8 mai, pour témoigner de ses souffrances, il pensa qu'il devait avoir une légère idée de ce qui lui était réellement arrivé. Comme, par exemple, quels meurtres il avait commis, de qui il était le père, de quels malheurs il était la victime, — bref, d'une manière générale pour savoir pourquoi il était à cet endroit du tout. , enchaîné dans un cachot, un père malheureux ; vous êtes ici depuis dix-sept ans, pendant lesquels vous n'avez jamais vu votre fille ; vous avez vécu de pain et d'eau, et, par conséquent, vous êtes extrêmement faible, et vous souffrez occasionnellement d'abaissement d'esprit. » '-« D'accord », dit l'acteur aux capacités universelles, « sonnez. une certaine confusion mentale quant à ses instructions, il a ouvert l'affaire de l'acte en déclarant en termes pathétiques, qu'il avait été confiné dans ce cachot pendant dix-sept ans, période pendant laquelle il n'avait pas goûté un morceau de nourriture, à laquelle il était enclin à attribuer le fait de son être à ce moment-là très hors de condition.Le public, pensant que cette déclaration était extrêmement improbable, a refusé de la recevoir, et le poids de ce discours s'est accroché à lui jusqu'à la fin de sa performance.Maintenant, moi aussi, j'ai reçu des instructions pour la partie que j'ai l'honneur d'effectuer devant vous, et il incombe à vous et à moi de profiter du terrible avertissement que j'ai détaillé, tandis que je m'efforce de rendre la partie que j'ai entreprise asplain et intelligible comme je le peux.Comme je vais le faire vous proposer que nous commencions maintenant à relier les affaires au plaisir de la soirée, en buvant la prospérité au fonds de bienfaisance des artistes, il devient important que nous sachions ce que ce fonds est. C'est une Association soutenue par les dons volontaires du FONDS DE BIENVENUE DES ARTISTES. 1858.205ceux qui entretiennent une estimation critique et admirative de l'art, et a pour objet l'octroi de rentes aux veuves et aux enfants des artistes décédés, des artistes qui n'ont pu dans leur vie faire aucune provision pour que ces chers objets de leur amour survivent à eux-mêmes. Maintenant, il est extrêmement important d'observer que cette institution d'un fonds de bienfaisance des artistes, que je vous demande maintenant de gérer, s'y est liée et est née d'une autre association d'artistes, qui ne vous demande pas de santé, qui ne l'a jamais fait, et jamais ne vous demandera une santé qui se suffit à elle-même, et qui est entièrement entretenue par la prudence et la providence de ses trois cents artistes membres. Cette caisse, qui s'appelle la Caisse de rente des artistes, est, pour ainsi dire, une compagnie d'assurance paritaire et mutuelle contre l'infirmité, la maladie et la vieillesse. Aux avantages qu'il procure, chacun de ses membres a un droit absolu, juste, rappelons-le, produit par l'épargne opportune et l'abnégation, et non assisté par des appels à la charité ou à la compassion d'aucun être humain. Sur ce fonds, il y a, si je me souviens d'un droit, quelque dix-sept rentiers qui reçoivent onze cents par an, le produit de leur propre institution autosuffisante. En vous recommandant cette caisse de bienfaisance, qui ne s'autofinance pas, ils s'adressent en effet à vous en ces termes : « Nous vous demandons d'aider ces veuves et ces orphelins, car nous vous montrons que nous nous sommes d'abord aidés nous-mêmes. Ces veuves et ces orphelins peuvent être oursor ils ne sont peut-être pas les nôtres ; mais en tout cas nous vous prouverons avec certitude que nous ne sommes pas autant de wagons qui appellent Jupiter pour faire notre travail, parce que nous faisons notre propre travail ; chacun a son épaule à la roue ; chacun, de d'année en année, a eu son épaule sur la roue ; et la prière que nous faisons à Jupiter et à tous les dieux est simplement celle-ci : que ce fait peut être rappelé lorsque le chariot s'est arrêté pour206 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS, le 8 mai.toujours, et le passé et un wagonnier usé gît sans vie au bord de la route." Mesdames et Messieurs, je souhaite tout particulièrement vous faire comprendre la force de cet appel. Je suis peintre, sculpteur ou graveur, de succès moyen. J'étudie et travaille ici sans immense retour, tandis que la vie et la santé, tandis que la main et les yeux sont à moi. J'appartiens prudemment au fonds de rente, qui dans la maladie, la vieillesse et l'infirmité, me préserve du besoin. Je fais mon devoir envers ceux qui dépendent de moi tant qu'il reste à vivre ; mais quand l'herbe pousse au-dessus de ma tombe, il n'y a plus rien pour eux. "C'est le cas de la Caisse de bienfaisance des artistes, et en affirmant cela, je ne suis que le porte-parole de trois cents commerçants, qui en vérité se tiennent aussi indépendants devant vous que s'ils étaient trois cents Cockers, tous réglementés par l'Évangile selon eux-mêmes. Il y a dans l'existence de trois fonds d'artistes, qui ne doivent jamais être mentionnés sans respect. Je suis un officier de l'un d'eux, et je peux parler de connaissance ; mais à cette occasion, je m'adresse à un cas pour lequel il n'y a aucune disposition. Je vous adresse au nom de ces professeurs des beaux-arts qui ont pris des dispositions au cours de la vie, et en vous soumettant leurs prétentions, je ne fais que défendre des principes que j'ai moi-même maintenus. Quand j'ajoute que ce fonds de bienfaisance ne fait aucune prétention à la gentillesse, ne gaspille aucun trésor à maintenir les apparences, que il considère que l'argent donné pour la veuve et l'orphelin, doit vraiment être retenu pour la veuve et l'orphelin, je pense avoir épuisé le cas, que je désire vous recommander avec le plus d'ardeur. Peut-être me permettrez-vous de dire un dernier mot. Je ne consentirai pas à vous présenter les professeurs d'art comme un ensemble1858. FONDS DE BÉNÉFICE DES ARTISTES. 207des bébés sans défense, qui doivent être soutenus par le menton ; Je les présente comme une classe d'hommes énergiques et persévérants, dont les revenus dépendent de leurs propres facultés et de leurs efforts personnels ; et j'ai aussi l'audace de les présenter comme des hommes qui, dans leur vocation, rendent de bons services à la communauté. Je suis fortement disposé à croire qu'il y a très peu de débats au Parlement aussi importants pour le bien-être public qu'une très bonne image. J'ai aussi l'idée que n'importe quel nombre de paquets de la balle juridique la plus sèche qui ait jamais été coupée serait bon marché ( dépensé pour une gravure vraiment méritoire. Lors d'un festival annuel très intéressant auquel j'ai l'honneur d'assister, et qui a lieu derrière deux fontaines, je observez parfois que de grands ministres d'État et d'autres personnages aussi exaltés ont un étrange plaisir à déclarer avec quelque ostentation qu'ils n'ont aucune connaissance de l'art, et surtout à faire comprendre à la société qu'ils ont passé leur vie dans des études sévères. comme si ces grands hommes considéraient les arts comme une sorte de chiens dansants, ou de spectacle de Punch, vers lesquels on se tourne pour s'amuser quand on n'a rien d'autre à faire. Maintenant, je profite toujours de ces occasions pour entretenir mon humble opinion que tout cela est complet. bosh ; » et de m'affirmer que les quartiers de Trafalgar Square, ou de SuffolkStreet, correctement compris, sont tout aussi importants pour le bien-être de l'empire que ceux de Downing Street ou de Westminster Hall. Mesdames et Messieurs, pour ces motifs, et soutenu par la recommandation de trois cents artistes en faveur du Fonds de bienfaisance, je vous prie de proposer sa prospérité comme un toast pour votre adoption.ExmusXXXII.LONDRES, LE 21 JUILLET 1858.[À la date ci-dessus, une réunion publique a eu lieu au Princess's Theatre, dans le but de créer le désormais célèbre Royal Dramatic College. M.Charles Kean était le président, et M. Dickens a prononcé le discours suivant : ]ADIES ET MESSIEURS, —je pense que je peux oser vous féliciter à l'avance sur l'agréablecircumstance que les auteurs et les secondeurs des résolutions qui vous seront soumises, probablement, ont très peu à dire. Par le rapport que vous avez entendu lire, et par l'allocution complète du président, la cause qui nous réunit vous a été si clairement énoncée qu'elle peut avoir besoin de très peu, voire d'aucune autre exposition. Mais, comme j'ai l'honneur de proposer la première résolution que ce beau cadeau, et l'action vigoureuse qui doit être prise sur lui, nécessitent, je pense que je ne donnerai ici qu'une expression à ce qui est le plus important dans l'esprit général ici, si j'ose faire remarquer que, autant que les parties sont dans lesquelles M. Kean s'est distingué sur ces planches, il n'est jamais apparu dans une dans laquelle l'esprit d'un artiste, le sentiment d'un homme, et la grâce d'un gentleman, ont été plus admirablement mélangés qu'en juillet 21 , 1858.l'adhésion fidèle de ce jour à l'appel dont il est un ornement prospère, et dans le plaidoyer viril de sa cause. cette assemblée accepte avec joie et reconnaît avec gratitude le don de cinq acres de terre mentionné dans ledit rapport."*Il est manifeste, je suppose, que nous sommes tous d'accord sur cette acceptation et cette reconnaissance, et que nous savons tous très bien que un don généreux ne peut inspirer qu'un sentiment au sein de tout amateur d'art dramatique. Comme il est bien trop souvent oublié par ceux qui lui sont redevables de nombreux vols réparateurs hors de ce monde de jour ouvrable, que les soies, les velours et les costumes élégants de ses professeurs doivent être échangés chaque nuit contre les manteaux hideux et les gilets d'aujourd'hui , dans lequel nous avons maintenant l'honneur et le malheur de comparaître devant vous, alors quand nous rencontrons une nature aussi considérablement généreuse que celle du donateur, et trouvons un intérêt pour la vie réelle et les luttes des gens qui l'ont ravie, si spontanée et si très libéraux, nous n'avons qu'à accepter et à admirer, nous n'avons d'autre devoir que de « prendre les biens que les dieux nous donnent », et d'en tirer le meilleur et le plus possible. Mesdames et messieurs, permettez-moi de remarquer que dans ce mode de transformer un bon cadeau au plus haut compte, liesla plus vraie gratitude.En référence à cela, je ne pouvais que réfléchir, pendant que M. Kean parlait, qu'en une heure ou deux à partir de ce moment,

• M. Henry Dodd avait proposé de donner cinq acres de terre dans le Berkshire,

mais, en conséquence de son désir d'y attacher certaines restrictions, après une correspondance longue et insatisfaisante, le Comité, le 13 janvier suivant, rejeta l'offre. (Communiqué. )14210 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 21 juillet 1858. Le lieu où nous sommes réunis va se transformer en théâtre d'un lien sournois et cruel. Je sais que, dans quelques heures, le Grand Canal de Venise coulera, avec une fidélité pittoresque, à l'endroit même où je me tiens maintenant à pied sec, et que "la qualité de la miséricorde" sera magnifiquement déclarée au Conseil vénitien par un savant jeune médecin de Padoue. , sur ces planches mêmes sur lesquelles nous agrandissons la qualité de la charité et de la sympathie. Sachant cela, il m'est venu à l'esprit de considérer à quel point le lien réel d'aujourd'hui était différent du lien idéal de ce soir. Or, toute générosité, toute indulgence, tout oubli de petites jalousies et de divisions indignes, toute action unie pour le bien général. Alors, tout égoïsme, toute méchanceté, toute cruauté, toute vengeance et tout mal, maintenant tout bien. Ensuite, un lien à rompre dans la boussole de quelques-trois ou quatre heures qui passent rapidement, maintenant, un lien pour être valide et de bon effet pour les générations d'ici. Mesdames et Messieurs, de l'exécution et de la livraison de ce lien, entre ce généreux gentleman sur d'un côté, et les membres réunis d'un art trop souvent et trop longtemps désuni de l'autre, soyez-en les témoins. Attestez-vous de tout ce qui est libéral et libre d'esprit, qui est ainsi nommé dans le lien ; » et de tout ce qui est à contrecœur, égoïste, injuste ou injuste, qu'il est par nosophisme jamais trouvé là-bas. la résolution que j'ai déjà eu le plaisir de lire.66inXXXIII.MANCHESTER, 3 DÉCEMBRE 1858. de la journée ci-dessus, à laquelle M. Dickens a présidé. ]Ces dernières années deviennent perceptibles en Angleterre que la saison d'automne produit une immense quantité de prise de parole en public. Je remarque qu'à peine les feuilles commencent à tomber des arbres, que des perles de grand prix commencent tomber des lèvres des sages de l'est, du nord, de l'ouest et du sud, et n'importe qui peut les avoir au boisseau, pour les ramasser. , comme il est supposé avoir eu sur la récolte de maïs et le millésime, je ne sais pas; mais je sais que je n'ai jamais observé les colonnes des journaux gémir soheavily sous une pression d'oraisons, chacune rivalisant avec les autres dans les deux qualités d'avoir peu ou rien à voir avec l'affaire en main, et d'être toujours adressée à tout public dans le vaste monde plutôt que l'audience à laquelle il a été livré.l'automne étant parti, et l'hiver venu, je suis sosanguine quant à l'espoir que nous, dans nos débats, pouvons briser1272 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 3 décembre à travers ce cercle enchanté et s'écarte de ce précédent ; le plutôt comme nous avons quelque chose de réel à faire, et sommes réunis, j'en suis sûr, dans toute la communion fraternelle et la franchise, pour le faire. pas d'enchères obliques de notre part à faire pour quoi que ce soit en dehors de cette salle. Voulez-vous, en référence à la signification de ces mots, me présenter devant vous comme l'esprit incarné de l'ignorance récemment éclairé, et me soumettre à un bref examen volontaire quant aux résultats de mes études. Pour commencer : le titre ne m'a rien suggéré qui ressemble le moins du monde à la vérité. Je connais depuis quelques années les termes « institutions mécaniques » et « sociétés littéraires », mais ils sont malheureusement trop souvent associés dans mon esprit à un ensemble de grandes prétentions boiteuses quant à quelque membre ou membre important. autre, qui habite généralement une nouvelle maison beaucoup trop grande pour elle, qui est rarement payée, et qui prend le nom de la mécanique le plus gravement en vain, car j'ai généralement vu un mécanicien et un dodo dans cette place ensemble. J'ai donc commencé mon éducation, quant au sens de ce titre, très froidement d'ailleurs, en me disant : " Voici la vieille histoire. " Mais la lecture de très peu de lignes de mon livre m'a vite fait comprendre que ce n'était nullement la vieille histoire ; en un mot, que cette association est expressément destinée à corriger la vieille histoire et à empêcher que ses défauts ne se perpétuent. J'ai appris que cette association institutionnelle est l'union, dans un chef central, de cent quatorze institutions locales de mécaniciens1858. ASSOCIATION. 213and Mutual Improvement Societies, à une dépense de pas plus de cinq shillings à chaque société ; suggérant à tous comment ils peuvent mieux communiquer avec la tête de fontaine et en profiter les uns les autres ; garder leurs meilleurs objectifs régulièrement devant eux ; les conseillant sur la meilleure manière d'atteindre ces objectifs ; donner une fin et un objet directs à ce qui pourrait autrement facilement devenir des forces inutiles ; et envoyant parmi eux non seulement des professeurs oraux, mais, mieux encore, des boîtes d'excellents livres, appelés « bibliothèques itinérantes libres ». J'ai appris que ces livres font constamment le circuit de centaines et de centaines de kilomètres, et sont constamment lus avec un goût inexprimable par des milliers et des milliers de personnes laborieuses, mais qu'ils ne sont jamais endommagés ou défigurés par une main grossière. Ces faits et d'autres m'amènent à considérer l'immense importance du fait, qu'aucun petit groupe de cottages d'hommes de travail ne peut survenir dans n'importe quelle vallée du Lancashire ou du Cheshire, au pied de n'importe quel ruisseau qui chasse l'entreprise pour l'eau, mais il a son éducation ami et compagnon prêt à le faire, désireux de le faire, connaissant ses pensées, ses manières et ses tournures de parole avant même qu'il n'ait vu le jour. Aucune association centrale à distance ne pourrait faire pour ces ouvriers ce que fait cette association locale. Aucune association centrale à distance ne pourrait les comprendre comme le fait cette association locale. Aucune association centrale à distance ne pourrait éventuellement les mettre dans cette communication familière et facile l'un avec l'autre, comme moi, homme ou garçon, avide de connaissances, dans cette vallée à sept milles, je devrais savoir de vous, homme ou garçon, avide de connaissances, dans ce vallée à douze miles de distance, et devrait occasionnellement marcher pour vous rencontrer, que vous pouvez me transmettre votre apprentissage dans une branche d'acquisition, tandis que je transmets214 LES DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 3 décembre, un autre pour vous. Pourtant, c'est clairement une caractéristique, et une caractéristique des plus importantes, de cette société. Il est évident que la combinaison doit matériellement diminuer leur coût, ce qui est dans le temps une considération vitale ; et il est également évident que l'expérience, essentielle au succès de toute combinaison, l'est surtout lorsqu'elle a pour objet de diffuser les résultats de l'expérience et de la réflexion. , Mesdames et Messieurs, l'étudiant de l'histoire presentprofitable de cette société ne s'arrête pas ici dans son apprentissage; quand il est arrivé jusqu'ici, il trouve avec intérêt et plaisir que la société mère à certaines périodes indiquées invite les membres les plus désireux et les plus entreprenants de la société locale à se soumettre à l'examen volontaire dans diverses branches de connaissances utiles, dont elle prend la charge et organise l'examen les détails, et invite les candidats retenus à venir à Manchester pour recevoir les prix et certificats de mérite qu'il décerne de manière impartiale. Les concurrents les plus réussis de la liste de ces examens sont maintenant parmi nous, et ces petites marques de reconnaissance et d'encouragement, j'aurai l'honneur de leur donner actuellement, comme ils viennent devant vous, un par un, à cette fin.J'ai regardé sur un peu de ces épreuves, qui ont comporté l'histoire, la géographie, la grammaire, l'arithmétique, la comptabilité, le monnayage décimal, la mensuration, les mathématiques, l'économie sociale, la langue française, contiennent en fait toutes les clés qui ouvrent toutes les serrures du savoir. Je me suis senti très gratifié, comme pour beaucoup d'entre eux, qu'ils ne m'aient pas été soumis pour répondre, car je suis parfaitement sûr que s'ils l'avaient été, j'aurais eu bien peu ! 1858.2:5 à m'accorder ce soir. Et pourtant, il faut toujours observer et se souvenir sérieusement que ces examens sont subis par des personnes dont la vie a été passée dans une lutte continuelle pour le pain, et dont toute l'existence a été une lutte constante avec les APPRENANTS ET LES TRAVAILLEURS." Ces jumeaux geôliers du cœur audacieux— Low la naissance et la fortune de fer. la vie est avec des outils et des machines.Permettez-moi de m'efforcer de rappeler, ainsi que ma mémoire me servira, parmi les cas les plus intéressants de lauréats et de lauréats de certificats qui comparaîtront devant vous,quelques deux ou trois des exemples les plus remarquables. sont deux frères pauvres de près de Chorley, qui travaillent du matin au soir dans une fosse à charbon, et qui, par tous les temps, ont marché huit milles par nuit, trois nuits par semaine, pour assister aux cours dans lesquels ils ont acquis une distinction .Il y a deux garçons pauvres de Bollington, qui ont commencé la vie comme pièces à un shilling ou dix-huit pence par semaine, et le père de l'un d'entre eux a été coupé en morceaux par la machinerie à laquelle il travaillait, mais pas avant qu'il n'ait lui-même fondé l'institution à que ce fils est venu depuis apprendre. Ces deux pauvres garçons se présenteront devant vous ce soir, pour remporter le prix de chimie de seconde classe. Il y a un plâtrier de Bury, seize ans, qui a pris un certificat de troisième classe l'année dernière aux mains de LordBrougham; il est cette année encore couronné de succès dans un concours trois fois plus sévère. Il y a un wagon-makerfrom le même endroit, qui savait peu ou absolument

• Claude Melnotte dans La Dame de Lyon, Acte iii . sc. 2.

216 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. 3,nothing until he was a grown man, and who has learnedall he knows, which is a great deal, in the local institution. There is a chain-maker, in very humble circumstances, and working hard all day, who walks six milesa-night, three nights a-week, to attend the classes in whichhe has won so famous a place. There is a moulder in aniron foundry, who, whilst he was working twelve hours aday before the furnace, got up at four o'clock in the morning to learn drawing. "The thought of my lads," he writesin his modest account of himself, " in their peaceful slumbers above me, gave me fresh courage, and I used to thinkthat if I should never receive any personal benefit, I mightinstruct them when they came to be of an age to understand the mighty machines and engines which have madeour country, England, pre-eminent in the world's history. "There is a piecer at mule-frames, who could not read ateighteen, who is now a man of little more than thirty, whois the sole support of an aged mother, who is arithmeticalteacher in the institution in which he himself was taught,who writes of himself that he made the resolution never totake up a subject without keeping to it, and who has keptto it with such an astonishing will, that he is now wellversed in Euclid and Algebra, and is the best French scholarin Stockport. The drawing- classes in that same Stockportare taught by a working blacksmith; and the pupils of thatworking blacksmith will receive the highest honours of tonight. Well may it be said of that good blacksmith, as itwas written of another of his trade, by the American poet:"Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,Onward through life he goes;Each morning sees some task begun,Each evening sees its close.Something attempted , something done,Has earn'd a night's repose. "1858 SELF-TAUGHT MEN. .To pass from the successful candidates to the delegatesfrom local societies now before me, and to content myself with one instance from amongst them. There is among theirnumber a most remarkable man, whose history I have readwith feelings that I could not adequately express under anycircumstances, and least of all when I know he hears me,who worked when he was a mere baby at hand-loom weaving until he dropped from fatigue: who began to teachhimself as soon as he could earn five shillings a-week:who is now a botanist, acquainted with every productionof the Lancashire valley: who is a naturalist, and hasmade and preserved a collection of the eggs of Britishbirds, and stuffed the birds: who is now a conchologist,with a very curious, and in some respects an original collection of fresh-water shells, and has also preserved andcollected the mosses of fresh water and of the sea: who isworthily the president of his own local Literary Institution,and who was at his work this time last night as foreman in a mill.217So stimulating has been the influence of these bright,examples, and many more, that I notice among the applications from Blackburn for preliminary test examinationpapers, one from an applicant who gravely fills up theprinted form by describing himself as ten years of age, andwho, with equal gravity, describes his occupation as "nursinga little child. " Nor are these things confined to the men.The women employed in factories, milliners' work, anddomestic service, have begun to show, as it is fitting theyshould, a most decided determination not to be outdone bythe men; and the women of Preston in particular, have sohonourably distinguished themselves, and shown in theirexamination papers such an admirable knowledge of thescience of household management and household economy,213 CHARLES Dickens's speeches. Dec. 3.that if I were a working bachelor of Lancashire cr Cheshire,and if I had not cast my eye or set my heart upon any lass inparticular, I should positively get up at four o'clock in themorning with the determination of the iron-moulder himself,and should go to Preston in search of a wife.Now, ladies and gentlemen, these instances, and manymore, daily occurring, always accumulating, are surely bettertestimony to the working of this Association, than any number of speakers could possibly present to you. Surely thepresence among us of these indefatigable people is theAssociation's best and most effective triumph in the presentand the past, and is its noblest stimulus to effort in thefuture. As its temporary mouth-piece, I would beg to sayto that portion of the company who attend to receive theprizes, that the institution can never hold itself apart fromthem; can never set itself above them; that theirdistinction and success must be its distinction and success; and that there can be but one heart beating between them and it. In particular, I would most especiallyentreat them to observe that nothing will ever be furtherfrom this Association's mind than the impertinence ofpatronage. The prizes that it gives, and the certificatesthat it gives, are mere admiring assurances of sympathywith so many striving brothers and sisters, and are onlyvaluable for the spirit in which they are given, and in whichthey are received. The prizes are money prizes, simplybecause the Institution does not presume to doubt thatpersons who have so well governed themselves, know besthow to make a little money serviceable-because it wouldbe a shame to treat them like grown-up babies by laying itout for them, and because it knows it is given, and knowsit is taken, in perfect clearness of purpose, perfect trustfulness, and, above all, perfect independence.1858. SCIENCE AND IMAGINATIONLadies and Gentlemen, reverting once more to the wholecollective audience before me, I will, in another twominutes, release the hold which your favour has given meon your attention. Of the advantages of knowledge I havesaid, and I shall say, nothing. Of the certainty with whichthe man who grasps it under difficulties rises in his own respect and in usefulness to the community, I have said, and Ishall say, nothing. In the city of Manchester, in the countyof Lancaster, both of them remarkable for self-taught men,that were superfluous indeed. For the same reason Irigidly abstain from putting together any of the shatteredfragments of that poor clay image of a parrot, which wasonce always saying, without knowing why, or what it meant,that knowledge was a dangerous thing. I should as soonthink of piecing together the mutilated remains of anywretched Hindoo who has been blown from an Englishgun. Both, creatures of the past, have been—as my friendMr. Carlyle vigorously has it—" blasted into space;" andthere, as to this world, is an end of them.219So I desire, in conclusion, only to sound two strings. Inthe first place, let me congratulate you upon the progresswhich real mutual improvement societies are making atthis time in your neighbourhood, through the noble agencyof individual employers and their families, whom you cannever too much delight to honour. Elsewhere, through theagency of the great railway companies, some of which arebestirring themselves in this matter with a gallantry andgenerosity deserving of all praise. Secondly and lastly,let me say one word out of my own personal heart, whichis always very near to it in this connexion. Do not let us,in the midst of the visible objects of nature, whose workingswe can tell of in figures, surrounded by machines that canbe made to the thousandth part of an inch, acquiring every220 CHARLES DIckens's speECHES. Dec. 3, 1853.jay knowledge which can be proved upon a slate or demonstrated by a microscope-do not let us, in the laudable pursuit of the facts that surround us, neglect the fancy and theimagination which equally surround us as a part of the greatscheme. Let the child have its fables; let the man orwoman into which it changes, always remember those fablestenderly. Let numerous graces and ornaments that cannotbe weighed and measured, and that seem at first sight idleenough, continue to have their places about us, be we neverso wise. The hardest head may co-exist with the softestheart. The union and just balance of those two is alwaysa blessing to the possessor, and always a blessing to mankind. The Divine Teacher was as gentle and considerateas He was powerful and wise. You all know how Hecould still the raging of the sea, and could hush a little child. As the utmost results of the wisdom of men canonly be at last to help to raise this earth to that conditionto which His doctrine, untainted by the blindnesses andpassions of men, would have exalted it long ago; so let usalways remember that He set us the example of blendingthe understanding and the imagination, and that, followingit ourselves, we tread in His steps, and help our race on toits better and best days. Knowledge, as all followers of itmust know, has a very limited power indeed, when it informsthe head alone; but when it informs the head and the hearttoo, it has a power over life and death, the body and thesoul, and dominates the universe.XXXIV.COVENTRY, DECEMBER 4, 1858.[On the above evening, a public dinner was held at the Castle Hotel, onthe occasion of the presentation to Mr. Charles Dickens of a gold watch,as a mark of gratitude for the reading of his Christmas Carol, given inDecember of the previous year, in aid of the funds of the CoventryInstitute. The chair was taken by C. W. Hoskyns, Esq. Mr. Dickensacknowledged the testimonial in the following words:]MR. CHAIRMAN, Mr. Vice-chairman, and Gentlemen,-I hope your minds will be greatly relieved by myassuring you that it is one of the rules of my lifenever to make a speech about myself. If I knowingly didso, under any circumstances, it would be least of all undersuch circumstances as these, when its effect on my acknowledgment of your kind regard, and this pleasant proof of it,would be to give me a certain constrained air, which I fearwould contrast badly with your greeting, so cordial, so unaffected, so earnest, and so true. Furthermore, your Chairman has decorated the occasion with a little garland of goodsense, good feeling, and good taste; so that I am sure thatany attempt at additional ornament would be almost an impertinence.Therefore I will at once say how earnestly, how fervently,222 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Dec. 4.and how deeply I feel your kindness. This watch, withwhich you have presented me, shall be my companion inmy hours of sedentary working at home, and in my wanderings abroad. It shall never be absent from my side, and itshall reckon off the labours of my future days; and I canassure you that after this night the object of those labourswill not less than before be to uphold the right and to do good.And when I have done with time and its measurement, thiswatch shall belong to my children; and as I have sevenboys, and as they have all begun to serve their country invarious ways, or to elect into what distant regions they shallroam, it is not only possible, but probable, that this littlevoice will be heard scores of years hence, who knows? insome yet unfounded city in the wilds of Australia, or communicating Greenwich time to Coventry Street, Japan.Once again, and finally, I thank you; and from my heartof hearts, I can assure you that the memory of to-night, andofyour picturesque and interesting city, will never be absentfrom my mind, and I can never more hear the lightest mention of the name of Coventry without having inspired in mybreast sentiments of unusual emotion and unusual attachment.T[ Later in the evening, in proposing the health of the Chairman, Mr. Dickens said:]THERE may be a great variety of conflicting opinions withregard to farming, and especially with reference to themanagement of a clay farm; but, however various opinionsas to the merits of a clay farm may be, there can be butone opinion as to the merits of a clay farmer, -and it isthe health of that distinguished agriculturist which I have topropose.In my ignorance of the subject, I am bound to say that it1858. A CLAY FARMER, 223may be, for anything I know, indeed I am ready to admitthat it is, exceedingly important that a clay farm should gofor a number of years to waste; but I claim some knowledge as to the management of a clay farmer, and I positively object to his ever lying fallow. In the hope that thisvery rich and teeming individual may speedily be ploughedup, and that we shall gather into our barns and store-housesthe admirable crop of wisdom, which must spring up whenever he is sown, I take leave to propose his health, beggingto assure him that the kind manner in which he offered tome your very valuable present, I can never forget.XXXV.LONDON, MARCH 29, 1862.[At a Dinner of the Artists' General Benevolent Institution, the following Address was delivered by Mr. Charles Dickens from the chair:-]EVEN or eight years ago, without the smallest expectation of ever being called upon to fill the chair atan anniversary festival ofthe Artists' General Benevolent Institution, and without the remotest reference tosuch an occasion, I selected the administration or thatCharity as the model on which I desired that another shouldbe reformed, both as regarded the mode in which the reliefwas afforded, and the singular economy with which its fundswere administered. As a proof of the latter quality during thepast year, the cost of distributing £1,126 among the recipients ofthe bounty of the Charity amounted to little more224 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.March 29,than £100, inclusive of all office charges and expenses.The experience and knowledge of those entrusted with themanagement of the funds are a guarantee that the last available farthing of the funds will be distributed among properand deserving recipients. Claiming, on my part, to be related in some degree to the profession of an artist, I disdainto stoop to ask for charity, in the ordinary acceptation ofthe term, on behalf of the Artists. In its broader andhigher signification of generous confidence, lasting trustfulness, love and confiding belief, I very readily associate thatcardinal virtue with art. I decline to present the artist tothe notice of the public as a grown-up child, or as a strange,unaccountable, moon-stricken person, waiting helplessly inthe street of life to be helped over the road by the crossingsweeper; on the contrary, I present the artist as a reasonable creature, a sensible gentleman, and as one wellacquainted with the value of his time, and that of otherpeople, as if he were in the habit of going on high ' Changeevery day. The Artist whom I wish to present to the notice ofthe Meeting is one to whom the perfect enjoymentof the five senses is essential to every achievement of hislife. He can gain no wealth nor fame by buying somethingwhich he never touched, and selling it to another who wouldalso never touch or see it, but was compelled to strike outfor himself every spark of fire which lighted, burned, andperhaps consumed him. He must win the battle of lifewith his own hand, and with his own eyes, and was obligedto act as general, captain, ensign, non-commissioned officer,private, drummer, great arms, small arms, infantry, cavalry,all in his own unaided self. When, therefore, I ask help forthe artist, I do not make my appeal for one who was acripple from his birth, but I ask it as part payment of agreat debt which all sensible and civilised creatures owe to1862. ARTISTS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 225art, as a mark of respect to art, as a decoration-not as abadge as a remembrance of what this land, or any land,would be without art, and as the token of an appreciation ofthe works of the most successful artists of this country.With respect to the society of which I am the advocate, Iam gratified that it is so liberally supported by the mostdistinguished artists, and that it has the confidence of menwho occupy the highest rank as artists, above the reach ofreverses, and the most distinguished in success and fame,and whose support is above all price. Artists who haveobtained wide-world reputation know well that many deserving and persevering men, or their widows and orphans,have received help from this fund, and some of the artistswho have received this help are now enrolled among thesubscribers to the Institution.15XXXVI.LONDON, MAY 20, 1862.[The following speech was made by Mr. Dickens, in his capacity as chair man, at the annual Festival of the Newsvendors ' and Provident Institution,held at the Freemasons' Tavern on the above date. ]WHEN I had the honour of being asked to preside lastyear, I was prevented by indisposition, and I besought my friend, Mr. Wilkie Collins, to reign inmy stead. He very kindly complied, and made an excellentspeech. Now I tell you the truth, that I read that speechwith considerable uneasiness, for it inspired me with astrong misgiving that I had better have presided last yearwith neuralgia in my face and my subject in my head, ratherthan preside this year with my neuralgia all gone and mysubject anticipated . Therefore, I wish to preface the toastthis evening by making the managers of this Institution onevery solemn and repentant promise, and it is, if ever I findmyself obliged to provide a substitute again, they mayrely upon my sending the most speechless man of myacquaintance.The Chairman last year presented you with an amiableview ofthe universality of the newsman's calling. Nothing,THE NEWSMAN'S BUrden. 227I think, is left for me but to imagine the newsman's burdenitself, to unfold one of those wonderful sheets which heevery day disseminates, and to take a bird's-eye view of itsgeneral character and contents. So, if you please, choosingmyown time-though the newsman cannot choose his time,for he must be equally active in winter or summer, in sunshine or sleet, in light or darkness, early or late-but,choosing my own time, I shall for two or three momentsstart off with the newsman on a fine May morning, and takea view of the wonderful broadsheets which every day hescatters broadcast over the country. Well, the first thingthat occurs to me following the newsman is, that every daywe are born, that every day we are married-some of us—and that every day we are dead; consequently, the firstthing the newsvendor's column informs me is, that Atkinshas been born, that Catkins has been married, and thatDatkins is dead. But the most remarkable thing I immediately discover in the next column, is that Atkins has grownto be seventeen years old, and that he has run away; for, atlast, my eye lights on the fact that William A. , who isseventeen years old, is adjured immediately to return to hisdisconsolate parents, and everything will be arranged to the satisfaction of everyone. I am afraid he will never return,simply because, if he had meant to come back, he wouldnever have gone away. Immediately below, I find a mysterious character in such a mysterious difficulty that it is onlyto be expressed by several disjointed letters, by severalfigures, and several stars; and then I find the explanation inthe intimation that the writer has given his property over tohis uncle, and that the elephant is on the wing. Then, stillglancing over the shoulder of my industrious friend, thenewsman, I find there are great fleets of ships bound to allparts of the earth, that they all want a little more stowage, a1862.15-2228 CHARLESdickens's speeches. May 20,little more cargo, that they have a few more berths to let,that they have all the most spacious decks, that they are allbuilt of teak, and copper-bottomed, that they all carry surgeons of experience, and that they are all Ar at Lloyds', andanywhere else. Still glancing over the shoulder of myfriendthe newsman, I find I am offered all kinds of house-lodging,clerks, servants, and situations, which I can possibly or impossibly want. I learn, to my intense gratification, that Ineed never grow old, that I may always preserve the juvenilebloom of my complexion; that if ever I turn ill it is entirelymy own fault; that if I have any complaint, and want browncod- liver oil or Turkish baths, I am told where to get them,and that, if I want an income of seven pounds a-week, Imay have it by sending half-a-crown in postage- stamps.Then I look to the police intelligence, and I can discoverthat I may bite off a human living nose cheaply, but if I takeoff the dead nose of a pig or a calf from a shop-window, it willcost me exceedingly dear. I also find that if I allow myselfto be betrayed into the folly of killing an inoffensive tradesman on his own door-step, that little incident will not affectthe testimonials to my character, but that I shall be described as a most amiable young man, and as, above allthings, remarkable for the singular inoffensiveness of mycharacter and disposition. Then I turn my eye to the FineArts, and, under that head, I see that a certain "J. O." hasmost triumphantly exposed a certain " J. O. B. ," which"J. O. B." was remarkable for this particular ugly feature,that I was requested to deprive myself ofthe best of mypictures for six months; that for that time it was to behungon a wet wall, and that I was to be requited for my courtesyin having my picture most impertinently covered with a wetblanket. To sum up the results of a glance over my newsman's shoulder, it gives a comprehensive knowledge of whatUBIQUITY OF THE NEWSMAN.is going on over the continent of Europe, and also of whatis going on over the continent of America, to say nothing ofsuch little geographical regions as India and China.Now, my friends, this is the glance over the newsman'sshoulders from the whimsical point of view, which is thepoint, I believe, that most promotes digestion. The newsman is to be met with on steamboats, railway stations, andat every turn. His profits are small, he has a great amountof anxiety and care, and no little amount of personal wearand tear. He is indispensable to civilization and freedom,and he is looked for with pleasurable excitement every day,except when he lends the paper for an hour, and when he ispunctual in calling for it, which is sometimes very painful.I think the lesson we can learn from our newsman is somenew illustration of the uncertainty of life, some illustration ofits vicissitudes and fluctuations. Mindful of this permanentlesson, some members of the trade originated this society,which affords them assistance in time of sickness and indigence. The subscription is infinitesimal. It amounts annually to five shillings. Looking at the returns before me,the progress of the society would seem to be slow, but it hasonly been slow for the best of all reasons, that it has beenThe pensions granted are all obtained from the interest on the funded capital, and, therefore, the Institutionis literally as safe as the Bank. It is stated that there areseveral newsvendors who are not members of this society;but that is true in all institutions which have come undermy experience. The persons who are most likely to standin need of the benefits which an institution confers, areusually the persons to keep away until bitter experiencecomes to them too late.sure.1862.229BUSFSXXXVII.LONDON, MAY 11, 1864.[On the above date Mr. Dickens presided at the Adelphi Theatre, at apublic meeting, for the purpose of founding the Shakespeare Schools,in connexion with the Royal Dramatic College, and delivered the followlowing address:]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN-Fortunately for me,and fortunately for you, it is the duty of the Chairman on an occasion of this nature, to be very carefulthat he does not anticipate those speakers who come afterhim. Like Falstaff, with a considerable difference, he hasto be the cause of speaking in others. It is rather his dutyto sit and hear speeches with exemplary attention than tostand up to make them; so I shall confine myself, in opening these proceedings as your business official, to as plainand as short an exposition as I can possibly give you ofthereasons why we come together.First of all I will take leave to remark that we do notcome together in commemoration of Shakespeare. Wehave nothing to do with any commemoration, except thatwe are of course humble worshippers of that mighty genius,a864. DRAMATIC COLLEGE SCHOOLS. 231and that we propose by-and-by to take his name, but by nomeans to take it in vain. If, however, the Tercentenarycelebration were a hundred years hence, or a hundred yearspast, we should still be pursuing precisely the same object,though we should not pursue it under precisely the samecircumstances. The facts are these: There is, as you know,in existence an admirable institution called the Royal Dramatic College, which is a place of honourable rest and repose for veterans in the dramatic art. The charter of thiscollege, which dates some five or six years back, expresslyprovides for the establishment of schools in connexion withit; and I may venture to add that this feature of the scheme,when it was explained to him, was specially interesting tohis Royal Highness the late Prince Consort, who hailed itas evidence of the desire of the promoters to look forwardas well as to look back; to found educational institutionsfor the rising generation, as well as to establish a harbourof refuge for the generation going out, or at least havingtheir faces turned towards the setting sun. The leadingmembers of the dramatic art, applying themselves first tothe more pressing necessity of the two, set themselves towork on the construction of their harbour of refuge, and thisthey did with the zeal, energy, good-will, and goodfaith thatalways honourably distinguish them in their efforts to help.one another. Those efforts were very powerfully aided bythe respected gentleman * under whose roof we are assembled, and who, I hope, may be only half as glad of seeingme on these boards as I always am to see him here. Withsuch energy and determination did Mr. Webster and hisbrothers and sisters in art proceed with their work, that atthis present time all the dwelling-houses of the Royal Dramatic College are built, completely furnished, fitted with

• Monsieur B. Webster.

232 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May 11,every appliance, and many of them inhabited. The centralnall of the College is built, the grounds are beautifullyplanned and laid out, and the estate has become the nucleusof a prosperous neighbourhood. This much achieved, Mr.Webster was revolving in his mind how he should next proceed towards the establishment of the schools, when, thisTercentenary celebration being in hand, it occurred to himto represent to the National Shakespeare Committee theirjust and reasonable claim to participate in the results of anysubscription for a monument to Shakespeare. He represented to the committee that the social recognition andelevation of the followers of Shakespeare's own art, throughthe education of their children, was surely a monumentworthy even of that great name. He urged upon the committee that it was certainly a sensible, tangible project,which the public good sense would immediately appreciateand approve. This claim the committee at once acknowledged; but I wish you distinctly to understand that if thecommittee had never been in existence, if the Tercentenarycelebration had never been attempted, those schools, as adesign anterior to both, would still have solicited publicsupport.sexes.Now, ladies and gentlemen, what it is proposed to do is,in fact, to find a new self-supporting public school; withthis additional feature, that it is to be available for bothThis, of course, presupposes two separate distinctschools. As these schools are to be built on land belonging to the Dramatic College, there will be from the firstno charge, no debt, no incumbrance of any kind underthat important head. It is, in short, proposed simply toestablish a new self-supporting public school, in a rapidlyincreasing neighbourhood, where there is a large and fastaccumulating middle-class population, and where property1864. THE ACTOR'S VOCATION.in land is fast rising in value. But, inasmuch as the projectis a project of the Royal Dramatic College, and inasmuchas the schools are to be built on their estate, it is proposed evermore to give their schools the great name ofShakespeare, and evermore to give the followers of Shakespeare's art a prominent place in them. With this view, itis confidently believed that the public will endow a foundation, say, for forty foundation scholars—say, twenty girlsand twenty boys-who shall always receive their educationgratuitously, and who shall always be the children of actors,actresses, or dramatic writers. This school, you will understand, is to be equal to the best existing public school. Itis to be made to impart a sound, liberal, comprehensiveeducation, and it is to address the whole great middleclass at least as freely, as widely, and as cheaply as anyexisting puplic school.233Broadly, ladies and gentlemen, this is the whole design.There are foundation scholars at Eton, foundation scholarsat nearly all our old schools, and if the public, in remembrance of a noble part of our standard national literature,and in remembrance of a great humanising art, will dothis thing for these children, it will at the same time bedoing a wise and good thing for itself, and will unquestionably find its account in it. Taking this view of the case—and I cannot be satisfied to take any lower one I cannotmake a sorry face about "the poor player. " I think it is aterm very much misused and very little understood—being,I venture to say, appropriated in a wrong sense by playersthemselves. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I can onlypresent the player to you exceptionally in this wise-thathe follows a peculiar and precarious vocation, a vocationvery rarely affording the means of accumulating moneythat that vocation must, from the nature of things, have in it234 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May 11many undistinguished men and women to one distinguishedone-that it is not a vocation the exerciser of which canprofit by the labours of others, but in which he must earnevery loaf of his bread in his own person, with the aid ofhis own face, his own limbs, his own voice, his own memory,and his own life and spirits; and these failing, he fails.Surely this is reason enough to render him some little helpin opening for his children their paths through life. I saytheir paths advisedly, because it is not often found, exceptunder the pressure of necessity, or where there is stronghereditary talent—which is always an exceptional case—thatthe children of actors and actresses take to the stage. Persons therefore need not in the least fear that by helping toendow these schools they would help to overstock the dramatic market. They would do directly the reverse, forthey would divert into channels of public distinction andusefulness those good qualities which would otherwise languish in that market's over-rich superabundance.This project has received the support of the head of themost popular of our English public schools. On the committee stands the name of that eminent scholar and gentleman, the Provost of Eton. You justly admire this liberalspirit, and your admiration-which I cordially share-bringsme naturally to what I wish to say, that I believe there is notin England any institution so socially liberal as a publicschool. It has been called a little cosmos of life outside,and I think it is so, with the exception of one of life's worstfoibles-for, as far as I know, nowhere in this country isthere so complete an absence of servility to mere rank, tomere position, to mere riches as in a public school. A boythere is always what his abilities or his personal qualitiesmake him. We may differ about the curriculum and othermatters, but of the frank, free, manly, independent spirit1864. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 235preserved in our public schools, I apprehend there can be nokind of question. It has happened in these later times thatobjection has been made to children of dramatic artists incertain little snivelling private schools-but in publicschools never. Therefore, I hold that the actors are wise,and gratefully wise, in recognizing the capacious liberality ofa public school, in seeking not a little hole-and- corner placeof education for their children exclusively, but in addressingthe whole of the great middle class, and proposing to themto come and join them, the actors, on their own property, ina public school, in a part of the country where no such advantage is now to be found.I have now done. The attempt has been a very timidone. I have endeavoured to confine myself within mymeans, or, rather, like the possessor of an extended estate,to hand it down in an unembarrassed condition. I have laida trifle of timber here and there, and grubbed up a littlebrushwood, but merely to open the view, and I think I candescry in the eye of the gentleman who is to move the firstresolution that he distinctly sees his way. Thanking you forthe courtesy with which you have heard me, and not at alldoubting that we shall lay a strong foundation of theseschools to-day, I will call, as the mover of the first resolution,on Mr. Robert Bell.1233.0XXXVIII.LONDON, MAY 9, 1865.[On the above date Mr. Dickens presided at the Annual Festival of the Newsvendors' Benevolent and Provident Association, and, in proposingthe toast of the evening, delivered the following speech. ]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -Dr. Johnson's experience of that club, the members of which havetravelled over one another's minds in every direction, is not to be compared with the experience of theperpetual president of a society like this. Having onprevious occasions said everything about it that he couldpossibly find to say, he is again produced, with the sameawful formalities, to say everything about it that he cannotpossibly find to say. It struck me, when Dr. F. Jones wasreferring just now to Easter Monday, that the case of suchan ill-starred president is very like that of the stag at EppingForest on Easter Monday. That unfortunate animal whenhe is uncarted at the spot where the meet takes place,generally makes a point, I am told, of making away at acool trot, venturesomely followed by the whole field, to theyard where he lives, and there subsides into a quiet and.inoffensive existence, until he is again brought out to beMay 9, 1865. ORATORICAL DIFFICULTIES. 237again followed by exactly the same field, under exactly thesame circumstances, next Easter Monday.The difficulties of the situation-and here I mean thepresident and not the stag-are greatly increased in such aninstance as this by the peculiar nature of the institution. Inits unpretending solidity, reality, and usefulness, believeme-for I have carefully considered the point-it presentsno opening whatever of an oratorical nature. If it wereone of those costly charities, so called, whose yield of woolbears no sort of proportion to their cry for cash, I verylikely might have a word or two to say on the subject. Ifits funds were lavished in patronage and show, instead ofbeing honestly expended in providing small annuities forhard-working people who have themselves contributed toits funds-if its management were intrusted to people whocould by no possibility know anything about it, instead ofbeing invested in plain, business, practical hands—if ithoarded when it ought to spend—if it got by cringing andfawning what it never deserved, I might possibly impressyou very much by my indignation. If its managers couldtell me that it was insolvent, that it was in a hopeless condition, that its accounts had been kept by Mr. Edmunds—or by " Tom,"—if its treasurer had run away with themoney-box, then I might have made a pathetic appeal toyour feelings. But I have no such chance. Just as a nationis happy whose records are barren, so is a society fortunatethat has no history-and its president unfortunate. I canonly assure you that this society continues its plain, unobtrusive, useful career. I can only assure you that it does agreat deal of good at a very small cost, and that the objectsof its care and the bulk of its members are faithful working-servants of the public-sole ministers of their wants at untimely hours, in all seasons, and in all weathers; at their238 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May9own doors, at the street-corners, at every railway train, atevery steam-boat; through the agency of every establish .ment and the tiniest little shops; and that, whether regarded as master or as man, their profits are very modestand their risks numerous, while their trouble and responsibility are very great.The newsvendors and newsmen are a very subordinatepart of that wonderful engine-the newspaper press. StillI think we all know very well that they are to the fountainhead what a good service of water pipes is to a good watersupply. Just as a goodly store of water at Watford wouldbe a tantalization to thirsty London if it were not broughtinto town for its use, so any amount of news accumulatedat Printing-house Square, or Fleet Street, or the Strand,would be if there were no skill and enterprise engaged inits dissemination.We are all of us in the habit of saying in our every- daylife, that " We never know the value of anything until we lose it." Let us try the newsvendors by the test. A fewyears ago we discovered one morning that there was astrike among the cab-drivers. Now, let us imagine a strikeof newsmen. Imagine the trains waiting in vain for thenewspapers. Imagine all sorts and conditions of men dyingto know the shipping news, the commercial news, the foreignnews, the legal news, the criminal news, the dramatic news.Imagine the paralysis on all the provincial exchanges; thesilence and desertion of all the newsmen's exchanges inLondon. Imagine the circulation of the blood of the nationand of the country standing still, -the clock of the world.Why, even Mr. Reuter, the great Reuter-whom I amalways glad to imagine slumbering at night by the side ofMrs. Reuter, with a galvanic battery under his bolster, belland wires to the head of his bed, and bells at each earTHE MODERN MERCURY. 1865.think how even he would click and flash those wondrousdispatches of his, and how they would become mere nothingwithout the activity and honesty which catch up the threadsand stitches of the electric needle, and scatter them overthe land.239It is curious to consider-and the thought occurred to methis day, when I was out for a stroll pondering over the dutiesof this evening, which even then were looming in the distance, but not quite so far off as I could wish-I found itvery curious to consider that though the newsman must beallowed to be a very unpicturesque rendering of Mercury,or Fame, or what-not conventional messenger from theclouds, and although we must allow that he is of this earth,and has a good deal of it on his boots, still that he has twovery remarkable characteristics, to which none of his celestial predecessors can lay the slightest claim. One is thathe is always the messenger of civilization; the other thathe is at least equally so-not only in what he brings, but inwhat he ceases to bring. Thus the time was, and not somany years ago either, when the newsman constantly broughthome to our doors-though I am afraid not to our hearts,which were custom-hardened—the most terrific accounts ofmurders, of our fellow- creatures being publicly put to death.for what we now call trivial offences, in the very heart ofLondon, regularly every Monday morning. At the sametime the newsman regularly brought to us the infliction ofother punishments, which were demoralising to the innocentpart of the community, while they did not òperate aspunishments in deterring offenders from the perpetration ofcrimes. In those same days, also, the newsman brought tous daily accounts of a regularly accepted and received system of loading the unfortunate insane with chains, litteringthem down on straw, starving them on bread and water,240CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES.May9,damaging their clothes, and making periodical exhibitionsof them at a small charge; and that on a Sunday one ofour public resorts was a kind of demoniacal zoological gardens. They brought us accounts at the same time of somedamage done to the machinery which was destined tcsupply the operative classes with employment. In the sametime they brought us accounts of riots for bread, which wereconstantly occurring, and undermining society and the state;of the most terrible explosions of class against class, andof the habitual employment of spies for the discovery—ifnot for the origination-of plots, in which both sides foundin those days some relief. In the same time the samenewsmen were apprising us of a state of society all aroundus in which the grossest sensuality and intemperance werethe rule; and not as now, when the ignorant, the wicked,and the wretched are the inexcusably vicious exceptions-astate of society in which the professional bully was rampant,and when deadly duels were daily fought for the most absurdand disgraceful causes. All this the newsman has ceasedto tell us of. This state of society has discontinued in England for ever; and when we remember the undoubted truth,that the change could never have been effected without theaid of the load which the newsman carries, surely it is notvery romantic to express the hope on his behalf that thepublic will show to him some little token of the sympatheticremembrance which we are all of us glad to bestow on thebearers of happy tidings-the harbingers of good news.Now, ladies and gentlemen, you will be glad to hear thatI am coming to a conclusion; for that conclusion I have aprecedent. You all of you know how pleased you are onyour return from a morning's walk to learn that the collectorhas called. Well, I am the collector for this district, and Ihope you will bear in mind that I have respectfully called.•1865.RULES OF THE INSTITUTION.Regarding the institution on whose behalf I have presentedmyself, I need only say technically two things. First, thatits annuities are granted out of its funded capital , and therefore it is safe as the Bank; and, secondly, that they areattainable by such a slight exercise of prudence and forethought, that a payment of 255. extending over a period offive years, entitles a subscriber-if a male-to an annuityof £16 a-year, and a female to £ 12 a-year. Now, bear inmind that this is an institution on behalf of which the collector has called, leaving behind his assurance that what youcan give to one of the most faithful of your servants shallbe well bestowed and faithfully applied to the purposes towhich you intend them, and to those purposes alone.16241WEXXXIX.NEWSPAPER PRESS FUND.LONDON, MAY 20, 1865.[At the second annual dinner of the Institution, held at the Freemasons'Tavern, on Saturday, the 20th May, 1865, the following speech wasdelivered by the chairman, Mr. Charles Dickens, in proposing the toast of the evening:]JADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -When a young childis produced after dinner to be shown to a circle ofadmiring relations and friends, it may generally beobserved that their conversation-I suppose in an instinctiveremembrance of the uncertainty of infant life—takes a retrospective turn. As how much the child has grown since thelast dinner; what a remarkably fine child it is, to have beenborn only two or three years ago, how much stronger it looksnow than before it had the measles, and so forth. When ayoung institution is produced after dinner, there is not thesame uncertainty or delicacy as in the case of the child,and it may be confidently predicted of it that if it deserve tolive it will surely live, and that if it deserve to die it willsurely die. The proof of desert in such a case as this mustbe mainly sought, I suppose, firstly, in what the societymeans to do with its money; secondly, in the extent towhich it is supported by the class with whom it originated,May 20, 1865. NEWSPAPEr press fund. 243and for whose benefit it is designed; and, lastly, in thepower of its hold upon the public. I add this lastly, because no such institution that ever I heard of ever yetdreamed of existing apart from the public, or ever yet considered it a degradation to accept the public support.Now, what the Newspaper Press Fund proposes to dowith its money is to grant relief to members in want or distress, and to the widows, families, parents, or other nearrelatives of deceased members in right of a moderate provident annual subscription-commutable, I observe, for amoderate provident life subscription-and its members comprise the whole paid class of literary contributors to thepress of the United Kingdom, and every class of reporters.The number of its members at this time last year was something below 100. At the present time it is somewhat above170, not including 30 members of the press who are regularsubscribers, but have not as yet qualified as regular members. This number is steadily on the increase, not only asregards the metropolitan press, but also as regards the provincial throughout the country. I have observed withinthese few days that many members of the press at Manchester have lately at a meeting expressed a strong brotherlyinterest in this Institution, and a great desire to extend itsoperations, and to strengthen its hands, provided that something in the independent nature of life assurance and thepurchase of deferred annuities could be introduced into itsdetails, and always assuming that in it the metropolis andthe provinces stand on perfectly equal ground. This appears to me to be a demand so very moderate, that I canhardly have a doubt of a response on the part of themanagers, or of the beneficial and harmonious results. Itonly remains to add, on this head of desert, the agreeablecircumstance that out of all the money collected in aid of16-2I1244 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May 20,the society during the last year more than one-third cameexclusively from the press.Now, ladies and gentlemen, in regard to the last claim—the last point of desert-the hold upon the public-I thinkI may say that probably not one single individual in thisgreat company has failed to-day to see a newspaper, or hasfailed to-day to hear something derived from a newspaperwhich was quite unknown to him or to her yesterday. Ofall those restless crowds that have this day thronged thestreets of this enormous city, the same may be said as thegeneral gigantic rule. It may be said almost equally, ofthebrightest and the dullest, the largest and the least provincialtown in the empire; and this, observe, not only as to theactive, the industrious, and the healthy among the population, but also to the bedridden, the idle, the blind, and thedeaf and dumb. Now, ifthe men who provide this all-pervading presence, this wonderful, ubiquitous newspaper, withevery description of intelligence on every subject of humaninterest, collected with immense pains and immense patience,often bythe exercise of a laboriously-acquired faculty unitedto a natural aptitude, much of the work done in the night,at the sacrifice of rest and sleep, and ( quite apart from themental strain) by the constant overtasking of the two mostdelicate of the senses, sight and hearing-I say, if the menwho, through the newspapers, from day to day, or fromnight to night, or from week to week, furnish the public withso much to remember, have not a righteous claim to be remembered bythe public in return, then I declare before GodI know no working class of the community who have.It would be absurd, it would be impertinent, in such anassembly as this, if I were to attempt to expatiate upon theextraordinary combination of remarkable qualities involvedin the production of any newspaper. But assuming the1865.PRIVILEGE of " skipPING."majority of this associated body to be composed of reporters,because reporters, of one kind or other, compose the majorityof the literary staff of almost every newspaper that is not acompilation, I would venture to remind you, if I delicatelymay, in the august presence of members of Parliament, howmuch we, the public, owe to the reporters if it were only fortheir skill in the two great sciences of condensation and rejection. Conceive what our sufferings, under an ImperialParliament, however popularly constituted, under howeverglorious a constitution, would be if the reporters could notskip. Dr. Johnson, in one of his violent assertions, declaredthat " the man who was afraid of anything must be a scoundrel, sir." By no means binding myself to this opinionthough admitting that the man who is afraid of a newspaperwill generally be found to be rather something like it, I muststill freely own that I should approach my Parliamentarydebate with infinite fear and trembling if it were so unskilfully served up for my breakfast. Ever since the timewhen the old man and his son took their donkey home,which were the old Greek days, I believe, and probably eversince the time when the donkey went into the ark-perhapshe did not like his accommodation there-but certainlyfromthat time downwards, he has objected to go in any directionrequired of him-from the remotest periods it has beenfound impossible to please everybody.I do not for a moment seek to conceal that I know thisInstitution has been objected to. As an open fact challenging the freest discussion and inquiry, and seeking no sortof shelter or favour but what it can win, it has nothing, Iapprehend, but itself, to urge against objection. No institution conceived in perfect honesty and good faith has a rightto object to being questioned to any extent, and any institution so based must be in the end the better for it. More245246 CHARLES Dickens's speeches. May 20over, that this society has been questioned in quartersdeserving of the most respectful attention I take to be anindisputable fact. Now, I for one have given that respectfulattention, and I have come out of the discussion to whereyou see me. The whole circle of the arts is pervaded byinstitutions between which and this I can descry no difference. The painters' art has four or five such institutions.The musicians' art, so generously and charmingly representedhere, has likewise several such institutions. In my own artthere is one, concerning the details of which my noble friend.the president of the society and myself have torn each other'shair to a considerable extent, and which I would, if I could,assimilate more nearly to this. In the dramatic art there arefour, and I never yet heard of any objection to their principle, except, indeed, in the cases of some famous actors oflarge gains, who having through the whole period of theirsuccesses positively refused to establish a right in them,became, in their old age and decline, repentant suppliantsfor their bounty. Is it urged against this particular Institution that it is objectionable because a parliamentary reporter,for instance, might report a subscribing M.P. in large, and anon-subscribing M.P. in little? Apart from the sweepingnature of this charge, which, it is to be observed, lays theunfortunate member and the unfortunate reporter underpretty much the same suspicion-apart from this consideration, I reply that it is notorious in all newspaper offices thatevery such man is reported according to the position he cangain in the public eye, and according to the force and weightof what he has to say. And if there were ever to be amongthe members of this society one so very foolish to hisbrethren, and so very dishonourable to himself, as venally toabuse his trust, I confidently ask those here, the best acquainted with journalism, whether they believe it possible1865.EXPERIENCE AS A REPORTER. 247that any newspaper so ill-conducted as to fail instantly todetect him could possibly exist as a thriving enterprise forone single twelvemonth? No, ladies and gentlemen, theblundering stupidity of such an offence would have no chanceagainst the acute sagacity of newspaper editors. But I willgo further, and submit to you that its commission, if it beto be dreaded at all, is far more likely on the part of somerecreant camp-follower of a scattered, disunited, and halfrecognized profession, than when there is a public opinionestablished in it, by the union of all classes of its membersfor the common good: the tendency of which union mustin the nature of things be to raise the lower members of thepress towards the higher, and never to bring the highermembers to the lower level.I hope I may be allowed in the very few closing wordsthat I feel a desire to say in remembrance of some circumstances, rather special, attending my present occupation orthis chair, to give those words something of a personal tone.I am not here advocating the case of a mere ordinary clientof whom I have little or no knowledge. I hold a brief tonight for my brothers. I went into the gallery of the Houseof Commons as a parliamentary reporter when I was a boynot eighteen, and I left it-I can hardly believe the inexorable truth-nigh thirty years ago. I have pursued thecalling of a reporter under circumstances of which many ofmy brethren at home in England here, many of my modernsuccessors, can form no adequate conception. I have oftentranscribed for the printer, from my shorthand notes, important public speeches in which the strictest accuracy wasrequired, and a mistake in which would have been to ayoung man severely compromising, writing on the palm ofmy hand, bythe light of a dark lantern, in a post- chaise andfour, galloping through a wild country, and through the dead248 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May 20,of the night, at the then surprising rate of fifteen miles anhour. The very last time I was at Exeter, I strolled intothe castle yard there to identify, for the amusement of afriend, the spot on which I once " took," as we used to callit, an election speech of my noble friend Lord Russell, inthe midst of a lively fight maintained by all the vagabondsin that division of the county, and under such a pelting rain,that I remember two goodnatured colleagues, who chancedto be at leisure, held a pocket-handkerchief over my notebook, after the manner of a state canopy in an ecclesiasticalprocession. I have worn my knees by writing on them onthe old back row of the old gallery of the old House ofCommons; and I have worn my feet by standing to write ina preposterous pen in the old House of Lords, where weused to be huddled together like so many sheep-kept inwaiting, say, until the woolsack might want re-stuffing.Returning home from excited political meetings in thecountry to the waiting press in London, I do verily believeI have been upset in almost every description of vehicleknown in this country. I have been, in my time, belatedon miry by-roads, towards the small hours, forty or fifty milesfrom London, in a wheelless carriage, with exhausted horsesand drunken postboys, and have got back in time for publication, to be received with never-forgotten compliments bythe late Mr. Black, coming in the broadest of Scotch fromthe broadest of hearts I ever knew.Ladies and gentlemen, I mention these trivial things as anassurance to you that I never have forgotten the fascinationof that old pursuit. The pleasure that I used to feel in therapidity and dexterity of its exercise has never faded out ofmy breast. Whatever little cunning of hand or head I tookto it, or acquired in it, I have so retained as that I fully believe I could resume it to-morrow, very little the worse from1855. EXPERIENCE as a reporter. 249long disuse. To this present year of my life, when I sit inthis hall, or where not, hearing a dull speech, the phenomenon does occur-I sometimes beguile the tedium of themoment by mentally following the speaker in the old, oldway; and sometimes, if you can believe me, I even find myhand going on the table-cloth, taking an imaginary note ofit all. Accept these little truths as a confirmation of what Iknow; as a confirmation of my undying interest in this oldcalling. Accept them as a proof that my feeling for thevocation of my youth is not a sentiment taken up to-night tobe thrown away to-morrow-but is a faithful sympathy whichis a part of myself. I verily believe—I am sure—that if Ihad never quitted my old calling I should have been foremost and zealous in the interests of this Institution , believingit to be a sound, a wholesome, and a good one. Ladies andgentlemen, I am to propose to you to drink " Prosperity tothe Newspaper Press Fund," with which toast I will connect,as to its acknowledgment, a name that has shed new brilliancyon even the foremost newspaper in the world-the illustriousname of Mr. Russell.HOTHE ONXL.KNEBWORTH, JULY 29, 1865.[On the above date the members of the " Guild of Literature and Art" pro ceeded to the neighbourhood of Stevenage, near the magnificent seat ofthe President, Lord Lytton, to inspect three houses built in the Gothic style, on the ground given by him for the purpose. After their survey,the party drove to Knebworth to partake of the hospitality of Lord Lytton .Mr. Dickens, who was one of the guests, proposed the health of the hostin the following words:]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -It was said by a verysagacious person, whose authority I am sure myfriendof many years will not impugn, seeing that he wasnamed Augustus Tomlinson, the kind friend and philosopherof Paul Clifford-it was said by that remarkable man, " Lifeis short, and why should speeches be long?" An aphorismso sensible under all circumstances, and particularly in thecircumstances in which we are placed, with this deliciousweather and such charming gardens near us, I shall practically adopt on the present occasion; and the rather so because the speech of my friend was exhaustive of the subject,as his speeches always are, though not in the least exhaustive of his audience. In thanking him for the toastwhich he has done us the honour to propose, allow me tocorrect an error into which he has fallen. Allow me to statethat these houses never could have been built but for hiszealous and valuable co-operation, and also that the pleasantJuly 29, 1865. LORD LYTTON. 251labour out of which they have arisen would have lost one ofits greatest charms and strongest impulses, if it had lost hisever ready sympathy with that class in which he has risen tothe foremost rank, and of which he is the brightest ornament.Having said this much as simply due to my friend, I canonly say, on behalf of my associates, that the ladies and gentlemen whom we shall invite to occupy the houses we havebuilt will never be placed under any social disadvantage.They will be invited to occupy them as artists, receivingthem as a mark of the high respect in which they are heldby their fellow-workers. As artists I hope they will oftenexercise their calling within those walls for the general advantage; and they will always claim, on equal terms, thehospitality of their generous neighbour.Now I am sure I shall be giving utterance to the feelingsofmybrothers and sisters in literature in proposing " Health,long life, and prosperity to our distinguished host. " Ladiesand gentlemen, you know very well that when the health,life, and beauty now overflowing these halls shall have fled,crowds of people will come to see the place where he livedand wrote. Setting aside the orator and statesman-forhappily we know no party here but this agreeable party—setting aside all, this you know very well, that this is thehome of a very great man whose connexion with Hertfordshire every other county in England will envy for many longyears to come. You know that when this hall is dullestand emptiest you can make it when you please brightest andfullest by peopling it with the creations of his brilliant fancy.Let us all wish together that they may be many more-forthe more they are the better it will be, and, as he alwaysexcels himself, the better they will be. I ask you to listento their praises and not to mine, and to let them, not me,propose his health.XLI.22LONDON, FEBRUARY 14, 1866.[On this occasion Mr. Dickens officiated as Chairman at the annual dinner of the Dramatic, Equestrian, and Musical Fund, at Willis's Rooms, wherehe made the following speech:]ADIES, before I couple you with the gentlemen, whichwill be at least proper to the inscription over myhead (St. Valentine's day) -before I do so, allowme, on behalf of my grateful sex here represented, to thankyou for the great pleasure and interest with which yourgracious presence at these festivals never fails to inspire us.There is no English custom which is so manifestly a relic ofsavage life as that custom which usually excludes you fromparticipation in similar gatherings. And although the crimecarries its own heavy punishment along with it, in respectthat it divests a public dinner of its most beautiful ornamentand of its most fascinating charm, still the offence is nonethe less to be severely reprehended on every possible occasion, as outraging equally nature and art. I believe that aslittle is known of the saint whose name is written here as canwell be known of any saint or sinner. We, your loyalservants, are deeply thankful to him for having somehowgained possession of one day in the year-for having, as noFeb. 14, 1866. 253doubt he has, arranged the almanac for 1866-expressly todelight us with the enchanting fiction that we have sometender proprietorship in you which we should scarcely dareto claim on a less auspicious occasion. Ladies, the utmostdevotion sanctioned by the saint we beg to lay at your feet,and any little innocent privileges to which we may be entitled by the same authority we beg respectfully but firmlyto claim at your hands.Now, ladies and gentlemen, you need no ghost to informyou that I am going to propose " Prosperity to the Dramatic, Musical, and Equestrian Sick Fund Association, "and, further, that I should be going to ask you actively topromote that prosperity by liberally contributing to its funds,if that task were not reserved for a much more persuasivespeaker. But I rest the strong claim of the society for itsuseful existence and its truly charitable functions on a veryfewwords, though, as well as I can recollect, upon somethinglike six grounds. First, it relieves the sick; secondly, itburies the dead; thirdly, it enables the poor members of theprofession to journey to accept new engagements wheneverthey find themselves stranded in some remote, inhospitableplace, or when, from other circumstances, they find themselves perfectly crippled as to locomotion for want of money;fourthly, it often finds such engagements for them by actingas their honest, disinterested agent; fifthly, it is its principleto act humanely upon the instant, and never, as is too oftenthe case within my experience, to beat about the bush tillthe bush is withered and dead; lastly, the society is not in theleast degree exclusive, but takes under its comprehensive carethe whole range of the theatre and the concert-room, fromthe manager in his room of state, or in his caravan, or at thedrum-head-down to the theatrical housekeeper, who isusually to be found amongst the cobwebs and the flies, orSAINT VALENTINE.254 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.Feb. 14.down to the hall porter, who passes his life in a thoroughdraught-and, to the best of my observation, in perpetuallyinterrupted endeavours to eat something with a knife andfork out of a basin, by a dusty fire, in that extraordinary little gritty room, upon which the sun never shines, and onthe portals of which are inscribed the magic words, " stagedoor."Now, ladies and gentlemen, this society administers itsbenefits sometimes by way of loan; sometimes by way ofgift; sometimes by way of assurance at very low premiums;sometimes to members, oftener to non-members; alwaysexpressly, remember, through the hands of a secretary orcommittee well acquainted with the wants of the applicants,and thoroughly versed, if not by hard experience at least bysympathy, in the calamities and uncertainties incidental tothe general calling. One must know something of thegeneral calling to know what those afflictions are. A ladywho had been upon the stage from her earliest childhoodtill she was a blooming woman, and who came from a longline of provincial actors and actresses, once said to me whenshe was happily married; when she was rich, beloved,courted; when she was mistress of a fine house—once saidto me at the head of her own table, surrounded by distinguished guests of every degree, " Oh, but I have neverforgotten the hard time when I was on the stage, and whenmy baby brother died, and when my poor mother and Ibrought the little baby from Ireland to England, and actedthree nights in England, as we had acted three nights inIreland, with the pretty creature lying upon the only bed inour lodging before we got the money to pay for its funeral."Ladies and gentlemen, such things are, every day, to thishour; but, happily, at this day and in this hour this association has arisen to be the timely friend of such great distress.ACTORS. 255It is not often the fault of the sufferers that they fallinto these straits. Struggling artists must necessarily changefrom place to place, and thus it frequently happens thatthey become, as it were, strangers in every place, and veryslight circumstances-a passing illness, the sickness of thehusband, wife, or child, a serious town, an anathematisingexpounder of the gospel of gentleness and forbearanceany one of these causes may often in a few hours wreckthem upon a rock in the barren ocean; and then, happily,this society, with the swift alacrity of the life-boat, dashesto the rescue, and takes them off. Looking just now overthe last report issued by this society, and confining myscrutiny to the head of illness alone, I find that in one year,I think, 672 days of sickness had been assuaged by its means. In nine years, which then formed the term of itsexistence, as many as 5,500 and odd. Well, I thoughtwhen I saw 5,500 and odd days of sickness, this is a veryserious sum, but add the nights! Add the nights-thoselong, dreary hours in the twenty-four when the shadow ofdeath is darkest, when despondency is strongest, and whenhope is weakest, before you gauge the good that is done bythis institution, and before you gauge the good that reallywill be done by every shilling that you bestow here to-night.Add, more than all, that the improvidence, the recklessnessof the general multitude of poor members of this profession, I should say is a cruel, conventional fable. Add thatthere is no class of society the members of which so wellhelp themselves, or so well help each other. Not in thewhole grand chapters of Westminster Abbey and YorkMinster, not in the whole quadrangle of the Royal Exchange, not in the whole list of members of the Stock Exchange, not in the Inns of Court, not in the College ofPhysicians, not in the College of Surgeons, can there pos1866.256 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 14,sibly be found more remarkable instances of uncomplaining poverty, of cheerful, constant self-denial, of the generousremembrance of the claims of kindred and professionalbrotherhood, than will certainly be found in the dingiestand dirtiest concert room, in the least lucid theatre-evenin the raggedest tent circus that was ever stained by weather.I have been twitted in print before now with rather flattering actors when I address them as one of their trusteesat their General Fund dinner. Believe me, I flatter nobody,unless it be sometimes myself; but, in such a company asthe present, I always feel it my manful duty to bear mytestimony to this fact-first, because it is opposed to astupid, unfeeling libel; secondly, because my doing so mayafford some slight encouragement to the persons who areunjustly depreciated; and lastly, and most of all, because Iknow it is the truth.Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time we should what weprofessionally call " ring down " on these remarks. If you,such members of the general public as are here, will onlythink the great theatrical curtain has really fallen and beentaken up again for the night on that dull, dark vault whichmany of us know so well; if you will only think of thetheatre or other place of entertainment as empty; if youwill only think of the " float, " or other gas-fittings, as extinguished; if you will only think of the people who havebeguiled you of an evening's care, whose little vanities andalmost childish foibles are engendered in their competingface to face with you for your favour-surely it may besaid their feelings are partly of your making, while theirvirtues are all their own. If you will only do this, andfollow them out of that sham place into the real world,where it rains real rain, snows real snow, and blows realwind; where people sustain themselves by real money,PEPYS DIARY. 257which is much harder to get, much harder to make, andvery much harder to give away than the pieces of tobaccopipe in property bags-if you will only do this, and do itin a really kind, considerate spirit, this society, then certainof the result of the night's proceedings, can ask no more.I beg to propose to you to drink " Prosperity to the Dramatic, Equestrian, and Musical Sick Fund Association. "[Mr. Dickens, in proposing the next toast, said:-]Gentlemen as I addressed myself to the ladies lasttime, so I address you this time, and I give you the delightful assurance that it is positively my last appearance butone on the present occasion. A certain Mr. Pepys, whowas Secretary for the Admiralty in the days of Charles II. ,who kept a diary well in shorthand, which he supposed noone could read, and which consequently remains to thisday the most honest diary known to print-Mr. Pepys hadtwo special and very strong likings, the ladies and thetheatres. But Mr. Pepys, whenever he committed anyslight act of remissness, or any little peccadillo which wasutterly and wholly untheatrical, used to comfort his conscience by recording a vow that he would abstain from thetheatres for a certain time. In the first part of Mr. Pepys'character I have no doubt we fully agree with him; in thesecond I have no doubt we do not.1866.I learn this experience of Mr. Pepys from remembranceof a passage in his diary that I was reading the other night,from which it appears that he was not only curious in plays,but curious in sermons; and that one night when he happened to be walking past St. Dunstan's Church, he turned,went in, and heard what he calls " a. very edifying discourse;" during the delivery of which discourse, he notesin his diary-"I stood by a pretty young maid, whom I17258 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Feb. 14, 1866did attempt to take by the hand. " But he adds-" Shewould not; and I did perceive that she had pins in herpocket with which to prick me if I should touch her again--and was glad that I spied her design. " Afterwards, aboutthe close of the same edifying discourse, Mr. Pepys foundhimself near another pretty, fair young maid, who wouldseem upon the whole to have had no pins, and to have beenmore impressible.Now, the moral of this story which I wish to suggest toyou is, that we have been this evening in St. James's muchmore timid than Mr. Pepys was in St. Dunstan's, and thatwe have conducted ourselves very much better. As a slightrecompense to us for our highly meritorious conduct, andas a little relief to our over-charged hearts, I beg to proposethat we devote this bumper to invoking a blessing on theladies. It is the privilege of this society annually to heara lady speak for her own sex. Who so competent to dothis as Mrs. Stirling? Surely one who has so gracefully andcaptivatingly, with such an exquisite mixture of art, andfancy, and fidelity, represented her own sex in innumerablecharities, under an infinite variety of phases, cannot fail torepresent them well in her own character, especially when itis, amidst her many triumphs, the most agreeable of all. Ibeg to propose to you " The Ladies, " and I will couplewith that toast the name of Mrs. Stirling.XLII.LONDON, MARCH 28, 1866.[The following speech was made by Mr. Dickens at the Annual Festival ofthe Royal General Theatrical Fund, held at the Freemasons' Tavern, inproposing the health of the Lord Mayor (Sir Benjamin Phillips) , whooccupied the chair. ]ENTLEMEN, in my childish days I remember tohave had a vague but profound admiration for acertain legendary person called the Lord Mayor'sfool. I had the highest opinion of the intellectual capacityof that suppositious retainer of the Mansion House, and Ireally regarded him with feelings approaching to absoluteveneration, because my nurse informed me on every gastronomic occasion that the Lord Mayor's fool liked everythingthat was good. You will agree with me, I have no doubt,that if this discriminating jester had existed at the presenttime he could not fail to have liked his master very much,seeing that so good a Lord Mayor is very rarely to be found,and that a better Lord Mayor could not possibly be.You have already divined, gentlemen, that I am about topropose to you to drink the health of the right honourablegentleman in the chair. As one of the Trustees of theGeneral Theatrical Fund, I beg officially to tender him mybest thanks for lending the very powerful aid of his presence,his influence, and his personal character to this very de17-2260 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. March 28,serving Institution. As his private friends we ventured taurge upon him to do us this gracious act, and I beg to assureyou that the perfect simplicity, modesty, cordiality, andfrankness with which he assented, enhanced the gift onethousand fold. I think it must also be very agreeable to acompany like this to know that the President of the nightis not ceremoniously pretending, " positively for this nightonly," to have an interest in the drama, but that he has anunusual and thorough acquaintance with it, and that he hasa living and discerning knowledge of the merits of the greatold actors. It is very pleasant to me to remember that theLord Mayor and I once beguiled the tedium of a journeyby exchanging our experiences upon this subject. I ratherprided myself on being something of an old stager, but Ifound the Lord Mayor so thoroughly up in all the stockpieces, and so knowing and yet so fresh about the merits ofthose who are most and best identified with them, that Ireadily recognised in him what would be called in fisticlanguage, a very ugly customer-one, ' I assure you, by nomeans to be settled by any novice not in thorough goodtheatrical training.Gentlemen, we have all known from our earliest infancythat when the giants in Guildhall hear the clock strike one,they come down to dinner. Similarly, when the City ofLondon shall hear but one single word in just disparagement of its present Lord Mayor, whether as its enlightenedchief magistrate, or as one of its merchants, or as one ofits true gentlemen, he will then descend from the high personal place which he holds in the general honour and esUntil then he will remain upon his pedestal, andmy private opinion, between ourselves, is that the giantswill come down long before him.teem.Gentlemen, in conclusion, I would remark that when the1866. ROYAL GENERAL THEATRICAL FUND.Lord Mayor made his truly remarkable, and truly manly,and unaffected speech, I could not but be struck by the oddreversal of the usual circumstances at the Mansion House,which he presented to our view, for whereas it is a verycommon thing for persons to be brought tremblingly beforethe Lord Mayor, the Lord Mayor presented himself asbeing brought tremblingly before us. I hope that the resultmay hold still further, for whereas it is a common thing forthe Lord Mayor to say to a repentant criminal who doesnot seem to have much harm in him, " let me never seeyou here again," so I would propose that we all with oneaccord say to the Lord Mayor, " Let us by all means seeyou here again on the first opportunity. " Gentlemen, I begto propose to you to drink, with all the honours, " Thehealth of the right hon. the Lord Mayor."261HO+38 0XLIII.LONDON, MAY 7, 1866.[The Members of the Metropolitan Rowing Clubs dining together at the London Tavern, on the above date, Mr. Dickens, as President of theNautilus Rowing Club, occupied the chair. The Speech that follows was made in proposing " Prosperity to the Rowing Clubs of London."Mr. Dickens said that:-]E could not avoid the remembrance of what verypoor things the amateur rowing clubs on theThames were in the early days of his noviciate;not to mention the difference in the build of the boats. Hecould not get on in the beginning without being a pupilunder an anomalous creature called a " fireman waterman, "who wore an eminently tall hat, and a perfectly unaccountable uniform, of which it might be said that if it was lessadapted for one thing than another, that thing was fire. Herecollected that this gentleman had on some former daywon a King's prize wherry, and they used to go about inthis accursed wherry, he and a partner, doing all the hardwork, while the fireman drank all the beer. The river wasvery much clearer, freër, and cleaner in those days thanthese; but he was persuaded that this philosophical oldboatman could no more have dreamt of seeing the spectacleMay 7, 1866.263which had taken place on Saturday (the procession of theboats of the Metropolitan Amateur Rowing Clubs) , or ofseeing these clubs matched for skill and speed, than he(the Chairman) should dare to announce through the usualauthentic channels that he was to be heard of at the barbelow, and that he was perfectly prepared to accommodateMr. James Mace if he meant business. Nevertheless, hecould recollect that he had turned out for a spurt a fewyears ago on the River Thames with an occasional Secretary, who should be nameless, and some other Eton boys,and that he could hold his own against them. More recently still, the last time that he rowed down from Oxfordhe was supposed to cover himself with honour, though hemust admit that he found the " locks " so picturesque as torequire much examination for the discovery of their beauty.But what he wanted to say was this, that though his" fireman waterman was one of the greatest humbugs thatever existed, he yet taught him what an honest, healthy,manly sport this was. Their waterman would bid thempull away, and assure them that they were certain of winning in some race. And here he would remark that aquaticsports never entailed a moment's cruelty, or a moment'spain, upon any living creature. Rowing men pursuedrecreation under circumstances which braced their muscles,and cleared the cobwebs from their minds. He assuredthem that he regarded such clubs as these as a nationalblessing. " They owed, it was true, a vast deal to steampower-as was sometimes proved at matches on the Thames—but, at the same time, they were greatly indebted to allthat tended to keep up a healthy, manly tone. He understood that there had been a committee selected for thepurpose of arranging a great amateur regatta, which was totake place off Putney in the course of the season that was66METROPOLITAN ROWING CLUBS.254 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. May7, 1866.just begun. He could not abstain from availing himself ofthis occasion to express a hope that the committee wouldsuccessfully carry on its labours to a triumphant result, andthat they should see upon the Thames, in the course ofthis summer, such a brilliant sight as had never been seenthere before. To secure this there must be some hardwork, skilful combinations, and rather large subscriptions.But although the aggregate result must be great, it by nomeans followed that it need be at all large in its individualdetails.[ In conclusion, Mr. Dickens made a laughable comparison between the paying off or purification of the national debt and the purification of the River Thames ]10-05T0%XLIV.LONDON, JUNE 5, 1857.[On the above date Mr. Dickens presided at the Ninth Anniversary Festivalof the Railway Benevolent Society, at Willis's Rooms, and in proposing the toast of the evening, made the following speech . ]LTHOUGH we have not yet left behind us by thedistance of nearly fifty years the time when one ofthe first literary authorities of this country insistedupon the speed of the fastest railway train that the Legisture might disastrously sanction being limited by Act ofParliament to ten miles an hour, yet it does somehow happen that this evening, and every evening, there are railwaytrains running pretty smoothly to Ireland and to Scotlandat the rate of fifty miles an hour; much as it was objectedin its time to vaccination, that it must have a tendency toimpart to human children something of the nature of thecow, whereas I believe to this very time vaccinated childrenare found to be as easily defined from calves as they everwere, and certainly they have no cheapening influence onthe price of veal; much as it was objected that chloroformwas a contravention of the will of Providence, because itlessened providentially-inflicted pain, which would be areason for your not rubbing your face if you had the tooth265 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 5ache, or not rubbing your nose if it itched; so it was evidently predicted that the railway system, even if anythingso absurd could be productive of any result, would infalliblythrow half the nation out of employment; whereas, youobserve that the very cause and occasion of our cominghere together to-night is, apart from the various tributarychannels of occupation which it has opened out, that it hascalled into existence a specially and directly employedpopulation of upwards of 200,000 persons.Now, gentlemen, it is pretty clear and obvious that upwards of 200,000 persons engaged upon the various railwaysof the United Kingdom cannot be rich; and although theirduties require great care and great exactness, and althoughour lives are every day, humanly speaking, in the hands ofmany of them, still, for the most of these places there willbe always great competition, because they are not postswhich require skilled workmen to hold. Wages, as youknow very well, cannot be high where competition is great,and you also know very well that railway directors, in thebargains they make, and the salaries which they pay, have todeal with the money of the shareholders, to whom they areaccountable. Thus it necessarily happens that railway officers and servants are not remunerated on the whole by anymeans splendidly, and that they cannot hope in the ordinarycourse of things to do more than meet the ordinary wantsand hazards of life. But it is to be observed that thegeneral hazards are in their case, by reason of the dangerousnature of their avocations, exceptionally great, so very great,I find, as to be stateable, on the authority of a parliamentarypaper, bythe very startling round of figures, that whereasone railway traveller in 8,000,000 of passengers is killed,one railway servant in every 2,000 is killed.Hence, from general, special, as well, no doubt, for the1867. RAILWAY BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 257Iusual prudential and benevolent considerations, therecame to be established among railway officers and servants,nine years ago, the Railway Benevolent Association.may suppose, therefore, as it was established nine years ago,that this is the ninth occasion of publishing from this chairthe banns between this institution and the public. Nevertheless, I feel bound individually to do my duty the sameas if it had never been done before, and to ask whetherthere is any just cause or impediment why these two parties-theinstitution and the public-should not be joined together in holy charity. As I understand the society, its objectsare five-fold-first, to guarantee annuities which, it is alwaysto be observed, is paid out of the interest of invested capital, so that those annuities may be secure and safe-annualpensions, varying from £10 to £25, to distressed railwayofficers and servants incapacitated by age, sickness, or accident; secondly, to guarantee small pensions to distressedwidows; thirdly, to educate and maintain orphan children;fourthly, to provide temporary relief for all those classestill lasting relief can be guaranteed out of funds sufficientlylarge for the purpose; lastly, to induce railway officers andservants to assure their lives in some well- established officeby sub-dividing the payment of the premiums into smallperiodical sums, and also by granting a reversionary bonusof £10 per cent. on the amount assured from the funds ofthe institution.This is the society we are ' met to assist-simple, sympathetic, practical, easy, sensible, unpretending. The numberof its members is large, and rapidly on the increase: theynumber 12,000; the amount of invested capital is verynearly £15,000; it has done a world of good and a worldof work in these first nine years of its life; and yet I amproud to say that the annual cost of the maintenance of the260 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 5institution is no more than £250. And now if you do notknow all about it in a small compass, either I do not knowall about it myself, or the fault must be in my " packing. "One naturally passes from what the institution is and hasdone, to what it wants. Well, it wants to do more good,and it cannot possibly do more good until it has moremoney. It cannot safely, and therefore it cannot honourably, grant more pensions to deserving applicants until itgrows richer, and it cannot grow rich enough for its laudablepurpose by its own unaided self. The thing is absolutelyimpossible. The means of these railway officers and servants are far too limited. Even if they were helped to theutmost by the great railway companies, their means wouldstill be too limited; even if they were helped-and I hopethey shortly will be-by some of the great corporations ofthis country, whom railways have done so much to enrich.These railway officers and servants, on their road to a veryhumble and modest superannuation, can no more do withoutthe help of the great public, than the great public, on theirroad from Torquay to Aberdeen, can do without them.Therefore, I desire to ask the public whether the servantsof the great railways-who, in fact, are their servants, theirready, zealous, faithful , hard-working servants—whether theyhave not established, whether they do not every day establish, a reasonable claim to liberal remembrance.Now, gentlemen, on this point of the case there is a storyonce told me by a friend of mine, which seems to my mindto have a certain application. My friend was an Americansea-captain, and, therefore, it is quite unnecessary to say hisstory was quite true. He was captain and part owner of alarge American merchant liner. On a certain voyage out,in exquisite summer weather, he had for cabin passengersone beautiful young lady, and ten more or less beautiful1867. STORY OF THE TEN SUITORS.young gentlemen. Light winds or dead calms prevailing,the voyage was slow. They had made half their distancewhen the ten young gentlemen were all madly in love withthe beautiful young lady. They had all proposed to her,and bloodshed among the rivals seemed imminent pendingthe young lady's decision. On this extremity the beautifulyoung lady confided in my friend the captain, who gave herdiscreet advice. He said: " If your affections are disengaged, take that one of the young gentlemen whom you likethe best and settle the question. " To this the beautifulyoung lady made reply, " I cannot do that because I likethem all equally well." My friend, who was a man ofresource, hit upon this ingenious expedient, said he, "Tomorrow morning at mid-day, when lunch is announced, doyou plunge bodily overboard, head foremost. I will bealongside in a boat to rescue you, and take the one of theten who rushes to your rescue, and then you can afterwardshave him." The beautiful young lady highly approved, anddid accordingly. But after she plunged in, nine out of theten more or less beautiful young gentlemen plunged inafter her; and the tenth remained and shed tears, lookingover the side of the vessel. They were all picked up, andrestored dripping to the deck. The beautiful young ladyupon seeing them said, "What am I to do? See what aplight they are in. How can I possibly choose, becauseevery one of them is equally wet?" Then said my friendthe captain, acting upon a sudden inspiration, "Take thedry one." I am sorry to say that she did so, and they livedhappy ever afterwards.259Now, gentleman, in my application of this story, I exactlyreverse my friend the captain's anecdote, and I entreat thepublic in looking about to consider who are fit subjects fortheir bounty, to give each his hand with something in it,270 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. June 5, 1867,and not to award a dry hand to the industrious railwayservant who is always at his back. And I would ask anyone with a doubt upon this subject to consider what hisexperience of the railway servant is from the time of hisdeparture to his arrival at his destination. I know whatmine is. Here he is, in velveteen or in a policeman's dress,scaling cabs, storming carriages, finding lost articles by asort of instinct, binding up lost umbrellas and walkingsticks, wheeling trucks, counselling old ladies, with a wonderful interest in their affairs-mostly very complicatedand sticking labels upon all sorts of articles. I look around-there he is, in a station-master's uniform, directing andoverseeing, with the head of a general, and with the courteous manners of a gentleman; and then there is the handsome figure of the guard, who inspires confidence in timid.passengers. I glide out of the station, and there he isagain with his flags in his hand at his post in the opencountry, at the level crossing, at the cutting, at the tunnel.mouth, and at every station on the road until our destinationis reached. In regard, therefore, to the railway servantswith whom we do come into contact, we may surely havesome natural sympathy, and it is on their behalf that I thisnight appeal to you. I beg now to propose " Success tothe Railway Benevolent Society."

XLV.LONDON, SEPTEMBER 17, 1867.[On presiding at a public Meeting of the Printers' Readers, .held at theSalisbury Hotel, on the above date, Mr. Dickens said:-]HAT as the meeting was convened, not to hear him,but to hear a statement of facts and figures verynearly affecting the personal interests of the greatmajority of those present, his preface to the proceedingsneed be very brief. Of the details of the question he knew,of his own knowledge, absolutely nothing; but he hadconsented to occupy the chair on that occasion at therequest of the London Association of Correctors of thePress for two reasons-first, because he thought that openness and publicity in such cases were a very wholesomeexample very much needed at this time, and were highlybecoming to a body of men associated with that great publicsafeguard the Press; secondly, because he knew fromsome slight practical experience, what the duties of correctors of the press were, and how their duties were usuallydischarged; and he could testify, and did testify, that theywere not mechanical, that they were not mere matters of272 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Sept. 17, 1867.inanipulation and routine; but that they required from thosewho performed them much natural intelligence, much superadded cultivation, readiness of reference, quickness ofresource, an excellent memory, and a clear understanding.He most gratefully acknowledged that he had never gonethrough the sheets of any book that he had written, withouthaving presented to him by the correctors of the presssomething that he had overlooked, some slight inconsistency into which he had fallen, some little lapse he hadmade-in short, without having set down in black and whitesome unquestionable indication that he had been closelyfollowed through the work by a patient and trained mind,and not merely by a skilful eye. And in this declaration hehad not the slightest doubt that the great body of hisbrother and sister writers would, as a plain act of justice,readily concur. For these plain reasons he was there; andbeing there he begged to assure them that every one present-that every speaker-would have a patient hearing, whatever his opinions might be.[The proceedings concluded with a very cordial and hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Dickens for taking the chair on the occasion. ]Mr. Dickens briefly returned thanks, and expressed thebelief that their very calm and temperate proceedings wouldfinally result in the establishment of relations of perfectamity between the employers and the employed, and consequently conduce to the general welfare of both.-OcasesXLVI.LONDON, NOVEMBER 2, 1867.[On Saturday evening, November 2, 1867, a grand complimentary farewelldinner was given to Mr. Dickens at the Freemasons' Tavern onthe occasionof his revisiting the United States of America. Lord Lytton officiated aschairman, and proposed as a toast-"A Prosperous Voyage, Health ,and Long Life to our Illustrious Guest and Countryman, Charles Dickens.The toast was drunk with all the honours, and one cheer more.Mr. DICKENS then rose, and spoke as follows:MY LORDS, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN,O thanks that I can offer you can express my sense ofmy reception by this great assemblage, or can in theleast suggest to you how deep the glowing words ofmy friend the chairman, and your acceptance of them, havesunk into my heart. But both combined have so greatlyshaken the composure I am used to command in the presenceof an audience, that I hope you may observe in me sometraces ofan eloquence more expressive than the richest words.To say that I am fervently grateful to you is to say nothing;to say that I can never forget this beautiful sight, is to saynothing; to say that it brings upon me a rush of emotion notonly in its present pride and honour, but in the thoughts ofitsremembrance in the future by those who are dearest to me, isto say nothing; but to feel all this for the moment, evenalmost to pain, is very much indeed. Mercutio says of the118274 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.Nov. 2,wound in his breast, dealt him by the hand of a foe, that—"'Tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door;but ' tis enough, ' twill serve. "* I may say ofthe wound in mybreast, newly dealt to me by the hands of my friends, that itis deeper than the soundless sea, and wider than the wholeCatholic Church. And I may safely add that it has for themoment almost stricken me dumb. I should be more thanhuman, and I assure you I am very human indeed, if I couldlook around upon this brilliant representative companyand notfeel greatly thrilled and stirred by the presence of so many ofmy brother artists, not only in literature, but also in the sisterarts, especially painting, among whose professors living andunhappily dead, are many of my oldest and best friends. Ihope that I may, without presumption, regard this throngingof my brothers around me as a testimony on their part thatthey believe that the cause of art generally has been safe inmy keeping, and that they think it has never been falsely dealtwith by me. Your resounding cheers just now would havebeen but so many cruel reproaches to me if I could not heredeclare that, from the earliest days of my career down to thisproud night, I have always tried to be true to my calling.Never unduly to assert it, on the one hand, and never, on anypretence or consideration , to permit it to be patronized in myperson, on the other, has been the steady endeavour of mylife; and I have occasionally been vain enough to hope thatI may leave its social position in England something betterthan I found it. Similarly, and equally I hope without presumption, I trust that I may take this general representationofthe public here, through so many orders, pursuits, and degrees, as a token that the public believe that, with a host ofimperfections and shortcomings upon my head, I have as awriter, in my soul and conscience, tried to be as true toRomeo andJuliet, Act III. Sc. 1 .1867. 275them as they have ever been true to me. And here, inreference to the inner circle of the arts and the outer circleof the public, I feel it a duty to-night to offer two remarks.I have in my day at odd times heard a great deal aboutliterary sets and cliques, and coteries and barriers; aboutkeeping this man up, and keeping that man down; aboutsworn disciples and sworn unbelievers, and mutual admiration societies, and I know not what other dragons in theupward path. I began to tread it when I was very young,without influence, without money, without companion, introducer, or adviser, and I am bound to put in evidence inthis place that I have never lighted on those dragons yet. Sohave I heard in my day, at divers other odd times, muchgenerally to the effect that the English people have little or nolove of art for its own sake, and that they do not greatly careto acknowledge or do honour to the artist. My own experience has uniformly been exactly the reverse. I can say that ofmy countrymen, although I cannot say that of my country.And now passing to the immediate occasion of yourdoing me this great honour, the story of my going again toAmerica is very easily and briefly told. Since I was therebefore a vast and entirely new generation has arisen in theUnited States. Since I was there before most of the bestknown of my books have been written and published. Thenew generation and the books have come together and havekept together, until at length numbers of those who have sowidely and constantly read me, naturally desiring a littlevariety in the relations between us, have expressed a strongwish that I should read myself. This wish, at first conveyed to me through public channels and business channels, has gradually become enforced by an immense accumulation of letters from individuals and associations ofindividuals, all expressing in the same hearty, homely, cordial ,SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA.18-2276 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Nov. 2, 1867.unaffected way, a kind of personal interest in me--I had almost said a kind of personal affection for me, which I amsure you would agree with me it would be dull insensibilityon my part not to prize. Little by little this pressure hasbecome so great that, although, as Charles Lamb says, myhousehold gods strike a terribly deep root, I have torn themfrom their places, and this day week, at this hour, shall beupon the sea. You will readily conceive that I am inspiredbesides by a natural desire to see for myself the astonishingchange and progress of a quarter of a century, over there, tograsp the hands ofmanyfaithful friends whomI left upon thoseshores, to see the faces of a multitude of new friends uponwhom I have never looked, and last, not least, to use my bestendeavour to lay down a third cable of intercommunicationand alliance between the old world and the new. Twelveyears ago, when Heaven knows I little thought I should everbe bound upon the voyage which now lies before me, Iwrote in that form of my writings which obtains by far themost extensive circulation, these words of the Americannation:-"I know full well, whatever little motes my beamyeyes may have descried in theirs, that they are a kind, largehearted, generous, and great people. ". In that faith I amgoing to see them again; in that faith I shall, please God,return from them in the spring; in that same faith to liveand to die. I told you in the beginning that I could notthank you enough, and Heaven knows I have most thoroughly kept my word. If I may quote one other shortsentence from myself, let it imply all that I have left unsaid,and yet most deeply feel. Let it, putting a girdle round theearth, comprehend both sides of the Atlantic at once in thismoment, and so, as Tiny Tim observed, " God bless usevery one. "XLVII.BOSTON, APRIL 8, 1868.[Mr. Dickens gave his last Reading at Boston, on the above date. On hisentrance a surprise awaited him. His reading- stand had been decoratedwith flowers and palm-leaves by some of the ladies of the city. Heacknowledged this graceful tribute in the following words:-" Beforeallowing Dr. Marigold to tell his story in his own peculiar way, I kissthe kind, fair hands unknown, which have so beautifully decorated mytable this evening. " After the Reading, Mr. Dickens attempted in vain to retire. Persistent hands demanded " one word more. " Returning tohis desk, pale, with a tear in his cye, that found its way to his voice, hespoke as follows:-]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -My gracious andgenerous welcome in America, which can never beobliterated from myremembrance, began here. Mydeparture begins here, too; for I assure you that I havenever until this moment really felt that I am going away.In this brief life of ours, it is sad to do almost anythingfor the last time, and I cannot conceal from you, althoughmy face will so soon be turned towards my native land, andto all that makes it dear, that it is a sad consideration withme that in a very few moments from this time, this brillianthall and all that it contains, will fade from my view-for278CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES.April 8, 1868.!evermore. But it is my consolation that the spirit of the brightfaces, the quick perception, the ready response, the generous and the cheering sounds that have made this placedelightful to me, will remain; and you may rely upon itthat that spirit will abide with me as long as I have senseand sentiment left.I do not say this with any limited reference to privatefriendships that have for years upon years made Boston amemorable and beloved spot to me, for such private references have no business in this public place. I say itpurely in remembrance of, and in homage to, the greatpublic heart before me.Ladies and gentlemen, I beg most earnestly, most grate .fully, and most affectionately, to bid you, each and all,farewellPocessXLVIII.NEW YORK, APRIL 18, 1868.[On the above date Mr. Dickens was entertained at a farewell dinner at Delmonico's Hotel, previous to his return to England. Two hundred gentlemen sat down to it; Mr. Horace Greeley presiding. In acknow ledgment of the toast of his health, proposed by the chairman, Mr. Dickens rose and said:-]ENTLEMEN, —I cannot do better than take my cuefrom your distinguished president, and refer in myfirst remarks to his remarks in connexion with theold, natural, association between you and me.When I received an invitation from a private association of workingmembers of the press of New York to dine with them today, I accepted that compliment in grateful remembranceof a calling that was once my own, and in loyal sympathytowards a brotherhood which, in the spirit, I have neverquitted. To the wholesome training of severe newspaperwork, when I was a very young man, I constantly refer myfirstsuccesses; and my sons will hereafter testify of their fatherthat he was always steadily proud of that ladder by which heIf it were otherwise, I should have but a very pooropinion of their father, which, perhaps, upon the whole, Irose.280 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. April 18have not. Hence, gentlemen, under any circumstances.this company would have been exceptionally interesting andgratifying to me. But whereas I supposed that, like thefairies' pavilion in the " Arabian Nights," it would be buta mere handful, and I find it turn out, like the same elasticpavilion, capable of comprehending a multitude, so much.the more proud am I of the honour of being your guest;for you will readily believe that the more widely represen tative of the press in America my entertainers are, the moreI must feel the good-will and the kindly sentiments towardsme of that vast institution.66Gentlemen, so much of my voice has lately been heardin the land, and I have for upwards of four hard winter.months so contended against what I have been sometimesquite admiringly assured was a true American catarrha possession which I have throughout highly appreciated,though I might have preferred to be naturalised by anyother outward and visible signs-I say, gentlemen, so much.of my voice has lately been heard, that I might have beencontented with troubling you no further from my presentstanding-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforthcharge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasionwhatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bearmy honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Also, to declare how astounded I have been bythe amazing changes that I have seen around me on everyside-changes moral, changes physical, changes in theamount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the riseof vast new cities, changes in the growth of older citiesalmost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the press, without whose advancement no advancement can be made anywhere. Nor am I,""1868. SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA. 281believe me, so arrogant as to suppose that in five-and-twentyyears there have been no changes in me, and that I hadnothing to learn and no extreme impressions to correctwhen I was here first.And, gentlemen, this brings me to a point on which Ihave, ever since I landed here last November, observed astrict silence, though tempted sometimes to break it, but inreference to which I will, with your good leave, take youinto my confidence now. Even the press, being human,may be sometimes mistaken or misinformed, and I ratherthink that I have in one or two rare instances known itsinformation to be not perfectly accurate with reference tomyself. Indeed, I have now and again been more surprised by printed news that I have read of myself than byany printed news that I have ever read in my present stateof existence. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with whichI have for some months past been collecting materials forand hammering away at a new book on America have muchastonished me, seeing that all that time it has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of theAtlantic that I positively declared that no consideration onearth should induce me to write one. But what I haveintended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you) is, on my return to England,in my own person, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this countryas I have hinted at to-night. Also, to record that whereverI have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest,I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon meby the nature of my avocation here, and the state of myhealth. This testimony, so long as I live, and so long as282 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. April 18,my descendants have any legal right in my books, I shallcause to be re-published, as an appendix to every copy ofthose two books of mine in which I have referred toAmerica. And this I will do and cause to be done, not inmere love and thankfulness, but because I regard it as anact of plain justice and honour.Gentlemen, the transition from my own feelings towardsand interest in America to those of the mass of my countrymen seems to be a natural one; but, whether or no, I makeit with an express object. I was asked in this very city,about last Christmas time, whether an American was not atsome disadvantage in England as a foreigner. The notion.of an American being regarded in England as a foreignerat all, of his ever being thought of or spoken of in thatcharacter, was so uncommonly incongruous and absurd tome, that my gravity was, for the moment, quite overpowered.As soon as it was restored, I said that for years and yearspast I hoped I had had as many American friends and hadreceived as many American visitors as almost any Englishman living, and that my unvarying experience, fortified bytheirs, was that it was enough in England to be an American to be received with the readiest respect and recognitionanywhere. Hereupon, out of half-a-dozen people, suddenlyspoke out two, one an American gentleman, with a cultivated taste for art, who, finding himself on a certain Sundayoutside the walls of a certain historical English castle,famous for its pictures, was refused admission there, according to the strict rules of the establishment on that day, butwho, on merely representing that he was an American gentleman, on his travels, had, not to say the picture gallery,but the whole castle, placed at his immediate disposal. Theother was a lady, who, being in London, and having a greatdesire to see the famous reading-room of the British Mu1868. SECOND VISIT TO AMERICA. 283seum, was assured by the English family with whom shestayed that it was unfortunately impossible, because theplace was closed for a week, and she had only three daysthere. Upon that lady's going to the Museum, as she assured me, alone to the gate, self-introduced as an Americanlady, the gate flew open, as it were, magically. I am unwillingly bound to add that she certainly was young andexceedingly pretty. Still, the porter of that institution isof an obese habit, and, according to the best of my observation of him, not very impressible.Now, gentlemen, I refer to these trifles as a collateralassurance to you that the Englishman who shall humblystrive, as I hope to do, to be in England as faithful toAmerica as to England herself, has no previous conceptions.to contend against. Points of difference there have been,points of difference there are, points of difference thereprobably always will be between the two great peoples.But broadcast in England is sown the sentiment that thosetwo peoples are essentially one, and that it rests with themjointly to uphold the great Anglo- Saxon race, to which ourpresident has referred, and all its great achievements beforethe world. And if I know anything of my countrymenand they give me credit for knowing something-if I knowanything of my countrymen, gentlemen, the English heartis stirred by the fluttering of those Stars and Stripes, as it isstirred by no other flag that flies except its own. If I knowmy countrymen, in any and every relation towards America,they begin, not as Sir Anthony Absolute recommended thatlovers should begin, with " a little aversion," but with agreat liking and a profound respect; and whatever the littlesensitiveness of the moment, or the little official passion, orthe little official policy now, or then, or here, or there, maybe, take my word for it, that the first enduring, great, popu284 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES April 18, 1868, .Ir consideration in England is a generous construction ofjustice.Finally, gentlemen, and I say this subject to your correction, I do believe that from the great majority of honestminds on both sides, there cannot be absent the convictionthat it would be better for this globe to be riven by anearthquake, fired by a comet, overrun by an iceberg, andabandoned to the Arctic fox and bear, than that it shouldpresent the spectacle of these two great nations, each ofwhich has, in its own way and hour, striven so hard and sosuccessfully for freedom, ever again being arrayed the oneagainst the other. Gentlemen, I cannot thank your president enough or you enough for your kind reception of myhealth, and of mypoor remarks, but, believe me, I do thankyou with the utmost fervour of which my soul is capable.XLIX.NEW YORK, APRIL 20, 1868.[Mr. Dickens's last Reading in the United States was given at the Steinway Hall on the above date. The task finished he was about to retire, but atremendous burst of applause stopped him. He came forward and spoke thus:-)JADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -The shadow of oneword has impended over me this evening, and thetime has come at length when the shadow must fall.It is but a very short one, but the weight of such things isnot measured by their length, and two much shorter wordsexpress the round of our human existence. When I wasreading " David Copperfield " a few evenings since, I feltthere was more than usual significance in the words ofPeggotty, " My future life lies over the sea." And when Iclosed this book just now, I felt most keenly that I wasshortly to establish such an alibi as would have satisfiedeven the elder Mr. Weller. The relations which have beenset up between us, while they have involved for me something more than mere devotion to a task, have been by yousustained with the readiest sympathy and the kindest acknowledgment.286 CHARLESDICKENS'SSPEECHES. April 20, 1668.Those relations must now be broken for ever. Be assured,however, that you will not pass from my mind. I shalloften realise you as I see you now, equally by my winter fireand in the green English summer weather.I shall neverrecall you as a mere public audience, but rather as a host ofpersonal friends, and ever with the greatest gratitude, tenderness, and consideration. Ladies and gentlemen, I beg tobid you farewell. God bless you, and God bless the landin which I leave you.HOBBYOKL.LIVERPOOL, APRIL 10, 1869.[The following speech was delivered by Mr. Dickens at a Banquet held in his honour at St. George's Hall, Liverpool, after his health had been proposed by Lord Dufferin. ]R. MAYOR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,although I have been so well accustomed of late tothe sound of my own voice in this neighbourhoodas to hear it with perfect composure, the occasion is, believeme, very, very different in respect of those overwhelming voices ofyours. As Professor Wilson once confided to mein Edinburgh that I had not the least idea, from hearinghim in public, what a magnificent speaker he found himself to be when he was quite alone-so you can formno conception, from the specimen before you, of the eloquence with which I shall thank you again and again insome ofthe innermost moments of my future life. Oftenand often, then, God willing, my memory will recall thisbrilliant scene, and will re-illuminate this banquet-hall. I,faithful to this place in its present aspect, will observe itexactly as it stands—not one man's seat empty, not one288 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. April Icwoman's fair face absent, while life and memory abide byme.Mr. Mayor, Lord Dufferin in his speech so affecting tome, so eloquently uttered, and so rapturously received,made a graceful and gracious allusion to the immediateoccasion of my present visit to your noble city. It is nohomage to Liverpool, based upon a moment's untrustworthyenthusiasm, but it is the solid fact built upon the rock ofexperience that when I first made up my mind, after considerable deliberation, systematically to meet my readers inlarge numbers, face to face, and to try to express myself tothem through the breath of life, Liverpool stood foremostamong the great places out of London to which I lookedwith eager confidence and pleasure. And why was this?Not merely because of the reputation of its citizens forgenerous estimation of the arts; not merely because I hadunworthily filled the chair of its great self-educational institution long ago; not merely because the place had been ahome to me since the well-remembered day when its blessedroofs and steeples dipped into the Mersey behind me onthe occasion of my first sailing away to see my generousfriends across the Atlantic twenty-seven years ago. Not forone of those considerations, but because it had been myhappiness to have a public opportunity of testing the spiritof its people. I had asked Liverpool for help towards theworthy preservation of Shakespeare's house. On anotheroccasion I had ventured to address Liverpool in the namesof Leigh Hunt and Sheridan Knowles. On still anotheroccasion I had addressed it in the cause of the brotherhoodand sisterhood of letters and the kindred arts, and on eachand all the response had been unsurpassably spontaneous,open-handed, and munificent.Mr. Mayor, and ladies and gentlemen, if I may venture1869.WRITER AND READER. 289.to take a small illustration of my present position from myown peculiar craft, I would say that there is this objection inwriting fiction to giving a story an autobiographical form ,that through whatever dangers the narrator may pass, it isclear unfortunately to the reader beforehand that he musthave come through them somehow else he could not havelived to tell the tale. Now, in speaking fact, when the factis associated with such honours as those with which youhave enriched me, there is this singular difficulty in the wayof returning thanks, that the speaker must infallibly comeback to himself through whatever oratorical disasters hemay languish on the road. Let me, then, take the plainerand simpler middle course of dividing my subject equally between myself and you. Let me assure you that whateveryou have accepted with pleasure, either by word of pen orby word of mouth, from me, you have greatly improved inthe acceptance. As the gold is said to be doubly andtrebly refined which has seven times passed the furnace, soa fancy may be said to become more and more refined eachtime it passes through the human heart. You have, andyou know you have, brought to the consideration of me thatquality in yourselves without which I should but have beatenthe air. Your earnestness has stimulated mine, your laughter has made me laugh, and your tears have overflowed myeyes. All that I can claim for myself in establishing the relations which exist between us is constant fidelity to hardwork. My literary fellows about me, of whom I am soproud to see so many, know very well how true it is in allart that what seems the easiest done is oftentimes the mostdifficult to do, and that the smallest truth may come ofthegreatest pains-much, as it occurred to me at Manchesterthe other day, as the sensitive touch of Mr. Whitworth'smeasuring machine, comes at last, of Heaven and Manches19290 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. April 10,ter and its mayor only know how much hammering-mycompanions-in-arms know thoroughly well, and I think itonly right the public should know too, that in our carefultoil and trouble, and in our steady striving for excellence—not in any little gifts, misused by fits and starts—lies ourhighest duty at once to our calling, to one another, to ourselves, and to you.Ladies and gentlemen, before sitting down I find that Ihave to clear myself of two very unexpected accusations.The first is a most singular charge preferred against me bymy old friend Lord Houghton, that I have been somewhatunconscious of the merits of the House of Lords. Now,ladies and gentlemen, seeing that I have had some few notaltogether obscure or unknown personal friends in that assembly, seeing that I had some little association with, and knowledge of, a certain obscure peer lately known in England bythe name of Lord Brougham; seeing that I regard withsome admiration and affection another obscure peer whollyunknown in literary circles, called Lord Lytton; seeing alsothat I have had for some years some slight admiration of theextraordinary judicial properties and amazingly acute mindof a certain Lord Chief Justice popularly known by thename of Cockburn; and also seeing that there is no man inEngland whom I respect more in his public capacity, whomI love more in his private capacity, or from whom I havereceived more remarkable proofs of his honour and love ofliterature than another obscure nobleman called Lord Russell; taking these circumstances into consideration, I wasrather amazed by my noble friend's accusation. When Iasked him, on his sitting down, what amazing devil possessed him to make this charge, he replied that he had neverforgotten the days of Lord Verisopht. Then, ladies andgentlemen, I understood it all. Because it is a remarkable1869. THE HOUSE OF LORDS.fact that in the days when that depreciative and profoundlyunnatural character was invented there was no LordHoughton in the House of Lords. And there was in theHouse of Commons a rather indifferent member calledRichard Monckton Milnes.291Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, for the present, 1close with the other charge of my noble friend, and here Iam more serious, and I may be allowed perhaps to expressmy seriousness in half a dozen plain words. When I firsttook literature as my profession in England, I calmly resolved within myself that, whether I succeeded or whether Ifailed, literature should be my sole profession. It appearedto me at that time that it was not so well understood inEngland as it was in other countries that literature was adignified profession, by which any man might stand or fall .I made a compact with myself that in my person literatureshould stand, and by itself, of itself, and for itself; andthere is no consideration on earth which would induce meto break that bargain.Ladies and gentlemen, finally allow me to thank you foryour great kindness, and for the touching earnestness withwhich you have drunk my health. I should have thankedyou with all my heart if it had not so unfortunately happened that, for many sufficient reasons, I lost my heart asbetween half- past six and half-past seven to- night.LI.THE OXFORD AND HARVARD BOATRACE.·0·SYDENHAM, AUGUST 30, 1869.[The International University Boat Race having taken place on August 27,the London Rowing Club invited the Crews to a Dinner at the CrystalPalace on the following Monday. The dinner was followed by a granddisplay of pyrotechnics. Mr. Dickens, in proposing the health of the Crews, made the following speech:]ENTLEMEN, flushed with fireworks, I can warrantmyself to you as about to imitate those gorgeous illusions by making a brief spirt and then dying out.And, first of all, as an invited visitor of the London RowingClub on this most interesting occasion, I will beg, in thename of the other invited visitors present-always exceptingthe distinguished guests who are the cause of our meeting—to thank the president for the modesty and the courtesywith which he has deputed to one of us the most agreeablepart of his evening's duty. It is the more graceful in him toAug. 30, 1869. OXFORD AND HARVARD BOAT RACE.do this because he can hardly fail to see that he might veryeasily do it himself, as this is a case of all others in whichit is according to good taste and the very principles of thingsthat the great social vice, speech-making, should hide itsdiminished head before the great social virtue action. How、ever, there is an ancient story of a lady who threw her gloveinto an arena full of wild beasts to tempt her attendant loverto climb down and reclaim it. The lover, rightly inferringfrom the action the worth of the lady, risked his life for theglove, and then threw it lightly in her face as a token of hiseternal adieu. * I take up the President's glove, on the contrary, as a proof of his much higher worth, and of my realinterest in the cause in which it was thrown down, and Inow profess my readiness to do even injustice to the dutywhich he has assigned me.293Gentlemen, a very remarkable and affecting volume waspublished in the United States within a short time beforemy last visit to that hospitable land, containing ninety-fivebiographies of young men, for the most part well-born andwell nurtured, and trained in various peaceful pursuits oflife, who, when the flag of their country waved them fromthose quiet paths in which they were seeking distinction ofvarious kinds, took arms in the dread civil war which elicitedso much bravery on both sides, and died in the defence oftheir country. These great spirits displayed extraordinaryaptitude in the acquisition, even in the invention, of militarytactics, in the combining and commanding of great massesof men, in surprising readiness of self-resource for the generalgood, in humanely treating the sick and the wounded, andin winning to themselves a very rare amount of personalconfidence and trust. They had all risen to be distinguishedsoldiers; they had all done deeds of great heroism; they

• Robert Browning : Cloches et grenades.

294 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 30 août, avaient tous combiné avec leur valeur et leur dévouement une serenecheerfulness, une modestie tranquille et un esprit vraiment chrétien; et ils avaient tous été éduqués dans une école-HarvardUniversity.Messieurs, rien n'était plus remarquable dans ces finedescendants de notre ancêtres que la détermination invincible avec laquelle ils se sont battus contre vents et marées et l'esprit intrépide avec lequel ils ont résisté à la défaite. Je vous demande, qui dira après vendredi dernier que l'Université de Harvard est moins fidèle à elle-même en temps de paix qu'elle ne l'était en temps de guerre ? Je vous demande, qui ne reconnaîtra pas dans sa barque le levain de ses soldats, et qui ne se sent pas plus que jamais en droit d'être fière de ses fils, et de prendre ces fils sur son sein quand ils reviennent avec des acclamations retentissantes. ? Il est lié au duc de Wellington qu'il a dit une fois à une dame qui a bêtement protesté qu'elle aimerait voir une grande victoire qu'il n'y avait qu'une chose pire qu'une grande victoire, et que c'était une grande défaite. Mais, messieurs, il y a un autre sens dans lequel utiliser theterm une grande défaite. Telle est la défaite d'une poignée de camarades audacieux qui font un tiret préliminaire de trois ou quatre milles orageux pour rencontrer de grands conquérants sur leur propre domaine - qui ne veulent pas le stimulus d'amis et de chez eux, mais qui entendent et ressentent suffisamment leur chère terre dans les cris et les acclamations d'un autre - et qui s'efforcent de durer avec une ténacité désespérée qui fait de leur battement une nouvelle plume dans le chapeau le plus fier. Messieurs, vous êtes d'accord avec moi qu'une telle défaite est une grande et noble partie d'une action humaine et saine ; et je dis qu'il est dans l'essence et le sang d'une telle défaite de devenir enfin une victoire sûre.Maintenant, messieurs, vous connaissez parfaitement le toast que je vais proposer, et vous savez également bien qu'en pensant d'abord à nos amis des bandes blanches, I1869. 295simplement anticiper et répondre à la courtoisie instinctive d'Oxford envers nos frères à distance - une courtoisie s'étendant, j'espère et je n'en doute pas, à toutes les limites imaginables, sauf leur permettre de prendre la première place dans le match de vendredi dernier, s'ils le pouvaient par n'importe quel humain. et les moyens honorables doivent être conservés dans le second. Je ne me prévaudrai pas de l'opportunité qui m'a été offerte par l'absence de la plus grande partie de l'équipage d'Oxford - en effet, de tous sauf un, et de son membre le plus modeste et le plus dévoué - je ne me prévaudrai pas de l'occasion en or qui m'a été soigneusement fournie pour dire beaucoup en l'honneur de l'équipage d'Oxford. Je sais que le monsieur qui assiste ici assiste à des anxiétés et des difficultés inhabituelles, et que s'il était moins sérieux, cette affection filiale ne pourrait pas lui permettre d'être ici.OXFORD ET HARVARD BOAT RACE.C'est donc assez pour moi, messieurs, et assez pour vous , que je devrais dire ici, et maintenant, que nous nous unissons tous d'un commun accord pour considérer l'équipage d'Oxford comme la fierté et la fleur de l'Angleterre - et que nous devrions considérer qu'il est très faible en effet de mettre quoi que ce soit de moins que le meilleur de l'Angleterre en opposition ou en concurrence avec Amérique; même s'il faut certainement l'avouer - je suis lié par la justice commune et l'honneur de l'admettre - il doit être avoué dans le dénigrement des hommes d'Oxford, comme j'ai entendu un monsieur mécontent la remarque vendredi soir dernier, vers dix heures, quand il appâtait un très petit cheval dans le Strand-il était l'un des onze avec des tuyaux dans une chaise-chariot-je dis qu'il faut admettre en dénigrement les hommes d'Oxford sur l'autorité de thisgentleman, qu'ils ont gagné si souvent qu'ils pouvaient se permettre de perdre un peu maintenant , et que " ils devraient le faire, mais ils ne le feront pas. " Messieurs, en buvant aux deux équipages, et en offrant le pauvre témoignage de nos remerciements en reconnaissance du spectacle galant qu'ils ont présenté à d'innombrables discours de CHARLES DICKENS. 30 août 1869.sands vendredi dernier, je suis sûr que j'exprime non seulement votre sentiment, et mon sentiment, et le sentiment du bleu, mais aussi le sentiment de tout le peuple d'Angleterre, quand je leur donne cordialement la bienvenue dans nos eaux anglaises et Englishground, et leur a également offert " God speed " dans leur voyage de retour. Comme le plus grand inclut le moins, et que la mer tient le fleuve, je pense donc qu'il n'est pas très audacieux de prédire que dans les concours amicaux à venir et à avoir lieu, j'espère, des deux côtés de l'Atlantique, il y a de grands triomphes fluviaux pour Harvard University encore en magasin. Messieurs, j'avertis la partie anglaise de ce public que ce sont des hommes très dangereux. Rappelez-vous que c'était un étudiant de premier cycle de l'Université de Harvard qui a servi comme matelot deux ans avant le mât, * et qui a écrit sur le meilleur livre de mer en langue anglaise. Rappelez-vous que c'était l'un de ces jeunes messieurs américains qui ont navigué sur son mite d'un yacht à travers l'Atlantique en plein hiver, et qui ont navigué en elle pour couler ou nager avec les hommes qui croyaient en lui. Et maintenant, messieurs, en conclusion, animé par votre cordial acquiescement, je prendrai sur moi d'assurer à distance à nos frères que le plus grand enthousiasme avec lequel ils peuvent être reçus à leur retour trouvera immédiatement un écho dans tous les coins de l'Angleterre - et de plus, qu'aucun de leurs compatriotes immédiats - j'utilise le terme qualificatif immédiat , car nous sommes, comme l'a dit notre président, des compatriotes, Dieu merci, qu'aucun de leurs compatriotes qui ont vu, ou qui liront, ce qu'ils ont fait dans cette grande race, ne peut être plus profondément imprégné d'un sentiment de courage indomptable et de leurs hauts déserts que leurs rivaux et leurs hôtes ce soir. Messieurs, je vous prie de vous proposer de boire les équipages de Harvard et de l'Université d'Oxford, et je vous prie d'associer à ce toast les noms de M. Simmons et de M. Willan.

• R.H. Dana.

LII.BIRMINGHAM, 27 SEPTEMBRE 1869. [ Discours inaugural à l'ouverture de la session d'hiver du Birmingham and Midland Institute. ][Celui qui était présent lors de la livraison du discours suivant, informe l'éditeur que " aucune note d'aucune sorte n'a été mentionnée par M. Dickens - à l'exception de la citation de Sydney Smith. L'adresse, évidemment soigneusement préparée, a été prononcée sans un seul pause, de la meilleure manière de M. Dickens, et a été un très grand succès. "]ADIES ET MESSIEURS, -Nous entendons souvent parler de notre pays commun qu'il est surpeuplé, qu'il est trop paupérisé, qu'il est anover -colonisateur, et qu'il est surtaxé. Maintenant, j'entretiens, surtout ces derniers temps, la croyance hérétique qu'il s'agit d'un sujet trop parlé, et qu'il y a beaucoup de discours publics qui se passent dans diverses directions dont on pourrait avantageusement se passer. Si j'étais libre d'agir sur cette conviction, en tant que président momentané de la grande institution si nombreuse ici représentée, je tomberais immédiatement et aussitôt dans un silence d'or, qui serait d'un caractère très édifiant, car très exemplaire. Mais il se trouve que je suis le serviteur volontaire de l'institution, et non son maître impérieux, et elle n'exige que des paroles d'argent ou de cuivre - pour ne pas dire d'airain - de quiconque qu'elle élève à ma haute fonction. Certaines tribus africaines - pour ne pas faire la comparaison de manière irrespectueuse233LES DISCOURS DE CHARLESDICKENS.Sept. 27.!-certaines tribus africaines sauvages, lorsqu'elles font un roi, l'exigent peut-être pour réaliser une course à pied épuisante sous le stimulus d'une incitation populaire considérable, ou peut-être pour être sévèrement et expérimentalement frappé à la tête par son Conseil privé, ou peut-être pour être plongé dans une rivière pleine de crocodiles, ou peut-être pour boire d'immenses quantités de quelque chose de méchant hors d'une calebasse—en tout cas, pour subir une épreuve purificatrice en présence de ses sujets admiratifs.Je dois avouer que je suis devenu plutôt alarmé quand j'ai été dûment averti par votre constitution autorités que tout ce que je pourrais dire ici ce soir serait appelé un discours inaugural à l'entrée d'un nouveau terme d'étude par les membres de vos différentes classes ; car, outre cela, l'expression est quelque chose de haut pour mon goût, j'avoue que j'attends avec impatience ce temps béni où chaque homme inaugurera son propre travail pour lui-même, et le fera. Je crois que nous aurons alors inauguré une nouvelle ère en effet, et une dans laquelle la prière du Seigneur deviendra une prophétie accomplie sur cette terre. Se souvenant, cependant, que vous pouvez appeler n'importe quoi par n'importe quel nom sans en changer la nature-en me disant que vous pouvez, si vous en êtes ainsi, appeler un papillon un buffle, sans avancer d'un cheveu vers en faire un-je suis devenu composé dans mon esprit, et a décidé de s'en tenir à l'intention très simple que j'avais précédemment formée. C'était simplement pour vous dire, les membres, les étudiants et les amis de l'Institut de Birmingham et de Midland, premièrement, ce que vous ne pouvez pas vouloir savoir, (c'est un thème oratoire très populaire) ; deuxièmement, ce que votre institution a fait ; et, troisièmement, ce qu'il lui reste à faire et à ne pas faire, de l'avis de son président pour le moment. Maintenant, d'abord, ce que vous ne pouvez pas vouloir savoir. 1869.299 Vous n'avez besoin de moi d'aucune déclamation oratoire sur les avantages abstraits de la connaissance ou sur les beautés de l'amélioration personnelle. Si vous aviez une telle exigence, vous ne seriez pas ici. Je conçois que vous êtes ici parce que vous vous êtes profondément pénétré de tels principes, soit dans votre propre personne, soit dans la personne de quelques semblables qui s'efforcent, que vous avez regardés avec intérêt et sympathie. Je conçois que vous êtes ici parce que vous sentez que le bien-être du grand établissement d'enseignement principalement pour adultes, dont les portes sont vraiment ouvertes à toutes sortes et conditions de personnes, est inséparable du meilleur bien-être de votre grande ville et de son quartier.Non, si je prends beaucoup plus large que cela, et dire que nous tous, chacun de nous ici, savons parfaitement bien que les avantages d'un tel établissement doivent s'étendre bien au-delà des limites de ce comté de Midland, ses feux et sa fumée, et doivent comprendre, en quelque sorte, l'ensemble communauté, je ne force pas la vérité. Il a été suggéré par M. Babbage, dans son neuvième " Traité de Bridgewater, " qu'un simple mot parlé, une seule syllabe articulée jetée en l'air, peut continuer à se répercuter à travers un espace illimité pour toujours et à jamais, vu qu'il n'y a pas de rebord contre lequel il ne peut frapper aucune limite à laquelle il peut éventuellement arriver. De même, on peut dire - non pas comme une spéculation ingénieuse, mais comme un fait inébranlable et absolu - que le calcul humain ne peut limiter l'influence d'un atome de connaissance saine patiemment acquise, possédée modestement et fidèlement utilisée. Comme nous le disent les astronomes, il est probable que il y a dans l'univers d'innombrables systèmes solaires en plus du nôtre, à chacun desquels appartiennent des myriades d'étoiles totalement inconnues et invisibles, il est donc certain que chaque homme, aussi obscur qu'il soit, aussi éloigné de la reconnaissance générale, fait partie d'un groupe d'hommes imprimables pour de bon , et imBABBAGE ON SOUND.300 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 27 septembre, pressible pour le mal, et que c'est dans la nature éternelle des choses qu'il ne peut vraiment s'améliorer sans améliorer dans une certaine mesure les autres hommes. Et observez, c'est particulièrement le cas lorsqu'il s'est amélioré dans les dents de circonstances défavorables, comme dans une maturité succédant à une jeunesse négligée ou mal éduquée, dans les quelques heures quotidiennes qui lui restaient après dix ou douze heures de travail, dans les quelques pauses et les intervalles d'une vie de labeur ; car alors ses camarades et compagnons ont l'assurance qu'il ne peut avoir connu aucune condition favorable, et qu'ils peuvent faire ce qu'il a fait, en arrachant un peu d'illumination et de respect de soi à ce que Lord Lytton appelle finement "Ces jumeaux geôliers au cœur audacieux, à la faible naissance et à la fortune de fer "Comme vous avez prouvé ces vérités dans votre propre expérience ou dans votre propre observation, et comme on peut supposer en toute sécurité qu'il peut y avoir très peu de personnes à Birmingham, de tous les endroits sous le ciel, qui contesteraient la position selon laquelle plus les employés sont cultivés, mieux c'est pour l'employeur, et plus l'employeur est cultivé, mieux c'est pour l'employé ; par conséquent, mes références à ce que vous ne voulez pas savoir doivent ici cesser et se déterminer. Ensuite, en référence à ce que votre institution a fait ; sur mon résumé, qui doit être aussi concis et aussi correct que mes informations et le souvenir que j'en ai rendu possible, Je désire mettre un accent emphatique. Votre institution, vieille de seize ans, et où maîtres et ouvriers étudient ensemble, a dépassé le vaste édifice où elle reçoit ses 2 500 ou 2 600 membres et étudiants. C'est un signe d'encouragement de sa vitalité vigoureuse que près de la moitié des étudiants industriels sont des artisans qui reçoivent des salaires hebdomadaires. Je pense que j'ai raison de dire que 4001869. PENNY CLASSES.d'autres sont des commis, des apprentis, des commerçants ou des élèves de métier. Je note avec un plaisir particulier l'adhésion d'un bon nombre de personnes du sexe doux, sans lesquelles aucune institution, quelle qu'elle soit, ne peut vraiment prétendre être civilisatrice ou civilisée. L'augmentation de la fréquentation de vos classes éducatives est toujours la plus grande de la part des artisans - la classe selon mon expérience la moins atteinte dans toutes les institutions similaires ailleurs, et dont le nom est le plus souvent et le plus constamment pris en vain. Mais il est spécialement atteint ici, pas improbablement parce qu'il est, comme il devrait l'être, spécialement abordé dans la fondation du département industriel, dans l'attribution de la direction des affaires de la société, et dans l'établissement de ce qu'on appelle ses classes de penny - un audacieux, et , je suis heureux de dire, une expérience couronnée de succès, qui permet à l'artisan d'obtenir un enseignement du soir solide dans des sujets directement portant sur son utilité quotidienne ou sur son bonheur quotidien, comme l'arithmétique (élémentaire et avancée), la chimie, la géographie physique et le chant, sur le paiement des frais astoninglylow d'un seul centime chaque fois qu'il assiste à la classe.Je prie catégoriquement de dire que je considère cela comme l'un des programmes les plus remarquables jamais conçus pour le behoof éducatif de l'artisan, et si votre institution n'avait rien fait d'autre dans toute sa vie, je l'aurai soutenu.301Mais, à part son département industriel, il a son département général, offrant tous les avantages d'une institution littéraire de premier ordre. Il a ses salles de lecture, sa bibliothèque, son laboratoire de chimie, son musée, son département d'art, son amphithéâtre et sa longue liste de conférences sur des sujets d'intérêt varié et complet, prononcées par des conférenciers des plus hautes qualifications. Très bien. Mais on peut se demander quels sont les résultats pratiques de tous ces DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. 27 septembre.appareils électroménagers ? Maintenant, supposons quelques-uns. Supposons que votre institution ait formé ceux qui sont maintenant ses professeurs. Ce serait un fait très remarquable. Supposons, en outre, qu'elle ait, pour ainsi dire, une éducation instruite tout autour d'elle, en envoyant des maîtres nombreux et efficaces dans des écoles nombreuses et diverses. Supposons que le jeune étudiant, élevé exclusivement dans son laboratoire, soit actuellement pris pour le laboratoire des grands hôpitaux célèbres. Supposons qu'en neuf ans, ses étudiants industriels aient remporté une douzaine de prix très compétitifs décernés par la Société des arts et le département du gouvernement, en plus de deux prix locaux originaires de la générosité d'un homme de Birmingham. Supposons que le conseil municipal, l'ayant en fiducie pour trouver un artisan bien adapté pour recevoir les prix Whitworth, devrait le trouver ici. Supposons que l'un des étudiants industriels devrait transformer ses études chimiques en compte pratique de l'extraction de l'or de l'eau de couleur des déchets, et de la prise en garde à vue, dans l'acte même de s'enfuir avec des centaines de livres dans les égouts de la ville. Supposons qu'un autre perçoive dans ses livres, dans ses soirées studieuses, ce qui n'allait pas dans la fournaise de son maître jusqu'alors impénétrablement défectueuse, et qu'il aille directement - à la grande économie annuelle de ce maître - et y remédie. Supposons qu'un autre découvre le moyen, jusqu'alors tout à fait inconnu en Angleterre, de faire une certaine description du verre coloré. Supposons qu'un autre se qualifie pour vaincre une à une, au fur et à mesure qu'elles surviennent quotidiennement, toutes les petites difficultés inhérentes à son métier d'électro-plaqueur, et que ses compagnons de l'atelier s'y appliquent en cas d'urgence sous le nom d'Encyclopédie. Supposez une longue procession de tels cas, puis considérez que ce ne sont pas du tout des suppositions, mais des faits clairs et sans fard, culminant en 1869. L'INDÉPENDANCE VIRALE.le seul fait spécial et significatif que, à une seule exception près, chacun des étudiants industriels de l'institution qui ont pris ses prix dans les dix ans, ont depuis grimpé à des situations plus élevées dans leur mode de vie. l'institution encourage l'artisan à penser, et ainsi, par exemple, à s'élever au-dessus des petits préjugés et observances qui existent peut-être dans son métier lorsqu'ils ne supporteront pas le test de l'enquête, qui n'a d'égal que la mesure dans laquelle il l'encourage à se sentir . Il y a un certain ton de virilité modeste qui imprègne tous les petits faits que j'ai parcourus et que j'ai trouvés remarquablement impressionnants. L'objection décidée des étudiants industriels à assister aux cours en tenue de travail respire ce ton, comme étant une reconnaissance gracieuse et en même temps parfaitement indépendante du lieu et les uns des autres. Et ce ton est admirablement illustré d'une manière différente, dans le cas d'un maçon apoor, qui, étant dans des revers temporaires par la maladie de sa famille, et ayant par conséquent été obligé de se séparer de ses meilleurs vêtements, et d'être absent de ses classes, dans lesquelles il avait été remarqué comme un travailleur très acharné, a été persuadé de les assister dans des vêtements de travail. Il répondit : " Non, ce n'était pas possible. Il ne faut pas y penser. Il ne faut pas en remettre un seul instant en question. On supposerait, ou on pourrait penser, qu'il l'a fait pour attirer l'attention. " Et le même homme s'étant vu offrir par l'un des agents un prêt d'argent pour lui permettre de réhabiliter son apparence, il l'a positivement refusé, au motif qu'il venait à l'institution pour apprendre et mieux savoir comment s'aider, pas autrement pour demander de l'aide, ou pour recevoir de l'aide de n'importe quel homme. Maintenant, je suis justifié d'appeler cela le ton de l'institution, car ce n'est pas un cas isolé, mais c'est un sam303304 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS juste et honorable. 27 septembre, ple de l'esprit du lieu, et en tant que tel je le mets à la conclusion - mais certainement pas le moindre - de mes références à ce que votre institution a indubitablement fait. Eh bien, Mesdames et Messieurs, j'en viens enfin à ce que , dans l'humble avis de l'officier évanescent devant vous, reste à l'institution à faire, et à ne pas faire. Comme M. Carlyle l'a dit vers les dernières pages de sa grande histoire de la Révolution française, « Nous allons maintenant y jeter un coup d'œil avec brièveté ; et puis courage, oh auditeur, je vois !" * J'espère sincèrement et je crois fermement que votre institution fera désormais comme elle l'a fait jusqu'à présent; elle ne peut guère faire mieux. J'espère et je crois qu'elle ne connaîtra parmi ses membres aucune distinction de des personnes, des croyances ou des partis, mais qu'il conservera sa place d'assemblage comme un sol pur et élevé, sur lequel toutes ces considérations se fondront dans la seule aspiration universelle, envoyée par le ciel, de l'âme humaine à être plus sage et meilleure. il sera toujours expansif et élastique, car cherchant toujours à inventer de nouveaux moyens d'élargir le cercle de ses membres, d'attirer à lui la confiance d'un nombre encore plus grand et plus grand, et de ne jamais manifester plus de disposition à s'arrêter que le temps, ou la vie, Et surtout, j'espère, et je me sens confiant de ses antécédents, qu'il ne permettra jamais à aucune considération sur la face de la terre de l'inciter à fréquenter ou à être fréquenté, car je crois vraiment que l'octroi et la réception de le patronage de cette manière a été une malédiction en Angleterre, et qu'il a fait plus pour empêcher les objets vraiment bons, et pour abaisser le caractère vraiment élevé, que les efforts extrêmes de l'antagonisme le plus étroit auraient pu effectuer dans le temps. Je n'ai aucune crainte que les murs du Birmingham et

• Révolution française de Carlyle. Livre X., Chapitre I.

1869. A " MATERIAL AGE." 305Midland Institute will ever tremble responsive to the croakings of the timid opponents of intellectual progress; but inthis connexion generally I cannot forbear from offering aremark which is much upon my mind. It is commonlyassumed much too commonly-that this age is a materialage, and that a material age is an irreligious age. I havebeen pained lately to see this assumption repeated in certain influential quarters for which I have a high respect,and desire to have a higher. I am afraid that by dint ofconstantly being reiterated, and reiterated without protest,this assumption—which I take leave altogether to deny—may be accepted by the more unthinking part of the publicas unquestionably true; just as caricaturists and paintersprofessedly making a portrait of some public man, whichwas not in the least like him to begin with, have gone onrepeating and repeating it until the public came to believethat it must be exactly like him, simply because it was likeitself, and really have at last, in the fulness of time, grownalmost disposed to resent upon him their tardy discovery—really to resent upon him their late discovery-that he wasnot like it. I confess, standing here in this responsiblesituation, that I do not understand this much-used andmuch-abused phrase the " material age. " I cannot comprehend—if anybody can I very much doubt-its logicalsignification. For instance, has electricity become morematerial in the mind of any sane or moderately insane man,woman, or child, because of the discovery that in the goodprovidence of God it could be made available for the service and use of man to an immeasurably greater extent thanfor his destruction? Do I make a more material journeyto the bed-side of my dying parent or my dying child whenI travel there at the rate of sixty miles an hour, thanwhen I travel thither at the rate of six? Rather, in the20306 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Sept. 27.swiftest case, does not my agonised heart become overfraught with gratitude to that Supreme Beneficence fromwhom alone could have proceeded the wonderful means ofshortening my suspense? What is the materiality of thecable or the wire compared with the materiality of thespark? What is the materiality of certain chemical substances that we can weigh or measure, imprison or release,compared with the materiality of their appointed affinitiesand repulsions presented to them from the instant of theircreation to the day of judgment? When did this so-calledmaterial age begin? With the use of clothing; with thediscovery of the compass; with the invention of the art ofprinting? Surely, it has been a long time about; andwhich is the more material object, the farthing tallow candle that will not give me light, or that flame of gas whichwill?No, ladies and gentlemen, do not let us be discouragedor deceived by any fine, vapid, empty words. The truematerial age is the stupid Chinese age, in which no new orgrand revelations of nature are granted, because they areignorantly and insolently repelled, instead of being diligentlyand humbly sought. The difference between the ancientfiction of the mad braggart defying the lightning and themodern historical picture of Franklin drawing it towards hiskite, in order that he might the more profoundly study thatwhich was set before him to be studied ( or it would nothave been there), happily expresses to my mind the distinction between the much-maligned material sages-material inone sense, I suppose, but in another very immaterial sagesof the Celestial Empire school. Consider whether it islikely or unlikely, natural or unnatural, reasonable or unreasonable, that I, a being capable of thought, and finding myself surrounded by such discovered wonders on every hand,307should sometimes ask myself the question-should put tomyself the solemn consideration-can these things be amongthose things which might have been disclosed by divine lipsnigh upon two thousand years ago, but that the people ofthat time could not bear them? And whether this be so orno, if I am so surrounded on every hand, is not my moralresponsibility tremendously increased thereby, and with itmy intelligence and submission as a child of Adam and ofthe dust, before that Shining Source which equally of allthat is granted and all that is withheld holds in His mightyhands the unapproachable mysteries of life and death.To the students of your industrial classes generally I havehad it in my mind, first, to commend the short motto, intwo words, " Courage-Persevere." This is the motto of afriend and worker. Not because the eyes of Europe areupon them, for I don't in the least believe it; nor becausethe eyes of even England are upon them, for I don't in theleast believe it; not because their doings will be proclaimedwith blast of trumpet at street corners, for no such musicalperformances will take place; not because self-improvementis at all certain to lead to worldly success, but simply because it is good and right of itself, and because, being so, itdoes assuredly bring with it its own resources and its ownrewards. I would further commend to them a very wiseand witty piece of advice on the conduct of the understanding which was given more than half a century ago by theRev. Sydney Smith-wisest and wittiest of the friends I havelost. He says-and he is speaking, you will please understand, as I speak, to a school of volunteer students-he says:"There is a piece of foppery which is to be cautiously"guarded against, the foppery of universality, of knowing all" sciences and excelling in all arts-chymistry, mathematics,"algebra, dancing, history, reasoning, riding, fencing, Low1869. SYDNEY SMITH'S ADVICE.་20-2308 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Sept. 27,"Dutch, High Dutch, and natural philosophy. In short, the" modern precept of education very often is, " Take the Admi"rable Crichton for your model, I would have you ignorant"of nothing.' Now," says he, " my advice, on the contrary," is to have the courage to be ignorant of a great number ofthings, in order that you may avoid the calamity of being"ignorant of everything. "66To this I would superadd a little truth, which holdsequally good of my own life and the life of every eminentman I have ever known. The one serviceable, safe, certain ,remunerative, attainable quality in every study and in everypursuit is the quality of attention. My own invention orimagination, such as it is, I can most truthfully assure you,would never have served me as it has, but for the habit ofcommonplace, humble, patient, daily, toiling, drudging attention. Genius, vivacity, quickness of penetration, brilliancyin association of ideas-such mental qualities, like the qualities of the apparition of the externally armed head in Macbeth, will not be commanded; but attention, after due termof submissive service, always will. Like certain plants whichthe poorest peasant may grow in the poorest soil, it can becultivated by any one, and it is certain in its own good season to bring forth flowers and fruit. I can most truthfullyassure you by-the-by, that this eulogium on attention is sofar quite disinterested on my part as that it has not theleast reference whatever to the attention with which youhave honoured me.Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have done. I cannot butreflect how often you have probably heard within thesewalls one of the foremost men, and certainly one of the verybest speakers, if not the very best, in England. I could notsay to myself when I began just now, in Shakespeare'sline" I will be BRIGHT and shining gold "1869 POLITICAL CREED. . 309but I could say to myself, and I did say to myself, " I willbe as natural and easy as I possibly can, " because my hearthas all been in my subject, and I bear an old love towardsBirmingham and Birmingham men. I have said that I bearan old love towards Birmingham and Birmingham men; letme amend a small omission, and add " and Birminghamwomen." This ring I wear on my finger now is an old Birmingham gift, and if by rubbing it I could raise the spiritthat was obedient to Aladdin's ring, I heartily assure youthat my first instruction to that genius on the spot should beto place himself at Birmingham's disposal in the best ofcauses.[ In acknowledging the vote of thanks, Mr. Dickens said:-]Ladies and gentlemen, as I hope it is more than possiblethat I shall have the pleasure of meeting you again beforeChristmas is out, and shall have the great interest of seeingthe faces and touching the hands of the successful competitors in your lists, I will not cast upon that anticipated meeting the terrible foreshadowing of dread which must inevitably result from a second speech. I thank you most heartily,and I most sincerely and fervently say to you, " Good night,and God bless you. " In reference to the appropriate andexcellent remarks of Mr. Dixon, I will now discharge myconscience of my political creed, which is contained in twoarticles, and has no reference to any party or persons. Myfaith in the people governing is, on the whole, infinitesimal;myfaith in the People governed is, on the whole, illimitable.LIII.BIRMINGHAM, JANUARY 6, 1870.[On the evening of the above date, Mr. Dickens, as President of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, distributed the prizes and certificates awarded to the most successful students in the first year. The proceedings took place in the Town Hall: Mr. Dickens entered at eight o'clock,accompanied by the officers of the Institute, and was received with loudapplause. After the lapse of a minute or two, he rose and said:-)JADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -When I last hadthe honour to preside over a meeting of the Institution which again brings us together, I took occasion to remark upon a certain superabundance of publicspeaking which seems to me to distinguish the present time.It will require very little self-denial on my part to practisenow what I preached then; firstly, because I said mylittlesay that night; and secondly, because we have definite andhighly interesting action before us to-night. We have nowto bestow the rewards which have been brilliantly won bythe most successful competitors in the society's lists. I saythe most successful, because to- night we should particularlyobserve, I think, that there is success in all honest endeavour,and that there is some victory gained in every gallant struggle1870.DISTRIBUTION OF Prizes.that is made. To strive at all involves a victory achievedover sloth, inertness, and indifference; and competition forthese prizes involves, besides, in the vast majority of cases,competition with and mastery asserted over circumstancesadverse to the effort made. Therefore, every losing competitor among my hearers may be certain that he has stillwon much-very much-and that he can well afford toswell the triumph of his rivals who have passed him in the311race.I have applied the word " rewards " to these prizes, andI do so, not because they represent any great intrinsic worthin silver or gold, but precisely because they do not. Theyrepresent what is above all price -what can be stated in noarithmetical figures, and what is one of the great needs ofthe human soul-encouraging sympathy. They are an assurance to every student present or to come in your institution, that he does not work either neglected or unfriended,and that he is watched, felt for, stimulated, and appreciated.Such an assurance, conveyed in the presence of this largeassembly, and striking to the breasts of the recipients thatthrill which is inseparable from any great united utterance offeeling, is a reward, to my thinking, as purely worthy of thelabour as the labour itself is worthy of the reward; and bya sensitive spirit can never be forgotten.[One of the prize-takers was a Miss Winkle, a name suggestive of “ Pickwick, " which was received with laughter. Mr. Dickens made some remarks to the lady in an undertone; and then observed to the audience,"I have recommended Miss Winkle to change her name. " The prizeshaving been distributed, Mr. Dickens made a second brief speech. He said:-]The prizes are now all distributed, and I have dischargedmyself of the delightful task you have entrusted to me;and if the recipients of these prizes and certificates whohave come upon this platform have had the genuine plea312 CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES. Jan. 6;sure in receiving their acknowledgments from my handsthat I have had in placing them in theirs, they are in a trueChristian temper to-night. I have the painful sense uponme, that it is reserved for some one else to enjoy this greatsatisfaction of mind next time. It would be useless for thefew short moments longer to disguise the fact that I happento have drawn King this Twelfth Night, but that anotherSovereign will very soon sit upon my inconstant throne.To-night I abdicate, or, what is much the same thing in themodern annals of Royalty-I am politely dethroned. Thismelancholy reflection, ladies and gentlemen, brings me to avery small point, personal to myself, upon which I will begyour permission to say a closing word.When I was here last autumn I made, in reference tosome remarks of your respected member, Mr. Dixon, ashort confession of my political faith-or perhaps I shouldbetter say want of faith. It imported that I have very littleconfidence in the people who govern us-please to observe"people " there will be with a small " p,"--but that I havegreat confidence in the People whom they govern; pleaseto observe " people " there with a large " P." This wasshortly and elliptically stated, and was with no evil intention,I am absolutely sure, in some quarters inversely explained.Perhaps as the inventor of a certain extravagant fiction, butone which I do see rather frequently quoted as if there weregrains of truth at the bottom of it—a fiction called the " Circumlocution Office, ” —and perhaps also as the writer of anidle book or two, whose public opinions are not obscurelystated-perhaps in these respects I do not sufficiently bearin mind Hamlet's caution to speak by the card lest equivocation should undo me.Now I complain of nobody; but simply in order thatthere may be no mistake as to what I did mean, and as to1870. BUCKLE ON LAWGIVERS. 313what I do mean, I will re- state my meaning, and I will doso in the words of a great thinker, a great writer, and a greatscholar, whose death, unfortunately for mankind, cut shorthis "History of Civilization in England:"-" They may talkas they will about reforms which Government has introducedand improvements to be expected from legislation, but whoever will take a wider and more commanding view of humanaffairs, will soon discover that such hopes are chimerical.Theywill learn that lawgivers are nearly always the obstructors of society instead of its helpers, and that in the extremely few cases where their measures have turned out well,their success has been owing to the fact that, contrary totheir usual custom, they have implicitly obeyed the spirit oftheir time, and have been- as they always should be—themere servants of the people, to whose wishes they are boundto give a public and legal sanction. "Henry Thomas Duckle.SLIV.THE FAREWELL READING.ST. JAMES'S HALL, MARCH 15, 1870.[With the "Christmas Carol " and "The Trial from Pickwick, " Mr. Charles Dickens brought to a brilliant close the memorable series ofpublic readings which have for sixteen years proved to audiences unexam pled in numbers, the source of the highest intellectual enjoyment. Every portion of available space in the building was, of course occupied some time before the appointed hour; but could the St. James's Hallhave been specially enlarged for the occasion to the dimensions of Salisbury Plain, it is doubtful whether sufficient room would even then have been provided for all anxious to seize the last chance of hearing the distinguished novelist give his own interpretation of the characters called into existence by his own creative pen. As if determined to convince hisauditors that, whatever reason had influenced his determination, physical exhaustion was not amongst them, Mr. Dickens never read with greater spirit and energy. His voice to the last retained its distinctive clearness,and the transitions of tone, as each personage in the story, conjured up by a word, rose vividly before the eye, seemed to be more marvellous than ever. The vast assemblage, hushed into breathless attention, sufferednot a syllable to escape the ear, and the rich humour and deep pathos of one of the most delightful books ever written found once again the fullest appreciation. The usual burst of merriment responsive to the blithe description of Bob Cratchit's Christmas day, and the wonted sympathy with the crippled child " Tiny Tim, " found prompt expression, and the general delight at hearing of Ebenezer Scrooge's reformation was only checked by the saddening remembrance that with it the last strain of the "carol" was dying away. After the " Trial from Pickwick," in which the speeches of the opposing counsel, and the owlish gravity of the judge,March 15, 1870. THE FAREWELL READING. 315seemed to be delivered and depicted with greater dramatic power thanever, the applause of the audience rang for several minutes through thehall, and when it had subsided, Mr. Dickens, with evidently strongemotion, but in his usual distinct and expressive manner, spoke asfollows:-]ADIES AND GENTLEMEN, -It would be worsethan idle for it would be hypocritical and unfeeling-if I were to disguise that I close this episodein my life with feelings of very considerable pain. Forsome fifteen years, in this hall and in many kindred places, Ihave had the honour of presenting my own cherished ideasbefore you for your recognition, and, in closely observingyour reception of them, have enjoyed an amount of artisticdelight and instruction which, perhaps, is given to few mento know. In this task, and in every other I have everundertaken, as a faithful servant of the public, always imbued with a sense of duty to them, and always striving todo his best, I have been uniformly cheered by the readiestresponse, the most generous sympathy, and the most stimulating support. Nevertheless, I have thought it well, at thefull flood-tide of your favour, to retire upon those olderassociations between us, which date from much further backthan these, and henceforth to devote myself exclusively tothe art that first brought us together. Ladies and gentlemen, in but two short weeks from this time I hope that youmay enter, in your own homes, on a new series of readings,at which my assistance will be indispensable; * but fromthese garish lights I vanish now for evermore, with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and affectionate farewell.[Amidst repeated acclamations of the most enthusiastic description whilsthats and handkerchiefs were waving in every part of the hall, Mr. CharlesDickens retired, withdrawing with him one of the greatest intellectual treats the public ever enjoyed. ]Allading to the forthcoming serial story of Edwin Drocd.40.33.0*LV.THE NEWSVENDORS' INSTITUTION.LONDON, APRIL 5, 1870.[ The annual dinner in aid of the funds of the Newsvendors' Benevolent andProvident Institution was held on the above evening, at the Free mason's Tavern. Mr. Charles Dickens presided, and was supported bythe Sheriffs ofthe City of London and Middlesex.After the usual toasts had been given and responded to,The Chairman said that if the approved order of their proceedings had beenobserved, the Corporation of the City of London would no doubt haveconsidered themselves snubbed if they were not toasted by themselves.He was sure that a distinguished member of the Corporation who waspresent would tell the company what the Corporation were going to do;and he had not the slightest doubt they were going to do something highlycreditable to themselves, and something highly serviceable to the wholemetropolis; and if the secret were not at present locked up in the bluechamber, they would be all deeply obliged to the gentleman who wouldimmediately follow him, if he let them into it in the same confidence as hehad observed with respect to the Corporation of the City of London beingsnubbed. He begged to give the toast of " The Corporation of the City of London."Mr. Alderman Cotton, in replying to the toast, said for once, and once only,had their chairman said an unkind word about the Corporation of London.Hehad always reckoned Mr. Dickens to be one of the warmest friends ofthe Corporation; and remembering that he (Mr. Dickens) did really gothrough a Lord Mayor's Show in a Lord Mayor's carriage, if he had notApril 5, 1870. THE NEWSVENDORS' INSTITUTION.felt himself quite a Lord Mayor, he must have at least considered himself next to one.In proposing the toast of the evening Mr. Dickens said:-]217ADIES AND GENTLEMEN,-You receive mewith so much cordiality that I fear you believe that Ireally did once sit in a Lord Mayor's state coach.Permit me to assure you, in spite of the information receivedfrom Mr. Alderman Cotton, that I never had that honour.Furthermore, I beg to assure you that I never witnessed aLord Mayor's show except from the point of view obtainedby the other vagabonds upon the pavement. Now, ladiesand gentlemen, in spite of this great cordiality of yours, Idoubt if you fully know yet what a blessing it is to you thatI occupy this chair to-night, because, having filled it onseveral previous occasions for the society on whose behalfwe are assembled, and having said everything that I couldthink ofto say about it, and being, moreover, the presidentofthe institution itself, I am placed to-night in the modestposition of a host who is not so much to display himself asto call out his guests-perhaps even to try to induce someamong them to occupy his place on another occasion. And,therefore, you may be safely sure that, like Falstaff, but witha modification almost as large as himself, I shall try ratherto be the cause of speaking in others than to speak myselfto-night. Much in this manner they exhibit at the door ofasnuff shop the effigy of a Highlander with an empty mull inhis hand, who, having apparently taken all the snuff he cancarry, and discharged all the sneezes of which he is capable,politely invites his friends and patrons to step in and trywhat they can do in the same line.It is an appropriate instance of the universality of thenewsman's calling that no toast we have drunk to-night- andno toast we shall drink to-night-and no toast we might,318 April 5,CHARLES DICKENS'S SPEECHES.could, should, or would drink to-night, is separable for amoment from that great inclusion of all possible subjects ofhuman interest which he delivers at our doors every day.Further, it may be worthy the consideration of everybodyhere who has talked cheerfully to his or her neighbour sincewe have sat down at the table, what in the name of Heavenshould we have talked about, and how on earth could wehave possibly got on, if our newsman had only for one singleday forgotten us. Now, ladies and gentlemen, as our newsman is not by any means in the habit of forgetting us, let ustry to form a little habit of not forgetting our newsman. Letus remember that his work is very arduous; that it occupieshim early and late; that the profits he derives from us areat the best very small; that the services he renders to us arevery great; that if he be a master, his little capital is exposed to all sorts of mischances, anxieties, and hazards;and if he be a journeyman, he himself is exposed to allmanner of weathers, of tempers, and of difficult and unreasonable requirements.Let me illustrate this. I was once present at a socialdiscussion, which originated by chance. The subject was,What was the most absorbing and longest-lived passion inthe human breast? What was the passion so powerful thatit would almost induce the generous to be mean, the carelessto be cautious, the guileless to be deeply designing, and thedove to emulatethe serpent? A daily editor of vast experience and great acuteness, who was one ofthe company, considerably surprised us by saying with the greatest confidencethat the passion in question was the passion of getting ordersfor the play.There had recently been a terrible shipwreck, and veryfew of the surviving sailors had escaped in an open boat.One of these on making land came straight to London, and1870. THE NEWSVENDORS INSTITUTION. 319straight to the newspaper office, with his story of how he

• avait vu le navire sombrer sous ses yeux.

Ce jeune·homme avait été témoin de la plus terrible dispute entre les puissances du feu et de l'eau pour la destruction de ce navire et de chacun à bord. Il avait ramé parmi les flottants, les mourants et les morts naufragés. Il avait flotté le jour, et il avait gelé la nuit, sans abri ni nourriture, et, tout en racontant sa triste histoire, il roulait ses yeux hagards dans la pièce. Quand il eut fini, et que l'histoire eut été notée de ses lèvres, il fut acclamé et rafraîchi, et apaisé, et demanda si quelque chose pouvait être fait pour lui. Même en lui cette passion maîtresse était si forte qu'il répondit immédiatement qu'il aimerait une commande pour la pièce. Mon ami l'éditeur a certainement pensé que c'était un cas plutôt solide ; mais il a dit qu'au cours de ses nombreuses années d'expérience, il avait été témoin d'une quantité incurable d'autoprostration et d'abaissement n'ayant pas d'objet extérieur, et que presque invariablement de la part de personnes qui pouvaient bien se permettre de payer. Cela a fait une grande impression sur mon esprit, et j'ai vraiment vécu dans cette foi jusqu'à il y a quelques années, cela s'est produit lors d'une nuit d'orage, j'ai été gentiment escorté d'une gare ferroviaire sombre à la petite ville isolée qu'elle représentait par un journaliste vif et vif, à qui j'ai proposé, alors que nous avancions sous mon parapluie-il étant la plus excellente compagnie-cette vieille question, quelle était la seule passion absorbante de l'âme humaine ? Il a répondu, sans la moindre hésitation, que c'était certainement la passion d'oublier votre journal avant vos semblables ; aussi, si vous ne l'aviez loué, que de le faire livrer à votre porte exactement en même temps qu'un autre homme qui l'avait loué. samecopy à quatre miles de distance ; et, enfin, la détermination invincible de la part des deux hommes de ne pas croire que le temps était écoulé lorsque le garçon a appelé.320LES DISCOURS DE CHARLESDICKENS. Je n'ai aucun doute de sa réception ce soir que mon ami le journaliste avait parfaitement raison. Eh bien, comme une sorte de phare dans une vie suffisamment sombre, et comme une assurance que parmi un petit groupe d'hommes qui travaillent, il y a un sentiment de fraternité et de sympathie - qui vaut beaucoup pour tous les hommes, sinon ils se rassembleraient avec des loups - le marchand de nouvelles il était une fois a établi la Benevolent and ProvidentInstitution, et la voici. Sous le chef Provident, certaines petites rentes sont accordées aux abonnés anciens et laborieux. Sous le chef bienveillant, le soulagement est accordé à la détresse temporaire et avérée. Sous les deux chefs, je suis assez pour dire que l'aide rendue est très humble et très parcimonieuse, mais si vous l'aimez plus beau, vous avez le pouvoir de le rendre ainsi. Tel qu'il est, il est reçu avec beaucoup de reconnaissance et fait beaucoup de bien. Tel qu'il est, il est administré avec le plus de discrétion et de sensibilité ; et il n'est encombré d'aucune charge inutile pour la gestion ou le patronage. Vous savez sur une ancienne autorité, que vous pouvez croire quoi que ce soit sauf des faits et des chiffres, mais vous pouvez vraiment croire qu'au cours de la dernière année, nous avons accordé 100 £ en pensions, et quelque 70 £ en soulagement temporaire, et nous avons investi des titres inGovernment environ 400 £. Mais, touchant cette affaire d'investissements, il a été suggéré lors du dîner d'anniversaire, sous la haute et aimable autorité de Sir Benjamin Phillips, que nous pourrions accorder plus de pensions et investir moins d'argent. être certains et immuables, ce qui bien sûr doit être s'ils sont toujours payés sur les intérêts de notre gouvernement et jamais sur notre capital. Cependant, si aimable est notre1870. L'INSTITUTION DES VENDEURS DE JOURNAUX.nature, que nous professons notre désir d'accorder plus de pensions et d'investir plus d'argent aussi. Plus vous nous donnez encore ce soir, tant notre nature est aimable, plus nous promettons de faire dans les deux départements. Que le travail du journaliste s'est considérablement accru, et qu'il est bien plus usant qu'autrefois, vous pouvez en déduire d'un fait, sans compter que nous vivons à l'époque des chemins de fer. Il est indiqué dans le "Newspaper Press Directory" de Mitchell qu'au cours du dernier quart de siècle, le nombre de journaux parus à Londres avait plus que doublé, tandis que l'augmentation du nombre de personnes parmi lesquelles ils étaient diffusés était probablement incalculable. Mesdames et messieurs, J'ai exposé le cas simple du journaliste. Je le laisse entre vos mains. Au cours de la dernière année, l'institution a eu la chance d'attirer la sympathie et de gagner le soutien de l'éminent homme de lettres que je suis fier d'appeler mon ami, * qui représente maintenant la grande République d'Amérique à la Cour britannique. Elle a aussi l'honneur d'inscrire sur sa liste de donateurs et de vice-présidents le grand nom de Longfellow. J'ai l'honneur de vous proposer de boire "'Prosperity to the Newsvendors' Benevolentand Provident Institution."

• L'honorable John Lothrop Motley

!32121LVI.LE DÎNER DE L'ACADÉMIE ROYALE.·0·LONDRES, LE 2 MAI 1870.[à l'occasion de la deuxième exposition de l'Académie royale dans les nouvelles galeries de Piccadilly, le président, Sir F. Grant, et le conseil ont donné leur inauguration habituelle banquet, et une compagnie très distinguée était présente. Le dîner a eu lieu dans la grande salle centrale, et des couverts ont été dressés pour 200 convives. Le prince de Galles a salué le toast de sa santé et celle de la princesse, le duc de Cambridge a répondu au toast de l'armée, M. Childers à la marine, Lord Elcho aux volontaires, M. Motley à " La prospérité des États-Unis, » M. Gladstone aux « ministres de Sa Majesté », l'archevêque d'York aux « invités » et M. Dickens à la « littérature ». Le dernier toast ayant été proposé dans un discours hautement élogieux, M. Dickens a répondu . ]M. LE PRÉSIDENT, Vos Altesses Royales, mes Seigneurs et Messieurs, - Je vous prie de saluer le toast auquel vous m'avez fait le grand honneur d'associer mon nom. Je vous prie de le reconnaître au nom de la fraternité de la littérature, présente et absente, sans oublier un illustre vagabond du bercail, dont nous saluons tous le retour tardif avec délice, et qui siège maintenant - ou s'est assis - à quelques chaises de ou sur votre main gauche.J'espère que je peux également prétendre reconnaître le toast au nom de la fraternité de la littérature aussi, bien que cette " meilleure moitié de la nature humaine ", à laquelle M. Gladstone a rendu le 2 mai 1870. Le dîner de l'ACADÉMIE ROYALE. 323son hommage gracieux, est indignement représenté ici, dans l'état actuel de ses droits et de ses torts, par le monstre dévorant, l'homme.Tous les arts, et de nombreuses sciences, témoignent que les femmes, même dans leur condition actuelle d'oppression, peuvent atteindre tout aussi bien grande distinction, et peut gagner des noms aussi nobles que les hommes. Leur émancipation (comme il m'est donné de le comprendre) approche de très près, il est impossible de dire combien de temps ils pourront « nous pousser de nos tabourets » à ces tables, ni combien de temps notre meilleure moitié de la nature humaine, qui se tient à ma place, pourra se déprécier avec éloquence. l'humanité, s'adressant à une autre meilleure moitié de la nature humaine assise dans le fauteuil du président. Les visiteurs littéraires de l'Académie royale ce soir me souhaitent de féliciter leurs hôtes pour une exposition très intéressante, dans laquelle l'excellence s'affirme suprêmement, et à partir de laquelle la promesse de une succession brillante dans le temps à venir ne manque pas. Ils voient naturellement avec un intérêt particulier les écrits et les personnes de grands hommes—historiens, philosophes, poètes et romanciers, illustrés ici de manière vivante autour d'eux. Et ils espèrent pouvoir prétendre modestement avoir apporté une petite aide à la production de nombreux tableaux de cette magnifique galerie. Carsans les travaux patients de certains d'entre eux, l'histoire non historique aurait pu survivre longtemps dans cet endroit, et sans les recherches et l'errance d'autres parmi eux, les pays les plus absurdes, les peuples les plus impossibles, et les superstitions, les mœurs et les coutumes les plus absurdes pourraient avoir usurpé l'endroit de vérité sur ces murs. Non, on ne sait pas, Sir Francis Grant, quels portraits différents vous-même auriez pu peindre si vous aviez été laissé, avec vos assistants, à des stylos oisifs, à des rumeurs téméraires non contrôlées et à une malveillance mensongère non dénoncée.324 DISCOURS DE CHARLES DICKENS. Le 2 mai 1870, je ne peux pas m'abstenir, avant de reprendre mon siège, d'évoquer le thème asad (la mort récente de Daniel Maclise) auquel son Altesse Royale le Prince de Galles a fait allusion, et auquel le président s'est référé avec l'éloquence d'un sentiment authentique. Depuis que je suis entré pour la première fois dans les listes publiques, un très jeune homme en effet, j'ai eu la fortune constante de compter parmi mes amis les plus proches et les plus chers les membres de la Royal Academy qui en ont été la grâce et la fierté. Ils sont tellement tombés de mon côté un par un que je commence déjà à me sentir comme le moine espagnol dont Wilkie parle, qui avait grandi pour croire que les seules réalités autour de lui étaient les images qu'il aimait, et que toute la vie émouvante qu'il voyait, ou jamais vu, était une ombre et un rêve. Pendant de nombreuses années, j'ai été l'un des deux amis les plus intimes et les compagnons les plus constants de feu M. Maclise. De son génie dans son art choisi, je m'aventurerai à ne rien dire ici, mais de sa prodigieuse fertilité d'esprit et de sa richesse intellectuelle merveilleuse, je peux affirmer avec confiance qu'ils l'auraient fait, s'il avait été si esprit, au moins aussi grand awriter qu'il était peintre. Le plus doux et le plus modeste des hommes, le plus frais quant à sa généreuse appréciation des jeunes aspirants, et le plus franc et le plus généreux quant à ses pairs, incapable d'une pensée sordide ou ignoble, soutenant galamment la vraie dignité de sa vocation, sans un grain d'ambition personnelle , sainement naturel à la fin comme à la première, " inwit un homme, simplicité un enfant, " aucun artiste, de quelque dénomination que ce soit, je m'enhardis à dire, n'est jamais allé se reposer en laissant un souvenir doré plus pur de scories, ou en s'étant consacré lui-même avec une chevalerie plus vraie à la déesse de l'art qu'il adorait.[Ce sont les derniers mots publics de Charles Dickens. ]La bibliographie de Dickens : une liste bibliographique des écrits publiés en prose et en vers de CHARLES DICKENS, de 1833 à 1883 (y compris ses lettres). , Art, Science et Belles Lettres. Nouvelle série. Londres publié par A.Robertson, Johnson's-court, Fleet- street ; ensuite byCochrane et Macrone, et par James Cochrane and Co.,Waterloo-place, Pall-mall. Vol. xvi. à xix. 1833-1835.THEVol. xvi.pp. 617-624. Un dîner à Poplar Walk.-décembre 1833.Republié sous le titre de " M. Minns et son cousin, " dans la deuxième série de croquis de Boz.Vol. xvii.pp. 11-18. Mme Joseph Porter, ' de l'autre côté.'-Janvier 1834."" 151-162. Horatio Sparkins. -Février 1834.375-386. Le baptême de Bloomsbury.—avril 1834.481-493. La pension de famille. -Mai 1834.Vol. xviii.pp. 177-192. La pension de famille, n° II. *--Août 1834 "" 360-376. L'excursion à vapeur. -Octobre 1834.11 ...Vol. XIX, pp. 15-24. Passages dans la vie de M. Watkins Tottle. Chapitre Premier. -Janvier 1835."" 121-137. Ib. Chapitre Deuxième. -Février 1835.2 CROQUIS DE LONDRES, signé " Boz," dans l'Evening Chronicle.1835.No. 1. Stands Hackney-Coach. -Samedi 31 janvier.Non. 2. Gin Shops .-Samedi 7 février.

• Le premier papier signé " Boz : " les Esquisses précédentes parurent anonymement.

326BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.[1835No. 3. Premiers entraîneurs. -Jeudi 19 février.Non. 4. La paroisse. -Samedi 28 février.Non. 5. " La Maison. " -Samedi 7 mars. 6. Récréations de Londres. - Mardi 17 mars.Non. 7. Dîners publics. -Mardi 7 avril.Non. 8. Chez Bellamy. -Samedi 11 avril.Non. 9. Foire de Greenwich. -Jeudi 16 avril.Non. 10. Réflexions sur les gens. -Jeudi 23 avril.Non. 11. Chez Astley. -Samedi 9 mai.Non. 12. Notre paroisse. -Mardi 19 mai.Non. 13. La rivière. -Samedi 6 juin.Non. 14. Notre paroisse. -Jeudi 18 juin.Non. 15. La boutique du prêteur sur gages. -Mardi 30 juin.Non. 16. Notre paroisse. -Mardi 14 juillet.Non. 17. Les rues - Matin. -Mardi 21 juillet.Non. 18. Notre paroisse-M. Le récit de Bung. -Mardi 23 juillet.Non. 19. Théâtres privés. -Mardi, août II.No. 20. Notre paroisse.--Jeudi 20 août.3SCÈNES ET PERSONNAGES (signé " Tibbs "), imprimé dans Bell'sLife à Londres, 1835-1836.1835.No. 1. Sept cadrans. -27 septembre.Non. 2. Mlle Evans et " l'Aigle. "-Octobre 4No. 3. L'Académie de danse.-- 11 octobre.No. 4. En faire une nuit. -18 octobre.Non. 5. Amour et huîtres. -25 octobre.Intitulé dans le recueil " Sketches, " Misplaced Attachment of Mr. John Dounce.No. 6. Quelques récits d'un Omnibus Cad. -Novembre 1.No. 7. Le Vocal Dress- Maker. -Novembre 22.Intitulé dans le recueil " Sketches," The Mistaken Milliner.No. 8. Le fourgon des prisonniers. -29 novembre.Non. 9. Le salon. -13 décembre.Intitulé The Parlour Orator dans le recueil "" Sketches."N° 10. Festivités de Noël. -27 décembre.Intitulé dans le recueil " Sketches, " A Christmas Dinner.1836.No. 11. Le Nouvel An. - 3 janvier.No 12. Les rues la nuit.-Janvier 17.4Les Tuggs à Ramsgate (avec deux illustrations de Seymour).-A Little Talk about Spring, and the Sweeps (avec une illustration de R. W. Buss).— La Bibliothèque de Fiction, ou FamilyStory-Teller ; composé de contes originaux, essais, and1836. ] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. 327Sketches ofCharacter. Londres : Chapman et Hall. Vol. i.( 1836), pp. 1-18 ; 113-119 (les deux signés « Boz »). « Une petite conversation sur le printemps et les balayages réapparut dans la deuxième série de croquis de Boz, sous le titre de Le premier mai. « The Tuggs's at Ramsgate a été inclus pour la première fois dans l'édition en un volume de 1839 (vide infra) ; mais les illustrations de Seymour et Buss n'ont pas été reproduites.566 CROQUIS DE Boz. Nouvelle série. (Chronique du matin et du soir, 1836. )Non. 1. Méditations dans la rue Monmouth. -M.C. Samedi 24 septembre : C.E. Lundi 26 septembre. 2. Scotland Yard.-M.C. mardi 4 octobre; E. C. Mercredi,5 octobre.No. 3. Communes des médecins. -E. C. Mercredi 12 octobre.No. 4. Jardins de Vauxhall par jour.-M. C. et E.C. Mercredi,octobre 26.6CROQUIS PAR " Boz," ILLUStratif de la VIE QUOTIDIENNE, ET DES GENS DE TOUS LES JOURS. En deux volumes. Illustrationsby George Cruikshank. Londres : John Macrone, St. James'ssquare. 1836.Le premier volume ( pp. viii. 348) contient The Parish , en six chapitres ; Miss Evans et " The Eagle ; " Shops and their Tenants ; Thoughts about People ; A Visit to Newgate ; London Recreations ; The Boarding House, en deux chapitres ; Hackney - Coach Stands ; Brokers and Marine-Store Shops The Bloomsbury Christening ; Gin Shops ; Public Dinners ; Astley's; Greenwich Fair ; The Prisoners' Van ; A Christmas Dinner.Le deuxième volume (pp. 342) contient Passage dans la vie de M. Watkins Tottle, en deux chapitres ; The Black Veil ; Shabby-genteel People ; Horatio Sparkins ; The Pawnbroker's Shop ; The Dancing Academy ; Early Coaches ; The River ; Private Theatres ; The Great Winglebury Duel ; Omnibus ; Mrs. Joseph Porter ; The Steam Excursion ; Sentiment.La préface de ces deux volumes est datée de " Furnival's Inn, février 1836." Il y a seize illustrations de Cruikshank. 1836. "7 CROQUIS DE " BOZ ", ILLUSTRANT LA VIE QUOTIDIENNE ET LES GENS DE TOUS LES JOURS. La deuxième série. Londres : John Macrone, place Saint-James. 1837, p. VIII. 377.contenant les rues le matin ; Les rues la nuit ; En faire une nuit ; Criminel; Tribunaux; Scotland Yard; La nouvelle année; Méditations dans Monmouth-street ; Nos voisins d'à côté ; L'Hôpital328 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. [1836Patient ; sept cadrans ; La modiste erronée ; communes des médecins ; Attachement mal placé de M. John Dounce ; Jardins de Vauxhall par jour ; Croquis parlementaire-avec quelques portraits ; M. Minns et son cousin; le dernier chauffeur de taxi et le premier Omnibus Cad ; L'orateur de salon ; le premier mai ; La mort de l'ivrogne. Avec douze illustrations de George Cruikshank. La préface est datée " Furnival's Inn, 17 décembre 1836." Première édition complète de la série deux, avec quarante illustrations de George Cruikshank. En vingt parties mensuelles, demy in-8, commençant en novembre 1837 et se terminant en juin 1839. Vingt-sept des vingt-huit illustrations des anciennes éditions ont été redessinées et gravées pour s'adapter à la plus grande page de taille de cette édition (une illustration , « The Free and Easy », dans The Streets by Night, en cours d'annulation). A celles-ci s'ajoutent treize nouvelles eaux-fortes. Il y avait aussi un dessin sur la première page de l'emballage rose de George Cruikshank. Préface datée du « 15 mai 1839. » Londres : Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1839, pp. 526. Cette édition comprenait tous les croquis énumérés ci-dessus, avec l'ajout de The Tuggs's at Ramsgate, " réimprimé de The Library of Fiction. Une nouvelle préface, datée " Londres, octobre 1850 ", était préfixée à la première édition bon marché. 8DIMANCHE SOUS TROIS TÊTES. Tel qu'il est ; tel que Sabbath Bills le ferait ; tel qu'il pourrait être fait. Par Timothy Sparks.London : Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1836, pp. v. 49. ) sont de feu Hablot Knight Browne (" Phiz").9THE STRANGE GENTLEMAN: A Comic Burletta. In Two Acts.By " Boz." Première représentation au St. James's Theatre, le jeudi 29 septembre 1836. Londres: Chapman et Hall,186, Strand. 1837, pp. 46, dans l'emballage.Avec frontispice gravé par " Phiz " (H. K. Browne).IOTHE VILLAGE COQUETTES : A Comic Opera. In Two Acts.By Charles Dickens. The Music by John Hullah. Londres:Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street. 1836, pp. 71 .Première représentation au St. James's Theatre, le mardi 6 décembre 1836. Les chansons ont été publiées séparément dans une petite brochure portant le titre suivant :Songs, Choruses , et Concerted Pieces in the Operatic Burletta of The Village Coquettes, tel que produit au St. James's Theatre. Le Drame et les Paroles des Chansons par " Boz. " La Musique par John Hullah. [La musique est publiée par MM. Cramer and Co. , 201 , Regentstreet. ]Imprimé par Bradbury et Evans, Whitefriars. 1837. [ Price Tenpence] pp. 10 (y compris le titre et Dramatis Persona).1837.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.II329EST-ELLE SA FEMME ? ou quelque chose de singulier ! Une bande dessinée Burletta.In One Act. Par "Boz." Londres : 1837.Première représentation au St. James's Theatre, le lundi 6 mars 1837.12L'ALLUMEUR : une farce. Par Charles Dickens (1838), pp. 45, sous emballage.Seulement 250 exemplaires imprimés en privé (1879) à partir de la copie manuscrite de la collection Forster à South Kensington; chaque exemplaire numéroté.13LES PAPIERS POSTHUMES DU PICKWICK CLUB. Être un enregistrement fidèle des déambulations, des périls, des voyages, des aventures et des transactions sportives des membres correspondants. Edité par "Boz." Avec quarante-trois illustrations de R. Seymour, R. W. Buss et Hablot K. Browne (" Phiz "). En vingt parties mensuelles, commençant en avril 1836 et se terminant en novembre 1837 (parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro). *Londres : Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1837, p. XVI. 609.La dédicace au sergent Talfourd est datée du " 48, rue Doughty, 27 septembre 1837." Les deux premiers numéros ne contenaient chacun que 24 pages de typographie. suicide le 20 avril 1836, alors que le deuxième numéro était en préparation. Le troisième numéro et les numéros suivants contenaient chacun 32 pages de typographie, avec seulement deux illustrations. Ceux du troisième numéro ont été exécutés à l'origine par R. W. Buss, mais ses plaques ont été remplacées dans les numéros ultérieurs par deux dessins différents exécutés par le regretté Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"), qui a illustré le reste de celui-ci et de nombreux ouvrages ultérieurs de Dickens. L'emballage vert original ¡hada design de Seymour, représentant des scènes de pêche et de tir, et des groupes d'équipements sportifs. Deuxieme PARTIE. contenait un avis concernant la mort de Seymour ; Partie X. une « adresse » de l'auteur à ses lecteurs, en date du « décembre 1836 ; » et la partie xv. une autre « adresse », « datée » 186, Strand, 30 juin 1837. La première édition bon marché contient une nouvelle préface, datée « Londres, septembre 1847 ». Cette Préface a été considérablement amplifiée dans l'édition « Charles Dickens » (Chapman et Hall, 1867, pp. xii. 497).

• Aucun numéro n'a été émis pour juin 1837. Le quatorzième numéro porte la date « mai 1837 », et le quinzième « juillet 1837 » : « la publication a été suspendue pendant cet intervalle à cause d'un deuil domestique.

330 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE Dickens.[183714OLIVER TWIST; OU, LE PROGRÈS DU GARÇON DE LA PAROISSE. Commencé dans le deuxième numéro de Bentley's Miscellany, en février 1837, et conclu en mars 1839. Publié en trois volumes, post 8vo, en octobre 1838, six mois avant son achèvement dans le Miscellany, avec vingt-quatre illustrations de George Cruikshank. * Londres : RichardBentley, New Burlington-street. 1838.Une troisième édition a été publiée avec une nouvelle préface, datée "DevonshireTerrace, avril 1841". Trois. 8vo. Londres : Chapman et Hall, 1841.Édition en un volume. Publié avec les mêmes plaques que les éditions précédentes, en dix parties mensuelles, demy in-8, uniforme avec Pickwick, à partir de janvier 1846. La première page de la couverture verte était d'un dessin de George Cruikshank, et représentait onze scènes (pour la plupart différentes de ceux représentés dans le corps de l'ouvrage) illustrant des incidents dans le roman, pp. 311. Londres : Bradbury et Evans, 1846. La première édition bon marché contient une nouvelle préface, datée de " Devonshire Terrace, mars 1850. " Cette préface a été considérablement modifiée et abrégée dans l'édition " Charles Dickens " (Chapman et Hall, 1867, pp. viii. 258), et un nouveau paragraphe a été ajouté à la fin.15 CONTRIBUTIONS TO Bentley's Miscellany, 1837-1839. Londres:Richard Bentley, New Burlington- street.Vol. je.

• p. 49-63. Vie publique de M. Tulrumble, autrefois maire de Mudfog.

(Signé " Boz. ") Avec une gravure et une illustration gravée sur bois par George Cruikshank. Janvier 1837. 14 ,, 291-297. Chapitres errants par Boz.' Chapitre I. Le Panto

mime de la vie. Mars 1837.,, 515-518. Chapitres égarés par Boz." Chapitre 2. Quelques détails concernant un Lion. Mai 1837. Discours de l'éditeur sur l'achèvement du premier volume, signé " Boz " et daté " Londres, juin 1837." Vol. ii.

pages 397-413. Rapport complet de la première réunion de l'association Mudfog pour l'avancement de tout. Signé « Boz. » Octobre 1837. Adresse, signée « Boz, » et datée « 30 novembre 1837 ».

• La dernière de ces illustrations - Rose Maylic et Oliver - telle qu'elle apparaissait dans les premiers exemplaires, a été contestée par l'auteur et a été redessinée à sa demande.

1839.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE Dickens.Vol. iv.

• pages 204-206. M. Robert Bolton , le " Gentleman connecté avec la presse. Août 1838.

",, 209-227. Rapport complet de la deuxième réunion de l'Association Mudfog pour l'avancement de tout. Withan illustration gravée par George Cruikshank. Septembre 1838.

331Vol. v.pp. 219-220. Épître familière d'un parent à un enfant âgé de deux ans et deux mois, signée " Boz. " Février 1839. , etc., par Charles Dickens, auteur de " The Pickwick Papers,etc. Maintenant collecté pour la première fois. Londres : Richard Bentley and Son, 1880, pp. iv. 198.]16 CROQUIS DE JEUNES MESSIEURS. Dédié aux YoungLadies. Avec six illustrations par " Phiz " (H. K. Browne), petit in-8. Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1838, pp. viii. 76.17 CROQUIS DE JEUNES COUPLES ; avec une remontrance urgente aux messieurs d'Angleterre (étant célibataires ou veufs) sur la crise alarmante actuelle. Par l'auteur de " Sketches of Young Gentlemen. " Avec six illustrations de Phiz " (H. K. Browne) . Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1840, pp. 92 (y compris le titre et le faux-titre).6618THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. Avec 39 illustrations de " Phiz ; " et portrait de l'auteur afterMaclise, gravé par Finden . En vingt parties mensuelles, demy 8vo, commençant en avril 1838 et se terminant en octobre 1839, parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro, pp. xvi. 624.Londres : Chapman et Hall, 186, Strand. 1839. La première édition bon marché contient une nouvelle préface, datée " Devonshire Terrace, mai 1848." 19 MÉMOIRES DE JOSEPH GRIMALDI. Edité par " Boz." douze illustrations par George Cruikshank.post 8vo, pp. xix. 288 ; p. ix. 263.Bentley. 1838. La préface est datée de " Doughty-street, février 1838." Avec En deux volumes, Londres : Richard332 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. [ 183920LA BALLADE D'AMOUR DE LORD BATEMAN. Illustré par George Cruikshank. Londres : Charles Tilt, Fleet-street ; et Mustapha Syried, Constantinople. 1839, pp. 40."La partie littéraire de l'ouvrage de M. Charles Dickens." -REID'S Descriptive Catalog of the Works ofGeorge Cruikshank (Londres, 1871), vol. je. p. 328.21Avis de la brochure de M. John Gibson Lockhart, " The Ballantyne Humbug manipuled. "—Examiner, 31 mars 1839. Il est fait allusion dans cet avis à un précédent de la réfutation de Ballantyne. Il y a un avis de la " réponse à la brochure de M. Lockhart " dans l'examinateur du 29 septembre 1839. Écrit et imprimé dans l'examinateur, " pour exprimer publiquement ", dit M. Forster, sa sincère sympathie pour la manière dont Lockhart a traité certains passages. dans son admirable Vie de Scott qui avait attiré sur lui la colère des Ballantynes. "22Notice of Hood's "Up the Rhine" (1840).- Printed in The Examiner." Je le vois remarquer, dans The Examiner, un livre de Thomas Hood ('Upthe Rhine' ): plutôt pauvre, mais je ne l'ai pas dit, parce que Hood l'est aussi, et malade en plus." "-FORSTER'S Life of Dickens (éd. 1876, vol. HUMPHREY'S CLOCK. Avec des illustrations sur bois byGeorge Cattermole, H. K. Browne, George Cruikshank, andDaniel Maclise. En quatre-vingt-huit numéros hebdomadaires, 8vo impérial, commençant le 4 avril 1840 et se terminant le 27 novembre 1841, et en vingt parties mensuelles, formant trois volumes. Vol. I., pp. iv. 306 ; volume ii. , pp. vi. 306 ; volume iii . , pp. vi. 426. Londres : Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1840-41. L'horloge de Master Humphrey comprend deux histoires, ensuite publiées séparément sans la matière de connexion, à savoir. , The Old Curiosity Shop et Barnaby Rudge. The Old Curiosity Shop commençait à la page 37 du premier volume, et continuait, avec des interruptions occasionnelles dans sa première partie du Pickwickien intercalaire et d'autres chapitres, jusqu'à la page 223 du deuxième volume. La première édition bon marché de The Old Curiosity Shop contenait une nouvelle préface, datée de « Londres, septembre 1848 ».] après quoi l'horloge a été liquidée par un dernier chapitre de Master Humphrey (pp. 421-426). La première édition bon marché de Barnaby Rudge contenait une nouvelle préface, datée "Londres, mars 1849".] 1842.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS . 33324LE FINE GENTLEMAN anglais ancien. Nouvelle version (à dire ou à chanter à tous les dîners conservateurs). Un pétard en vers, de huit strophes, quarante-huit vers. -Examinateur, samedi 7 août 1841, p. 500.25LA PROCLAMATION DU QUACK DOCTOR. Un pétard en vers, de neuf strophes, trente-six vers. — Examinateur, samedi 14 août 1841, P, 517.26 SUJETS POUR PEINTRES. D'après Pierre Pindare. Un pétard inversé, soixante-dix lignes. -Examinateur, samedi 21 août 1841,P. 532.27L'HISTOIRE DE L'ALLUMEUR. -Imprimé dans The Pic Nic Papers par diverses mains, édité par Charles Dickens. Avec des illustrations de George Cruikshank. Londres : Henry Colburn.1841. Vol. je. , pp. 1-32. "La pierre philosophale" - l'illustration de Cruikshank à l'histoire de l'allumeur de lampe - forme le frontispice du premier volume. L'histoire est arifacimento, sous forme narrative. de la farce rejetée de The Lamplighter (supra § 12). aux principaux auteurs et journalistes vivants de l'époque. Il a été reproduit in extenso dans le MorningChronicle du jeudi 14 juillet, dans l'Athenæum and Examiner du 16 juillet 1842 et dans d'autres revues importantes. Dickens, et parlé par M. Macready. (48 lignes. ) Sunday Times, 11 décembre 1842 ; Theatrical Journal, samedi 17 décembre 1842 (vol. iii. , p. 407); Magazine mensuel et recueil libéral, janvier 1843, p. 74.Ce Prologue n'a pas été imprimé avec la pièce elle-même, qui avait été publiée l'année précédente (1841), avant qu'elle ne soit montée sur scène. Il apparaît, avec quelques variantes, dans le premier volume des Lettres rassemblées de Charles Dickens (pp . 77-78).334 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. [184230AMERICAN NOTES pour la circulation générale. Par Charles Dickens En deux volumes, post-8vo, pp. xvi. 308 ; vii. 306.Londres : Chapman et Hall, 186, Strand. 1842. La première édition bon marché contenait une nouvelle préface, datée de "Londres, 22 juin 1850."31 Au rédacteur en chef du Times. Lettre datée de " Devonshire Terrace, Sunday, Jan. 15," et signée " Charles Dickens. Spedding), publié dans l'Edinburgh Review de janvier 1843.32LA VIE ET ​​LES AVENTURES DE MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT-hisRelations, Friends, and Enemies. Comprenant toutes ses volontés et ses manières avec un historique de ce qu'il a fait et de ce qu'il n'a pas fait , montrant, en outre, qui a hérité de la plaque familiale, qui est venu pour les cuillères en argent, et qui pour les louches en bois : le tout formant une clé complète à la maison de Chuzzlewit. Edité par Boz. Avec 40 illustrations de H. K. Browne. En vingt parties mensuelles, demy in-8, commençant en janvier 1843 et finissant en juillet 1844, les parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro. Préface datée "Londres, 25 juin 1844." Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1844, pp. xiv.624.La première édition bon marché contenait une nouvelle préface, datée de " Londres, novembre 1849. '33A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE. Être une histoire fantôme de Noël. Par Charles Dickens. Avec des illustrations de John Leech, fcp. 8vo, pp. 166. Londres : Chapman et Hall.1843. La page de titre est en rouge et bleu, et les illustrations pleine page sont en couleur. La préface est datée " décembre 1843. '34A WORD IN SEASON. Par Charles Dickens. Trente-deux lignes de vers en quatre strophes. Imprimé dans The Keepsake pour 1844, édité par la comtesse de Blessington. 8vo. Londres : Long mans, pp. 73-74.1846. ] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKens.3566Lettre au Comité de la Metropolitan Drapers' Association, datée " Devonshire Terrace, 28 mars 1844," et signée Charles Dickens." Imprimée dans The Student andYoung Men's Advocate, a Magazine of Literature, Science,and Art, n° 1 ( nouvelle série). Londres : Aylott et Jones, Paternoster Row, janvier 1845, p. 19.36Lettre de menace à Thomas Hood, d'un ancien homme doux. En faveur de Charles Dickens. Imprimé dans Hood'sMagazine et Comic Miscellany. May, 1844 (vol. I. , pp. 409414).33537Les soirées d'un ouvrier, étant l'occupation de ses maigres loisirs. Par John Overs. Avec une préface relative à l'auteur, par Charles Dickens. Londres : T. C. Newby.1844.38THE CHIMES : a Goblin Story of some Bells that ring an OldYear out and a New Year in. Par Charles Dickens. Illustré par Maclise, Doyle, Leech et Clarkson Stanfield.London : Chapman and Hall, 1845, pp. 175.39 LE CRICKET SUR LE FOYER. Un conte de fées de la maison. ByCharles Dickens. Illustré par Maclise, Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield, Leech et Landseer. Londres : Bradbury andEvans, 1846, pp. 174.CONTRIBUTIONS AU Daily News :•40The British Lion. Une nouvelle chanson, mais une vieille histoire. Signé "Catnach."-Daily News, samedi 24 janvier 1846.4ICrime et éducation . Lettre datée du « mercredi matin, 4 février 1846 » et signée « Charles Dickens. »-Daily News, mercredi 4 février 1846.22336 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKens. [184642L'HYMNE DES TRAVAILLEURS DU WILTSHIRE (Cinq strophes de huit lignes chacune), signé " Charles Dickens."-Daily News, samedi 14 février 1846.43LETTRES SUR LES QUESTIONS SOCIALES. -PEINE CAPITALE.Trois lettres, signées "Charles Dickens." -Nouvelles quotidiennes, lundi 9 mars, vendredi 13 mars et lundi 16 mars 1846.44 PHOTOS D'ITALIE. Par Charles Dickens. The VignetteIllustrations on wood, par Samuel Palmer, pp. 270. Londres : Bradbury et Evans. 1846. La substance de ce volume a paru à l'origine dans le Daily News, de janvier à mars 1846, sous le titre de « Lettres de voyage. Écrites sur la route. Par Charles Dickens. Les lettres étaient au nombre de sept, et parurent aux dates suivantes : "N° 1. Mercredi 21 janvier. N° 2. Lyon, le Rhône et le Gobelin d'Avignon. - Samedi 24 janvier. N° 3. Avignon à Gênes. - Samedi 31 janvier. N° 4. Une retraite à Albaro. - Lundi 9 février. N° 5. Première esquisse de Gênes. Les rues, les boutiques et les maisons. Lundi 16 février. N° 6. À Gênes. -Jeudi 26 février.N° 7. À Gênes, et en dehors. -Lundi 2 mars 45LA BATAILLE DE LA VIE. Une histoire d'amour. Par Charles Dickens.Londres : Bradbury et Evans. 1846, pp. 175 . Illustré par Maclise, Doyle, Leech, et Clarkson Stanfield.46TRAITANTS AVEC LE CABINET DE DOMBEY ET FILS, EN GROS, AU DÉTAIL, ET POUR L'EXPORTATION. Avec quarante illus trations par H. K. Browne. En vingt parties mensuelles, demy8vo,à partir d'octobre 1846, et se terminant en avril 1848, les parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro. La préface est datée "Devonshire Terrace, 24 mars 1848." Londres : Bradburyand Evans, 1848, pp. xvi. 624.1850.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE Dickens. 33747 « Les enfants de l'ivrogne », suite de « La bouteille », en huit planches, de George Cruikshank. — Examinateur, 8 juillet 1848, p. 436.48 Avis de "The Rising Generation", une série de douze dessins sur pierre, par John Leech.-Examiner, 30 décembre 1848, p. 838.49L'HOMME HANTÉ ET LE MARCHÉ DU FANTÔME. Une fantaisie pour Noël. Avec frontispice et titre en bois gravé après John Tenniel, et quatorze autres illustrations de gravure sur bois de Stanfield, Leech, Frank Stone et JohnTenniel, idiot 8vo, pp. 188. Londres : Bradbury et Evans.1848.Les cinq livres de Noël ont été rassemblés en un seul volume en 1852, avec une nouvelle préface, datée de « Londres, septembre 1852. Qu'il n'a jamais voulu publier sous aucun prétexte. Avec quarante illustrations de H. K. Browne. En vingt parties mensuelles, demy 8vo, commençant en mai 1849 et se terminant en novembre 1850, -parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro. Préface datée de « Londres, octobre 1850 », pp. xvi. 624. Londres : Bradbury et Evans. 1850. Dans l'édition "' Charles Dickens ", la préface a été considérablement modifiée et un nouveau paragraphe a été ajouté à la fin. Les annonces originales du livre étaient intitulées : « The Copperfield Survey of the World as it roll. et signé « Charles Dickens. » -Times, mercredi 14 novembre et lundi 19 novembre 1849. Ces deux lettres sur les exécutions publiques sont réimprimées dans la nouvelle édition des Lettres de Charles Dickens (1882), vol. je. , pp. 219-225.338BIBLIOGRAPHYOF DICKENS.[1850CONTRIBUTIONS TO Household Words:52A Preliminary Word. * -Household Words, 30 mars 1850(vol. I. , pp. 1-2).53The Guild of Literature and Art. -Household Words, 10 mai 1851 (vol. iii . , pp. 145-147).54Whole Hogs.-Household Words, 23 août 1851 (vol. iii., pp. 505-507). . -Household Words, 6 septembre 1851 (vol. iii. , pp. 553-557). Il s'agit d'un article conjoint de Charles Dickens et de M. R. H. Horne. M. Horne a écrit la description des travaux du chantier naval, et Dickens des fortifications et des paysages de campagne tout autour. (Voir « Recollections of Contemporaries », annexé aux Lettres d'Elizabeth Barrett Browning adressées à R, H. Horne. Londres : Bentley, 1877, vol. ii . , pp. 271-273. )56Ce que Noël est, à mesure que nous vieillissons. -Imprimé dans le numéro supplémentaire pour Noël 1851, de Household Words†, pp. 1-3.57MR. JOURNAL DE NIGHTINGALE : Une farce, en un acte. Par[ ]. Londres, 1851 , 8vo, pp. 26 (en plus du titre et du feuillet de Dramatis Persona). Bradbury et Evans, imprimeurs, Whitefriars. (Imprimé privé. )Il y a une copie dans la collection Forster à South Kensington.

• La série de Household Words, a WeeklyJournal, dirigée par Charles Dickens, forme dix-neuf volumes de 620 pages chacun, hors titre et index. Le premier numéro est daté du samedi 30 mars 1850, et le 479e et dernier, du samedi 28 mai 1859.

+ Les contributions de Dickens aux autres numéros de Noël sont énumérées ci-dessous. Ce qui précède n'a jamais été réimprimé.IS1853.BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.58À LIRE AU CRÉPUSCULE. Par Charles Dickens Imprimé dans TheKeepsake, édité par Miss Power, pour 1852. Londres : David Bogue. 8vo, pp. 117-131 .59HISTOIRE D'ENFANT D'ANGLETERRE. Par Charles Dickens.339Vol. I. L'Angleterre depuis les temps anciens jusqu'à la mort du roi Jean. 1852, p.xi. 210.Vol. II. L'Angleterre du règne d'Henri III. au règne de Richard III. 1853, p. VIII. 214.Vol. III. L'Angleterre du règne d'Henri VII. à la Révolution de 1688. 1854, pp. viii. 321 .Trois volumes, petit in-8 carré. Londres : Bradbury et Evans, 1852-1854. Frontispices de F. W. Topham.divisé ici en trente-sept chapitres, mais à l'origine en quarante-cinq, qui apparaissaient à intervalles irréguliers dans Household Words; le premier chapitre du numéro du 25 janvier 1851 (vol. ii . p. 409) , et le dernier du numéro du 10 décembre 1853 (vol. viii. p. 360).60BLEAK HOUSE. Avec quarante illustrations de H. K. Browne. Intwenty parties mensuelles, demy 8vo, commençant en mars 1852, et se terminant en septembre 1853, -parties 19 et 20 formant un nombre double. Préface datée "Londres, août 1853", pp. xvi. 624. Londres : Bradbury et Evans. 1853.CONTRIBUTIONS À Household Words (suite) :-—61Trading in Death.-Household Words, 27 novembre 1852(vol. vi. , pp. 241-245).On the State Funeral of the Duke of Wellington.62Fraudes on the Fées.--Household Words, 1er octobre 1853 (vol. viii. , pp. 97-100).Protestation humoristique contre les modifications apportées par George Cruikshank dans le texte de quelques vieux contes de fées familiers illustrés par lui, " comme un moyens de propager les doctrines de l'abstinence totale, " etc.340 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE Dickens. [185463TEMPS DIFFICILES. Pour ces Temps. Par Charles Dickens. Londres : Bradbury et Evans, 1854, p. viii . 352. Publié à l'origine en versements hebdomadaires dans Household Words (vol. ix. ), commençant le 1er avril et se terminant le 12 août 1854.64 Feu M. le juge Talfourd. -Household Words, 25 mars 1854 (vol. ix. , pp. 117-118).65En train jusqu'au Parnasse. -Household Words, 16 juin 1855 (vol. xi. , pp. 477-480).Avis des histoires de Leigh Hunt en vers."Durant la vie de Leigh Hunt, et après la publication de Bleak House,Charles Dickens a écrit un article des plus géniaux sur lui dans Household Words. »-EDMUND OLLIER dans le Daily News, samedi 11 juin 1870. Avec quarante illustrations de H. K. Browne. En vingt parties mensuelles, commençant en décembre 1855 et se terminant en juin 1857, les parties 19 et 20 formant un double numéro. :Bradbury et Evans. 1857.67Curious Misprint in the Edinburgh Review. -Household Words, 1er août 1857 (vol. xvi. , pp. 97-100).Arétort à l'avis de Little Dorrit paru dans l'Edinburgh Review de juillet , 1857, sous le titre de The License of Modern Novelists. Il se rapporte au Circumlocution Office et à Sir Rowland Hill, et à la chute de maisons à Tottenham Court Road, qui, selon le critique, avait suggéré la catastrophe de Little Dorrit.68Vie et Aventures de Nicolas Nickleby. Traduit avec l'autorisation de l'Auteur par P. Lorain. Paris : Hachette, 1857. Contient une adresse de l'auteur anglais au public français, datée de « Tavistock House, 17 janvier 1857 ». 1858 .] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.69Le cas des réformateurs du Fonds littéraire : exposé par Charles W. Dilke, Charles Dickens et John Forster.Londres : 1858, pp. 16.CONTRIBUTIONS À Household Words (conclusion) :34

-

70Une scène nocturne à Londres. -Household Words, January 26,1856 (vol. xiii . , pp. 25-27).71Proposals for a National Jest- Book. -Household Words, Saturday, May 3, 1856 (vol. xiii . , pp. 361-364). Noël, 1856, p. 21.M. Forster ( Life of Dickens, éd. 1876, vol. ii. , p. 468) fait référence et cite une lettre de Charles Dickens au révérend R. H. Davies, de Chelsea, concernant cet hymne. "La lettre en question", écrit M. Davies au présentateur, "était en réponse à une de moi à C. D., le remerciant pour des raisons religieuses pour la publication de l'hymne. Il m'a dit qu'il était très obligé pour ma lettre, et fut d'autant plus content qu'il écrivit lui-même l'hymne. -HouseholdWords, octobre 1857 (vol. XVI. , pp. 313, 337, 361, 385, 409). " Au premier de ces articles, Dickens a contribué jusqu'en haut de la deuxième colonne de la page 316 ; au second, jusqu'à la ligne blanche de la deuxième colonne de la page 340, jusqu'à la troisième, toutes sauf les réflexions de M. Idle (363-365), et toute la quatrième partie, tout le reste étant de M. Wilkie Collins. "-FORSTER.74Personal.-Household Words, 12 juin 1858 (vol. XVII. , p. 601) à propos d'elle.342 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. [185075"PIECES REIMPRIMEES. "-Sous ce titre, trente et un croquis qui parurent pour la première fois de manière anonyme dans Household Words, de 1850 à 1856, furent pour la première fois rassemblés et reconnus dans le huitième volume de l'édition de la bibliothèque des œuvres de Charles Dickens. Londres : Chapman et Hall.1858, pp. Rêve d'enfant d'une étoile.-Avril 6.2. L'écrivain mendiant. -Mai 18.3. Une promenade dans une maison de travail. -Mai 25.4. Le fantôme de l'art. -20.5 juillet. La police détective. -27 juillet, 10.6 août. Trois anecdotes policières. -14.7 septembre. L'histoire d'un pauvre homme d'un brevet . -19.8 octobre. Un arbre de Noël. -21 décembre 1851.9. "Naissances-Mme. Doux d'un fils."-Février 22.10. Un monument de la folie française. -8 mars.II. Bill Sticking. -Mars 22.12. En service avec l'inspecteur Field. -Juin 14.13. Notre point d'eau anglais. -2.14 août. Un vol. -30.15 août. Notre école . -1er octobre 1852.16. Un article plaqué. -24.17 avril. Notre Honorable Ami. -31.18 juillet. Notre sacristie.—28 août 19. Notre alésage. -9.20 octobre. Allongé éveillé. -30.21 octobre. L'histoire du parent pauvre.22. L'histoire de l'enfant.-(Numéro de Noël. )1853.23. À bas la marée. -Février 5.24. Le noble sauvage. -Juin 11.25. L'histoire de l'écolier.26. Nobody's Story.- (Numéro de Noël.)27. Le Long Voyage. —31 décembre 1958.]BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.1854.1855.28. Notre Abreuvoir Français .-Novembre 4.29. Prince Bull: un conte de fées. —17.30 février. En dehors de la ville. -29 septembre 1856.31. Hors saison. -28 juin.Parmi celles-ci figurent les contributions de Dickens aux numéros de Noël de 1850, 1852 et 1853.76Un portefeuille de clochard conservé par un orfèvre anglais lors de ses pérégrinations en Allemagne et en France. Par William Duthie.Dédié, avec permission, à Charles Dickens, Esq. Londres : Darton and Co. , 58 ans, Holborn Hill. 1858, p. VIII. xxxii. 182.343Sur les vingt-huit articles contenus dans ce volume, seize, énumérés par l'auteur dans sa préface, ont paru à l'origine dans Household Words et ont bénéficié de la révision minutieuse et précieuse de Charles Dickens, l'éditeur. Mots. Par W. HenryWills. Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1860, p.vi. 437.[La dédicace est la suivante :-" À L'AUTRE MAIN, dont les touches magistrales ont donné aux Vieilles Feuilles, ici fraîchement cueillies, leurs teintes les plus brillantes, elles sont affectueusement inscrites. "] Des quinze articles suivants, sur trente-sept que contient le volume, des parties ont été interpolées par Charles Dickens.Les dates de leur apparition originale dans Household Words sont ajoutées : 1850.I. Saint Valentin à la Poste. -Mars 30.2. Le cœur de Mid-Londres. - 4.3 mai. Un délire populaire. —1 .4 juin. La vieille dame de Threadneedle Street. -Juillet 6.5. Faux billets de banque ( Chapitre II . ) .—21 septembre 1851.6. Verre plat. -Février 1.7. Spitalfields. -Avril 5.8. Les Protecteurs métropolitains.- 26.9 avril. Epsom.-Juin 7.10. Mon Oncle.- Décembre 6.344 BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. [18521852.11. Une danse curieuse autour d'un arbre curieux. -17.12 janvier. Mandats postaux. —20 mars 13. Un article plaqué. —24 avril 185314. Reçu, un enfant vierge.-Mars 19.15. Idiots.-Juin 4.78A Dernier mot de ménage. -Household Words, No. 479, Saturday, May 28, 1859 ( vol. xix. , p. 620). * (vol. i. , pp. 13-16).80Le forgeron. Une chanson commerciale. Toute l'année, 30 avril 1859 (vol. i. , p. 20) .-66 Composé par M. Dickens, et répété à moi pendant qu'il se promenait. " Lettre du révérend T. B. Lawes, de Rothamsted, St. Alban's, citée dans Forster's Life of Dickens (éd. 1876, vol. ii . , p. 285).81A TALE OF TWO CITIES. In Three Books. Par CharlesDickens. Londres : Chapman et Hall, 193, Piccadilly, 1859, pp. ix. 254.Publié en versements hebdomadaires dans toute l'année, commençant par le premier numéro, le 30 avril 1859 (vol. I. , p. 1) , et se terminant dans le trente et unième, le 26 novembre 1859 ( vol. ii . , p. 95) . Également publié en parties mensuelles, avec des illustrations de H. K. Browne, la première partie portant la date de juin et la dernière de décembre 1859-parties 7 et 8 formant un numéro double, préfacé « Tavistock House, novembre 1859 ».

• Le premier numéro de « All the Year Round, a Weekly Journal conduit par Charles Dickens », porte la date du samedi 30 avril 1859.

1860.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.82HUNTED DOWN. Une histoire en deux parties. —Imprimé dans TheNew York Ledger des 20 et 27 août et du 3 septembre 1859, illustré de sept gravures sur bois. Réimprimé dans All the Year Round, 4 et 11 août 1860 (vol. iii. , pp. 397-400;422-427).83Leigh Hunt. A Remonstrance.-All the Year Round, 24 décembre 1859 (vol. ii. , pp. 206-208). VOYAGEUR NON COMMERCIAL. Par Charles Dickens.Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1861, pp. 264. Contient dix-sept articles réimprimés de All the Year Round. La préface est datée de décembre 1860. Ces dix-sept articles ont paru dans All the Year Round en 1860 comme suit : Vol. II.His General Line of Business.Charter] -28 janvier, pp. 321-326.Wapping Workhouse. -18 février, pp. 392-396.Deux vues d'un théâtre bon marché. -25 février, pp. 416-421. Pauvre Mercantile Jack. -10 mars, pp. 462-466. Rafraîchissements pour voyageurs. -24 mars, pp. 512-516.Voyage à l'étranger. -7 avril, pp. 557-562.- Le naufrage [du RoyalVol. III..La grande cargaison de Tasmanie. -21 avril, p. 37-40.Églises de la ville de Londres.--5 mai, p. 85-89.Quartiers timides. -26 mai, pp. 155-159. Clochards. -16 juin, pp. 230-234.Ville de Dulborough. -30 juin, pp. 274-278.Promenades nocturnes. -21 juillet, pp. 348-352.Chambres. -18 août, pp. 452-456.Histoires d'infirmières. -8 septembre, pp. 517-521. Arcadian London. -29 septembre, p. 588-591 .Vol. IV.Le prisonnier italien. -13 octobre, p. 13-17. ]346BIBLIOGRAPHIEDE Dickens.[186185DE GRANDES ATTENTES. Par Charles Dickens. In ThreeVolumes, pp. 344, 351 , 344. London: Chapman and Hall.1861. Initialement publié en versements hebdomadaires dans All the Year Round, du 1er décembre 1860 ( vol. iv. , p. 169) , au 3 août 1861 (vol. v. , p. 437).86Au rédacteur en chef du Times. Lettre datée de " Gad's-hill, janv. 8,"et signée " Charles Dickens. "-Times, samedi 12 janvier 1861. Fait référence à une version dramatisée de son histoire de Noël, " A Message fromthe Sea, " annoncée pour une représentation sans sa sanction au Britannia Theatre.87L'élection de Finsbury. -Au rédacteur en chef du Daily News.Lettre datée "Newcastle-on-Tyne, 21 novembre" et signée "Charles Dickens."-Daily News, samedi 23 novembre 1861.8866 Le tremblement de terre. -A l'éditeur du Times. Lettre datée de Gad's-hill-place, le 7 octobre" et signée " Charles Dickens. ”—Times, jeudi 8 octobre 1863.89IN MEMORIAM. Par Charles Dickens. -Cornhill Magazine, février 1864 (vol. ix. , pp. 129-132).Un avis commémoratif de Thackeray.90NOTRE AMI MUTUEL. Avec 40 illustrations de MarcusStone. En 20 parties mensuelles, commençant en mai 1864 et se terminant en novembre 1865 - parties 19 et 20 formant un numéro double. En deux tomes. Vol. je. , p. xi . 320. Vol. ii. ,pp. viii. 309. Post-scriptum tenant lieu de préface « daté du « 2 septembre 1865. » Londres : Chapman et Hall.661865.1867.] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. 34791 Légendes et paroles. Par Adelaide Anne Procter. Avec une introduction de Charles Dickens. Londres : Bell et Daldy, 1866. L'introduction occupe onze pages.92Histoire de " Pickwick." Lettre datée " Gad's Hill Place, 28 mars 1866," et signée " Charles Dickens ." -Athenæum, 31 mars 1866 (p. 430); et note datée du "3 avril 1866" et signée "Charles Dickens", corrigeant une erreur verbale dans la lettre telle qu'imprimée. -Athenæum, 7 avril 1866, p. 464.Respectant Seymour et ses illustrations des deux premiers numéros du Pickwick Papers.93 Feu M. Stanfield.-All the Year Round, 1er juin 1867 (vol. xvii., p. 537).94A l'éditeur du Times.Lettre datée de "Gad's Hill Place, sept. 2" et signé "Charles Dickens. " -Times, mercredi 4 septembre 1867. Se référant aux rapports erronés actuels sur sa santé. , et dans l'Illustrated Library Edition (1876), avec quatorze illustrations. Une collection posthume des contributions de Charles Dickens aux numéros de Noël supplémentaires de ses deux revues. Celles-ci étaient les suivantes : —1856.1857.1858.MENAGER Mots.1854. " LES SEPT PAUVRES VOYAGEURS. "-I. Dans la vieille ville de Rochester. 2. L'histoire de Richard Doubledick. 3. La route.1855. " LE HOUX. ".-I. Moi-même. 2. Les bottes. 3. Le projet de loi." L'ÉPAVE DU GOLDEN MARY. "-Le naufrage." LES DANGERS DE CERTAINS PRISONNIERS ANGLAIS. "-I. L'Ile d'Argent - magasin. 2. Les radeaux sur la rivière."UNE MAISON À LOUER. " - Entrer dans la société.348BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS. "LA MAISON HANTÉE. "-1. Les mortels dans la maison.2. The Ghost in Master B.'s Room (et une page à la fin).1860. "UN MESSAGE DE LA MER. "-" Presque tout le premier et tout le second et le dernier chapitre, Le Village, L'Argent et La Restitution: les deux chapitres intermédiaires, mais aussi avec des insertions de sa main, n'étant pas " -FORSTER."1861. " TOM TIDDLER'S Ground. "-1. Ramassant la suie et les cendres.2. Ramassant Miss Kimmeens. 3. Ramassant le Tinker.1862. ' LES BAGAGES DE QUELQU'UN. " -I. Son départ jusqu'à ce qu'il soit appelé.2. Ses bottes. 3. Son colis de papier brun. 4. Sa merveilleuse fin.5. Une partie du chapitre, His Umbrella (non réimprimé) .1863. " MME LIRRIPER'S LODGINGS. "-Le premier et le dernier chapitre.1. Comment Mme Lirriper a mené l'entreprise. 2. Howthe Parlors a ajouté quelques mots.1864. " L'HÉRITAGE DE MME LIRRIPER. " -Le premier et le dernier chapitre.1. Mme Lirriper raconte comment elle a continué et est allée plus loin. Lirriper raconte comment Jemmy a fait le plein.2. Mme." 1865. PRESCRIPTIONS DU DOCTEUR MARIGOLD. "-I. A prendre immédiatement. 2. À prendre à vie. 3. À prendre avec un grain de sel (la partie décrivant un procès pour meurtre).1866. " JONCTION MUGBY. " -I. Frères Barbox. 2. Barbox Brothers and Co. 3. Main Line-The Boy at Mugby. 4. No 1 Branch Line-The Signal- man.1867. « PAS DE DÉFAUT. » - Écrit conjointement avec M. Wilkie Collins, en portions presque égales. Les seules parties fournies exclusivement par Dickens étaient « l'Ouverture » et le « Troisième Acte » ; M. Collins contribuant aux actes premier et quatrième, et écrivant l'ensemble du deuxième. Un drame, en cinq actes et un prologue.Par Charles Dickens et Wilkie Collins. Première représentation au New Adelphi Theatre, Londres, le 26 décembre 1867.New York : Robert M. de Witt, éditeur, n° 33, Rosestreet, pp. VOYAGEUR. Par Charles Dickens.Avec illustrations. Londres Chapman et Hall, 1868.pp. 172.Contient onze nouveaux articles de toute l'année sur les treize énumérés ci-dessous, en plus de ceux publiés dans l'ancienne édition, faisant en tout vingt-huit articles.1868. ] BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE DICKENS.DEUXIÈME SÉRIE DE " LE VOYAGEUR NON COMMERCIAL." Toute l'année. -1863.I. Le courrier de nuit de Calais. -Mai 2.2. Quelques souvenirs de mortalité. -Mai 16.3. Célébrations d'anniversaire. -Juin 6.4. Les Short-Timer. -Juin 20.5. En route pour le Grand Lac Salé. -Juillet 4.6. La Cité des Absents. -18 juillet .7. Une ancienne maison de relais. -1.8 août. Le boeuf bouilli de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. -15.9 août. Chantier naval de Chatham. -29.10 août. En Pays franco-flamand. -12 septembre.II. Médecins-hommes de la civilisation. -26.12 septembre. Hospices de Titbull. -24 octobre 1868.34913. Le Ruffien. -Octobre 10.Nos. 4 et 13 ont été inclus pour la première fois dans l'« Illustrated Library Edition » des Œuvres de Dickens (1875), avec six des sept des Nouveaux échantillons non commerciaux (voir § 101 infrà), faisant partie des trente-six articles98. EXPLICATION DE GEORGE SILVERMAN , en neuf chapitres.Imprimé dans l'Atlantic Monthly (Boston : Ticknor and Fields), janvier, février et mars 1868 (vol. xxi. ,pp. 118-123 ; 145-149 ; 277-283) ; et dans All the Year Round, 1 , 15 et 29 février 1868 (vol. xix. , pp. 180-183; 228-230; 276-281).99HOLIDAY ROMANCE. En quatre parties. Imprimé dans Our YoungFolks, an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls (Boston : Ticknor and Fields), janvier, mars, avril et mai 1868 (vol. iv. , pp. 1-7 ; 129-136 ; 193-200 ; 257-263) , avec quatre illustrations pleine page dessinées par Sir John Gilbert et des illustrations de lettre initiale à chaque partie par G. G. White et S. Eytinge, junior; et dans All the Year Round, 25 janvier, 8 février, 14 mars et 4 avril 1868 ( vol. xix. , pp. 156-159; 204-208; 324-327; 396-399).100 Une dette d'honneur. Post-scriptum aux éditions ultérieures d'AmericanNotes et de Martin Chuzzlewit, datées de « mai 1868 » et signées « Charles Dickens. . L1868IOINEW ÉCHANTILLONS NON COMMERCIAUX. Par Charles Dickens. Printedin Allthe Year Round, New Series.Vol. I.1. À bord du navire. -5 décembre 1868, p. 12-17.2. Une petite étoile à l'Est. -19 décembre 1868, p. 61-66.3. Un petit dîner en une heure.—2 janvier 1869, p. 108 III.4. M. Barlow.-16 janvier 1869, pp. 156-159.5. Sur un rythme amateur. -27 février 1869, p. 300-303.6. * Une page de garde dans une vie. -22 mai 1869, p. 589-591 .Vol. II.7. Plaidoyer pour l'abstinence totale. -5 juin 1869, pp. 13-15 .102Landor's Life. Un avis de M. John Forster's Life of WalterSavage Landor. -Toute l'année, nouvelle série. 24 juillet 1869 (vol. ii. , pp. 181-185) -Atlantic Monthly, Boston, août 1869 (vol. xxiv., pp. 242-244), signé « Charles Dickens. Publié comme indiqué dans son testament par son exécuteur testamentaire littéraire. Londres : Chapman et Hall. 1869, pp. viii.293. L' « Introduction explicative » de Charles Dickens, qui a édité le volume, occupe deux pages.

• N'est inclus dans aucune des éditions collectées.

1892.] BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.105351THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. -With twelve illustrationsby S. L. Fildes, and a portrait engraved on steel from a photo graph taken in 1868. In six monthly parts, commencingApril, 1870, and ending September, 1870, pp. viii. 190. London:Chapman and Hall, 1870.With Prefatory Note dated " 12th August, 1870, " referring to the un finished state in which the story was left at the author's death.106THE PLAYS AND POEMS of Charles DICKENS. With a fewMiscellanies in Prose. Now first Collected . Edited, prefaced,and annotated by Richard Herne Shepherd. In Two Volumes,8vo, pp. 406, 420. London: W. H. Allen and Co., 1882.A few copies were issued on Large Paper, quarto size, uniform with the Edition de Luxe of the Works of Charles Dickens. The book was with drawn from circulation a few weeks after publication (August, 1882).The text of these two volumes comprises a reprint in extenso of the entries in this Bibliography numbered 8 to 12 inclusive, 20, 24 to 27 inclusive, 29,34, 36, 37, 40, 42, 57, 58, 72, 80, 96, 103.i23352 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.LETTERS.107THE LETTERS OF CHARLES DICKENS. Edited by his Sister-inlaw and his Eldest Daughter. In Three Volumes. Vol. i. ,pp. ix. 463; vol. ii. , pp. 464; vol . iii. , pp. 308. London:Chapman and Hall, 1880-82.The first two volumes appeared in November, 1879; the third in November, 1881.108THE LETTERS OF CHARLES DICKENS. Edited by his Sisterin- Law and his Eldest Daughter. Vol. I. ( 1833 to 1855),pp. viii. 400. Vol. II. ( 1855 to 1870), pp. 432. London:Chapman and Hall, 1882.`This new Edition, in two volumes (uniform with the " Charles Dickens "Edition of the Works), was published in May, 1882. It comprehends the substance, redistributed and rearranged, of the three volumes of the Original Edition, a few entire letters and passages of letters being omitted and some added for the first time.109-LETTERS OF CHARLES DICKENS, not included in either of theabove collections, addressed to the following correspondents:ANONYMOUS (London Correspondent of a local paper):Letter dated " 48, Doughty- street, Feb. 16, 1838," and signed"Charles Dickens. "-Printed in Mackenzie's Life ofDickens,pp. 213-214.66ANONYMOUS:Letter dated " Devonshire Terrace, Second January, 1844,"and signed " Charles Dickens. "-Facsimiled in The Autographic Mirror, London, February 20, 1864. No. 1 , p. 7.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS. 1 353ANDERSEN, Hans Christian:66 Three Letters signed " Charles Dickens," and dated, 1. Villades Moulineaux, near Boulogne, Saturday, July 5, 1856.”—2. "Tavistock House, April 3, 1857. " -3. " Gad's- hill- place,Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1857."-Printed in Breve til HansChristian Andersen, udgivne af C. St. A. Bille og NikolajBogh. Kjobenhavn [ Copenhagen], C. A. Reitzels Forlag,1877, pp. 119-125.BAYLIS, Thomas:Letter dated " Gad's- hill-place, Dec. 19, 1861," and signed "Charles Dickens."BRIT. MUS. -Egerton MSS. , 2264, ff. 22, 23.BENNETT, W. C.:Letter dated "Broadstairs, Aug. 29, 1848," and signed"Charles Dickens.”—Testimonials of Intellectual Ability,Letters from distinguished Men of the Time to W. C.Bennett [ Privately printed, 1871), pp. 21-22.BLESSINGTON, Lady:Letter dated " Devonshire Terrace, May 19, 1846.-Printedin The Literary Life and Correspondence ofthe Countess of Blessington, by R. R. Madden. London: Newby, 1855,vol. iii . , p. 106.CAMPBELL, Lord:Letter to Lord Campbell dated " Tavistock House, Thursday,January 27, 1859," and signed " Charles Dickens. " -Printedin Life of John Lord Campbell, consisting of a Selectionfrom his Autobiography, Diary, and Letters, edited by hisdaughter. London: John Murray, 1881 , vol. ii., p. 363.CHORLEY, Henry Fothergill:Two letters, dated " Gad's Hill, July 3, 1867," and " Gad'sHill, Sunday, June 5, 1870. "-Printed in the Autobiography,Memoir, and Letters of Henry Fothergill Chorley, compiledby Henry G. Hewlett. London: Richard Bentley and Son,1873, vol. ii. , pp. 236, 319-320.CLARKE, Mr.::66 To Mr. Clarke, Editor of the Knickerbocker Magazine. Letter dated " Sept. 28, 1841," and signed Charles Dickens. "Printed in Perkins's Life of Dickens, New York, 1870,pp. 139-140.354 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKEens.CLARKE, Charles and Mary Cowden:Charles Dickens and his Letters. -Printed in Recollections of Writers, by Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke. London:Sampson Low and Co. , 1878, pp. 304-340.The letters not included in the recent Collection are dated as follows:1. Devonshire Terrace, April 16, 1848.2. "" July 1 , 1848.Broadstairs, August 5, 1848.""3.4. Sept. 19, 1848 (in facsimile).5. Devonshire Terrace, January 13, 1849.6. Devonshire House , May 7, 1851.8.9.IO.7. Tavistock House, December 28, 1852.November 14, 1853.December 19, 1855.October 10, 1856.II. London, April 23, 1860.12. Friday, January 25, 1861.13. Gad's-hill- place, July 7, 1862.14. London, November 3, 1866.June 17, 1867.16. Gad's Hill, November 2, 1867.""""""CROPPER, Margaret ( Lord Denman's fourth daughter):—Letter dated " Tavistock House, January 21 , 1853," andsigned " Charles Dickens."-Printed in Sir Joseph Arnould'sMemoir of Thomas, first Lord Denman. London: Long mans, 1873, vol . ii. , pp. 333-334.DILKE, Charles Wentworth:Letter dated " Tavistock House, March 16, 1855," and signed"Charles Dickens."-Printed in The Papers of a Critic,selected from the Writings ofthe late Charles WentworthDilke. With a Biographical Sketch by his grandson, SirC. Dilke. London: Murray, 1875, vol . i . , pp. 79-80FELTON, Mr. C. C.:—Letter to Mr. C. C. Felton, dated " Niagara Falls: April 29,1842."-Printed in Yesterdays with Authors, by James T. Fields, p. 132.FIELDS, James T.:Letters to James T. Fields. - Printed in Fields' Yesterdayswith Authors, pp. 154-246.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.The letters not included in the recent Collection are dated as follows:1. Gad's Hill [June or July, 1859]. 13. November, 1867.[July, 1859].July 20, 1859.2.14. New York: January 15, 1868.15. Baltimore: February 9, 1868.16. Boston: February, 1868.17. Sunday: March 8, 1868.18. Albany: March 19, 1868.19. Liverpool: October 30, 1868.20. London: February 15, 1869.21. May 5, 1869.22.23.24.""3. "4. August 6, 1859.5. October, 1862.6. May 2, 1866.7. October 16, 1866.8. June 3, 1867.9. June 13, 1867.10. July 12, 1867.11. July 25, 1867.12. October 3, 1867.""99 "May 19, 1869.May 25, 1869.April 18, 1870.355FRASER, Thomas:66 Letter to Thomas Fraser, Esq., Morning Chronicle Office,signed " Charles Dickens," and dated George andPelican, Newbury, Sunday morning, Nov. 1835 . " -Printedin Yesterdays with Authors, by James T. Fields. London:Sampson Low and Co., 1872, p. 232.Guy, Mr.:Letter dated " Barnum's Hotel (Baltimore) , March 23, 1842 ,"and signed " Charles Dickens."-Printed in Mackenzie'sLife of Dickens, pp. 144-145.HARNESS, Rev. William: —Letter (undated), signed " Charles Dickens. "-Printed in TheLiterary Life of the Rev. William Harness, by the Rev.A. G. L'Estrange. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1871,p. 168.HEAPHY, Thomas:Three Letters to Mr. Thomas Heaphy, signed " Charles Dickens," and dated " Gad's-hill- place, Sunday, Sept. 15 ,"and " Tuesday, Sept. 17;" and " Office of All the Year Round, Friday, Sept. 20, 1861 ." -A Wonderful GhostStory, being Mr. H.'s own Narrative, reprinted from “All the Year Round," October 5, 1861; with letters hithertounpublished ofCharles Dickens to the author respecting it.By Thomas Heaphy. London: Griffith and Farran, 1882,pp. 7-17.356 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF Dickens.HODDER, George:Letter, undated [ 1853], referring to Miss Kelly's benefit, andsigned " C. D. " -Memories of my Time, including Personal Reminiscences ofEminent Men. By George Hodder.London: Tinsley, 1870, p. 153.JAY, John:Letter dated " Devonshire Terrace, London, Sept. 1 , 1842,"and signed " Charles Dickens. "-Printed in the New York Independent, December 25, 1879.JERDAN, William:Letter dated " Doughty-street, Friday morning," and signed "Charles Dickens."-Printed in The Autobiography ofWilliam Jerdan, vol . iv. ( 1853) , pp. 365-366.JERROLD, Douglas:Two Letters, signed “ Charles Dickens,” and dated:1. "Paris: Feb. 14, 1847.”2. Devonshire Terrace: Nov. 17, 1849."66·Printed in The Best of all Good Company. § A Day withCharles Dickens, edited by BlanchardJerrold.LEWIS, Hon. Ellis:Letter dated " Westminster Hotel, New York, January 18,1868," and signed " Charles Dickens.". Printed inMackenzie's Life ofDickens, p. 149.MACKENZIE, R. Shelton:Two Letters ≫ and dated " Broadstairs, Aug. 23, 1841,"Devonshire Terrace, Dec. 10, 1847," and signed " Charles Dickens."-Printed in Mackenzie's Life ofDickens, pp. 174,218-219.MACRAE, David:Extracts from Letters addressed by Charles Dickens in 1861 to Mr. David Macrae. -Printed in Home and Abroad:Sketches and Gleanings, by David Macrae. Glasgow, 1871,pp. 127-128.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.MARRYAT, Frederick:Four Letters, signed " Charles Dickens," and dated " Devonshire Terrace, July 16, 1842," " Devonshire Terrace,January 3," " Broadstairs, Sept. 6, 1843," " Brighton,Monday, March 6, 1848. ”—Printed in Life and Letters ofCaptain Marryat. London: Richard Bentley and Son, ·1872, vol. ii. , pp. 118-119; 143-145; 283-284.357MENKEN, Adah Isaacs:Letter dated " Gad's-hill-place, October 21, 1867," and signed"Charles Dickens. "-Facsimiled in a volume of Poems,entitled Infelicia, by Adah Isaacs Menken, 1868, which is dedicated to Dickens.MILLER, Mrs. Hugh:Letter to Mrs. Hugh Miller, dated " Tavistock House, Thurs day, April 16, 1857," and signed " Charles Dickens."Printed in The Life and Letters ofHugh Miller. By PeterBayne. London, 1871 , vol. ii., p. 484.MOORE, George:Letter, undated ( 1859) , signed “ Charles Dickens.”—Printedin a volume entitled George Moore, Merchant and Philanthropist. By Samuel Smiles. London: Routledge, 1878,p. 217.PHILP, Mr. Franklin:-Letter dated " Baltimore, January 28, 1868," and signed "Charles Dickens." Printed in Mackenzie's Life ofDickens, p. 279.---PLANCHE, J. R.: —Two Letters dated " Tavistock House, Sunday, 7th January,"and " 3rd May, 1855. "-Printed in The Recollections andReflections ofJ. R. Planché. London: Tinsley Brothers,1872, vol. ii. , pp. 158-159.RAWLINSON, Mr. Robert:Letter dated " Tavistock House, January 25, 1854," andsigned " Charles Dickens."-Printed in The Times, Friday,February 6, 1880.358 BIBLIOGRAPHYOF DICKENS.SALA, George Augustus:Letter dated " Tavistock House, Friday, September 19,1856," and signed " Charles Dickens."-Printed in thePreface to Mr. Sala's Essay on Charles Dickens. London:Routledge and Sons [ 1870], pp. ix., x.SEYMOUR, Robert:Letter dated " April, 1836. "-Printed at pp. 7-8 of the Life ofRobert Seymour, prefixed to a Collection of Seymour'sSketches. London: John Camden Hotten [ 1867].SMITH, Arthur:—Letter dated " Tavistock House, May 25, 1858," with a supplementary note, dated " Tavistock House, May 28, 1858,"signed " C. D."-Printed in Mackenzie's Life of Dickens,pp. 248-250.First printed in the New York Tribune, and copied afterwards into some of the English journals. " It had been addressed and given to Mr. Arthur Smith, as an authority for correction of false rumours and scandals, and Mr. Smith had given a copy of it , with like intention, to the Tribune corres pondent in London. Its writer referred to it always afterwards as his violated letter. ' "-FORSTER's Life ofDickens.STONE, Frank:Letter dated " Devonshire Terrace, May 24, 1849," and signed " Charles Dickens. "-Printed in Mackenzie's Life of Dickens, p. 220.TALFOURD, Serjeant:Three Letters dated " Devonshire Terrace, April 27 " ( 1840),"Feb. 16, 1841 ," and " March 22, 1841," and signed "Charles Dickens. " - Printed in Mackenzie's Life of Dickens, pp. 214-215; 216, 217.THACKERAY, W. M.: —Letter dated " Tavistock House, Wednesday, November 24,1858," and signed "Charles Dickens.". - Printed in apamphlet entitled Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Yates, and the Garrick Club, the Correspondence and Facts, stated by Edmund Yates. Printedfor private circulation. 1859, p. 13.THOMPSON, T. J.: —Letter dated " Devonshire Terrace, Thursday morning '[? February , 1840] , and signed " C. D. " -Printed in The Pen: A Journal of Literature ( May 22, 1880) , vol. i. ,pp. 15-16.">BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS. 359THORNBURY, Walter:Letter dated " Gad's- hill-place, Monday, August 5, 1867," andsigned " Charles Dickens."-Printed in Notes and Queries,5th S., vii. , p. 326 (April 28, 1877) .Refers to the series of " Old Stories Re-told, " which Mr. Thornbury was at that time writing for All the Year Round.YOUNG, Charles Mayne:Letter dated " Office of Household Words, July 1 , 1852,” and signed "Charles Dickens." - Printed in A Memoir ofCharles Mayne Young, Tragedian, with Extracts from his Son's Journal. London: Macmillan, 1871, vol. ii. ,pp. 158-159.360 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.ANA.IThe Reception of Mr. Dickens. With a steel engraving,drawn and engraved by A. Halbert from a bust by H.Dexter. -United States Magazine and Democratic Review,April, 1842, pp. 315-320.I*Report of the dinner given to Charles Dickens in Boston,February 1, 1842. Reported by Thomas Gill and WilliamEnglish, reporters of the Morning Post. Most of the speeches revised by their authors. Boston: William Crosby and Co.,1842, pp. 66, including title.2Dickens's American Notes. -Edinburgh Review, January, 1843(vol. lxxvi., pp. 497-522) . Reprinted in Reviews and Dis cussions Literary, Political and Historical, by James Spedding. London: C. Kegan Paul and Co., 1879, pp. 240-276 (with long added Note by the writer).3CHARLES DICKENS, with portrait after a drawing by Miss M.Gillies.-A New Spirit of the Age, edited by R. H. Horne.London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1844, vol. i. , pp. 1-76.4Boz versus Dickens. - Parker's London Magazine, No. II.February, 1845, pp. 122-128. (London: John W. Parker,West Strand. )5The Fictions of Dickens upon Solitary Confinement. -Prisons and Prisoners, by Joseph Adshead. London: Longmanand Co., 1845, PP. 95-121.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.6The People's Portrait Gallery § Charles Dickens. The letter press by William Howitt, with portrait engraved by W. J.Linton, from a picture by Margaret_Gillies.-The People'sJournal, edited by John Saunders. London: 1846, vol. i.,pp. 8-12.7Facts and Figures from Italy. By Don Jeremy Savonarola,Benedictine Monk, addressed during the last two winters toCharles Dickens, Esq. , being an Appendix to his " Pictures."London: Richard Bentley, 1847, pp. 309, besides title and separate leaf of " Notice. "361NOTICE.Having engaged the Father who signs himself " D. J. Savonarola," to enter on this correspondence, it only remains for me to say that these are his Letters.CHARLES DICKENS."Broadstairs, Kent, July 1, 1847.The volume concludes with a "Poetical Epistle from Savonarola to Boz, "dated Genoa, December 14, 1837. This had already appeared in Bentley's Miscellany, January, 1838 , under Dickens's editorship, with the title of ' Poetical Epistle from Father Prout to ' Boz,' " which enables us to assign the authorship of the whole volume to Father Prout,8Notice of the final (double) number (Part xix.-xx. ) of Dombeyand Son.-Printed in The Sun, London, Thursday Evening,April 13, 1848.By Mr. Charles Kent. Dickens was so much pleased with this notice that he wrote a warm letter of thanks, which he desired the Editor to convey to the then unknown anonymous writer. This led to a life-long friendship between the novelist and his reviewer. (See Letters ofCharles Dickens, vol. i. ,pp. 186-188. )9The Living Authors of England, by Thomas Powell. New York, 1849. Pictures of the Living Authors of Britain, by Thomas Powell. London: Partridge and Oakey, 1851.The chapter on Charles Dickens occupies pp. 153-178 of the American,and pp. 88-115 of the English edition. Respecting Mr. Thomas Powell,the writer of this work, see Letters ofCharles Dickens, vol. iii. , p. 112.10 ·Notice of Barnaby Rudge. By Edgar Allan Poe. TheLiterati,some honest opinions about autorial merits and demerits, etc.By Edgar A. Poe. New York, 1850, pp. 464-482.362 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.IIThe Poetical and Prose Remains of Edward Marsh Heavisides.London: Longmans, 1850.Contains (pp. 1-27) five chapters " on the Writings of Charles Dickens. ”12Charles Dickens. Eine Charakteristik von Dr. Julian Schmidt.Leipzig Verlag von Carl B. Lorck, 1852, pp. 74.13Uncle Tom's Cabin, Bleak House, Slavery and Slave Trade.Six articles by Lord Denman, reprinted from the Standard.-London: Longmans, 1853, pp. 51 .14Charles Dickens and his Philosophy. -Discourses on SpecialOccasions and Miscellaneous Papers. By C. Van Santvoord.New York, 1856, pp. 333-359.15Dickens's Bleak House. -Spectator, September 24 Re , 1853.printed in Essays by the late George Brimley. Cambridge:Macmillan and Co., 1858, pp. 289-301 .16IMMORTELLES FROM CHARLES DICKENS. By Ich. London:John Moxon, 28, Maddox-street, Regent-street. 1856, pp.195.17The License of Modern Novelists. -Edinburgh Review, July,1857 (vol. cvi. , pp. 124-156).A notice of Little Dorrit ( in connexion with Charles Reade's Never too late to Mend and Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë) which elicited a retort from the author (vide suprà, p. 340 § 67).18Royal Literary Fund. -A Summary of Facts drawn from theRecords of the Society, and issued by the Committee in answerto allegations contained in a pamphlet entitled " The Case ofthe Reformers of the Literary Fund: stated by Charles W.Dilke, Charles Dickens, and John Forster," together with aReport of the Proceedings at the last Annual Meeting,March 12, 1858 (privately printed), pp. 34.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.19Charles Dickens ( 1858).—Literary Studies, by the late Walter Bagehot. London: Longmans, 1879, vol. ii. , pp. 184-220.20363Our Contemporaries. No. 1.-Charles Dickens.1858, 16m0. , pp. 82.With portrait and facsimile of autograph.London,21Novels and Novelists from Elizabeth to Victoria. By J. CordyJeaffreson London: Hurst and Blackett, 1858. .The notice of Charles Dickens occupies Chapter xv. (pp. 303-334) of the second volume, the frontispiece to which is a portrait of Dickens, engraved by J. H. Baker.22British Novelists and their Styles: being a Critical Sketch ofthe History of British Prose Fiction. By David Masson,M.A. Cambridge: Macmillan and Co. , 1859 .Pages 233-253 are devoted to a consideration of Dickens andThackeray.23Dickens's Dogs; or the Landseer of Fiction. -London Society,an Illustrated Magazine, July, 1863 ( vol. iv. , pp. 48-61 ) .By Mr. Percy Fitzgerald .24Two English Essayists: Charles Lamb and Charles Dickens.By Percy Fitzgerald . Printed in The Afternoon Lectures onLiterature and Art, Second Series. London: Bell and Daldy.1864.The portion of the lecture devoted to Dickens occupies pp. 85-100.25Histoire de la Littérature Anglaise. Par H. Taine. Tom. iv.Les Contemporains. Paris, 1864.Livre v. , chapitre 1. Le Roman: Dickens, pp. 3.69.History of English Literature. By H. A. Taine. Translatedfrom the French by H. Van Laun. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.Vol. iv. chapter 1. " The Novel-Dickens, " 115-162.364 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF Dickens.26The Genius of Dickens. By E. P. Whipple.-Atlantic Monthly,May, 1867 (vol. xix., pp. 546-554).27THE GAD'S Hill Gazette: 1865, etc."A little journal which one of his younger children, now a clever and prosperous barrister, conducted and published. A friend had made him apresent of a boy's printing-press, and his father was glad to encourage this dawning literary taste. The little enterprise was maintained for a very long time, and was a pleasant official record for acquaintances of what went on at Gad's Hill. Some ofthe numbers had a greater and more ' grown up' interest, there being grotesque controversies carried on between the editor's father, who delighted in such an occasion, and some friend, such as the late Mr. Chorley. This gentleman wrote as to some coined grievance— it may have been real-of obstruction in the grounds, I think, over which he had fallen. Our host replied in his most delightful strain. Here, when unofficial, he was ever at his best. "-PERCY FITZGERALD'S Recreations ofaLiterary Man, vol. i . , pp. 165-171 ( where a facsimile of one of the numbers of the little Gazette is given).28The Dickens Controversy. - Printed in the American Publishers'Circular of June 1 , 1867, with letter to Messrs. Ticknor andFields, dated " Gad's-hill-place, April 16, 1867," and signed "Charles Dickens."Reprinted in the form of an Addendum of six pages at the end of Dr. Shelton Mackenzie's Life of Dickens.29Charles Dickens's Use of the Bible. -Temple Bar, September,1869 (vol. xxvii. , pp. , 225-234) .30Charles Dickens. By George Augustus Sala. London: GeorgeRoutledge and Sons [ 1870], pp. x. 144.The first sketch of this essay on the genius and character of Charles Dickens appeared on the day following his death in the Daily Telegraph (June 10, 1870) . It is here amplified to four times its original length.31In Memoriam. (A memorial notice of Charles Dickens, by Sir Arthur Helps.)-Macmillan's Magazine, July, 1870 (vol. xxii. ,pp. 236-240).BIBLIOGRAPHY OF Dickens.32365Charles Dickens. By Alfred Austin. -Temple Bar, July, 1870 (vol. xxix. , pp. 554-562).33Sermon preached by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster, in Westminster Abbey, June 19, 1870, being the Sunday following the funeral of Charles Dickens. London: Mac millan and Co., 1870, pp. 16.34Parables of Fiction: A Memorial Discourse on Charles Dickens.By James Panton Ham. [Delivered in Essex-street_Chapel,Strand, on Sunday, July 3, 1870.] Published by Request.London, Trübner and Co., 1870, pp. 16.35CHARLES DICKENS. THE STORY OF HIS LIFE. With Illustrations and Facsimiles. London: John Camden Hotten[1870] , pp. 367.Compiled by the publisher from materials mainly supplied by Mr. H. T. Taverner.36THE CHARLES DICKENS SALE.-Calalogue of the Collection ofModern Pictures, Water Colour Drawings, and Objects ofArt of the late Charles Dickens, with the whole of the names ofpurchasers and prices realized appended to each lot. Sold byauction by Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods, at theirGreat Rooms, 8, King-street, St. James's-square, on Saturday,July 9, 1870. 4to. Field and Tuer, 50, Leadenhall- street,pp. 11, in wrapper.37Some Memories of Charles Dickens. By J. T. Fields. Atlantic Monthly, August, 1870 (vol. xxvi. , pp. 235-245).38CHARLES DICKENS: A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS.By F. B. PERKINS. New York: G. P. Putnam and Sons,1870, pp. 264 (including title), with portrait and vignette of Gad's Hill."366 BIBLIOGRAPHYOF DICKENS.39Charles Dickens, with Anecdotes and Recollections of his Life.Written and Compiled by William Watkins. London: TheNewsvendor's Publishing Company [ 1870], pp. 64, with wrapper and portrait.40LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. By R. SHELTON MACKENZIE,LL.D., with Personal Recollections and Anecdotes, Lettersnever before published, and uncollected Papers in prose and verse, pp. 484. Philadelphia: J. B. Peterson and Brothers.41Four Months with Charles Dickens, during his first visit toAmerica (in 1842 ) . By his Secretary [ G. W. Putnam].Printed in The Atlantic Monthly, October and November,1870 (vol. xxvi. , pp. 476-482, 591-599) .42Charles Dickens. A Lecture by Professor Ward, delivered inthe Hulme Town Hall, Manchester, November 30, 1870(Science Lectures, Second Series, No. 5 , pp. 236-259) .chester: John Heywood.Man43MODERN MEN By J. OF LETTERS HONESTLY CRITICISED.Hain Friswell. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1870.The chapter on Charles Dickens occupies the first forty-five pages of the book.44A CHRISTMAS MEMORIAL OF CHARLES DICKENS. By A. B. Hume. 1870.""This memorial contains a facsimile of Charles Dickens's Letter to Mr. J. M. Makeham , dated 'June 8, 1870," and an Ode to his memory,written, " says Mr. Forster, " with feeling and spirit. "1645Mr. Dickens's Amateur Theatricals. A Reminiscence. —Macmillan's Magazine, January, 1871 ( vol . xxiii. , pp. 206-215).1111——BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.46Bygone Celebrities. By R. H. Horne, Author of Orion.1. The Guild of Literature and Art at Chatsworth.2. Mr. Nightingale's Diary.-Printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. vi. , N. S.,pp. 247-262; 660-672 (February and May, 1871 ).35747The Best of all Good Company: a Series of Daily Companions,etc., edited by Blanchard Jerrold. Part 1. -A_Day_with CHARLES DICKENS ( large 8vo. , in wrapper, pp. 62).The Introductory leaf is dated " June, 1871." Prefixed to the brochure is a folding-leaf of facsimile of a portion of a manuscript letter addressed to Mr. Blanchard Jerrold by Charles Dickens and containing recollections of his father, Douglas Jerrold , the text of which is included in the new Edition of Dickens's Collected Letters.48Dickens at Gadshill. -Lines, signed C. K. [Charles Kent].Printed in The Athenæum of June 3, 1871 ( p. 687) .49DIALOGUES FROM DICKENS. First and Second Series. 2 vols. ,fcp. 8vo, pp. 260, 335. Arranged by W. Eliot Fette, A.M.Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1870-1871.50PEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHARLES DICKENS'S READINGS.Taken from Life by Kate Field. [ 1868. ] Boston: Loring,pp. 58 (double columns).New and Enlarged Edition, with portrait and illustrations ( Preface dated December 25, 1870). Boston: James R. Osgood and Co. , 1871. London:Trübner and Co. , pp. iv. 152.51CHARLES DICKENS AS A READER. By Charles Kent. London:Chapman and Hall, 1872, pp. vii. 271 , with two facsimiles of pages in the Reading-books.52Mr. Dickens and his Critics.Mr. Dickens as a Reader.Miscellanies, by John Hollingshead. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874, pp. 270-283.24368BIBLIOGRAPHYOF DICKENS.53The Youth of Dickens . -Chambers's Journal, January 13 and20, 1872, pp. 17-21 , 40-45.The Middle Age of Dickens. -Ibid. , February 1 , 1873, pp. 74-79.By Mr. James Payn, the well-known novelist.53*Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. By J. Herbert Stack. Fortnightly Review, January, 1872, pp. 117-120.54Dickens in Relation to Criticism. By George Henry Lewes.- Fortnightly Review, February, 1872, N. S., vol. xi. ,pp. 141-154.-55THE DICKENS DICTIONARY: A Key to the Characters andPrincipal Incidents in the Tales of Charles Dickens. ByGilbert A. Pierce, with additions by William A. Wheeler.Illustrated. Boston James R. Osgood and Co., 1872,pp. xv. 573- London: Chapman and Hall, 1878 (withPreface by Charles Dickens, jun. ) , pp. xvi. 607.56André Joubert.-Charles Dickens, sa vie et ses œuvres. Extraitdu Correspondant. Paris: Charles Douniol et Cie. , Libraires Editeurs, 29, Rue de Tournon, 1872, 8vo. , pp. 23, in wrapper.57A CYCLOPÆDIA OF THE BEST THOUGHTS OF CHARLESDICKENS. Compiled and alphabetically arranged by F. G. de Fontaine, New York: E. J. Hale and Sons, Murraystreet, 1873, pp. 564 (printed in double columns).58Charles Dickens. By Walter Irving. Edinburgh: Maclachlan and Stewart. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., pp. 30,1874.59Bric-a- Brac Series.-Anecdote Biographies of Thackeray andDickens. Edited by Richard Henry Stoddard. —New York:Scribner, Armstrong and Co., 1874.The Biography of Dickens occupies pp. 197-299 of the volume.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS. 36960THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. BY JOHN FORSTER. [InThree Volumes, with portraits, facsimiles, and other illustra tions. ] London: Chapman and Hall, 1872-1874. Vol. i.( 1812-1842 ) , pp. xviii. , 398, published 1872; vol. ii. ( 1842-1852) ,pp. xx. 462, published 1873; vol. iii . ( 1852-1870) , pp. xv. 552,published 1874.Library Edition, Revised. In Two Volumes. London; Chapman andHall, 1876. Vol. i. ( 1812-1847) , pp. xvi . 528; Vol. ii . ( 1847-1870) , pp. xiv.558.61" Our Mutual Friend " in Manuscript. -Scribner's Monthly, ' anIllustrated Magazine, vol. viii. , pp. 472-475 (August, 1874) .—Scribner and Co., New York.250.The MS. of "Our Mutual Friend " was presented by the author, inJanuary, 1866, to Mr. E. S. Dallas, and passed out of his possession into that of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia.62IN AND OUT OF DOORS WITH CHARLES DICKENS. By James T. Fields. Boston: James R. Osgood and Co. , 1876, pp . 170.Reissued from “ Yesterdays with Authors. " London, 1872, pp. 12763DICKENS'S LONDON; or London in the Works of Charles Dickens. By T. Edgar Pemberton. London: SamuelTinsley, 1876, pp. 260.63*Charles Dickens on Bells. By George Delamere Cowan.Belgravia, Third Series ( 1876), vol. viii. (xxviii. ) , pp. 380-387.64Dickens and the Pickwick Papers. -Oliver Twist. - By EdwinP. Whipple.-Atlantic Monthly, August and October, 1876 (vol. xxxviii. pp. 219-224; 474-479).65Darwin, Carlyle, and Dickens, with other Essays. By SamuelDavey. London: James Clarke and Co. , n.d.The essay on Charles Dickens occupies pp. 119-156.370 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.6666 Our Letter, by M. F. Armstrong, with facsimile of a Letter datedGad's-hill- place, Monday, February 10, 1862," and signed "Charles Dickens. "-St. Nicholas: Scribner's IllustratedMagazine for Girls and Boys. New York, May, 1877 (vol.iv. , pp. 438-441 ).The letter itself, with a brief extract from the lengthy narrative preceding it , is reprinted in the Collected Letters of Charles Dickens , vol. ii. , pp.175-176.67Charles Dickens's Manuscripts. —Chambers'sJournal, November10, 1877, pp. 710-712.68Charles Dickens as Dramatist and Poet. By Percy Fitzgerald .-Gentleman's Magazine, January, 1878, pp. 61-77.69The Modern Novel. -Dickens, Bulwer, Thackeray. Essays inBiography and Criticism. By Peter Bayne, M.A. First Series. Boston: Gould and Lincoln , 1857 , pp. 363-392.STUDIES OF ENGLISH AUTHORS. By Peter Bayne, LL.D. No. V. CHARLES DICKENS. -Printed in The LiteraryWorld, March 21 to May 30, 1879.70BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DICKENS,with many curious and interesting particulars relating to his Works. By James Cook. Paisley: J. and J. Cook, Printers and Publishers, 1879, pp. 80. London: F. Kerslake, 1879,with Appendix, pp. 88, in wrapper.71Charles Dickens as a Journalist. By Charles Kent.--Printed in The Journalist, a Monthly Phonographic Magazine ( F.Pitman, 20, Paternoster-row), London, December, 1879 (vol.i. pp. 17-25).72Great Novelists: Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, Lytton. ByJames Crabb Watt. Edinburgh: Macniven and Wallace.1880.The chapter on Dickens occupies pp. 163-212.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF Dickens. 37173IN KENT WITH CHARLES DICKENS. By Thomas Frost.London: Tinsley Brothers. 1880, pp. viii. 312.74A Lost Work of Charles Dickens. By Richard Herne Shep herd.-Printed in The Pen: A Journal of Literature,October, 1880, pp. 311-312.75PHILOSOPHY OF CHARLES DICKENS. By the Hon. AlbertS. G. Canning. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1880,PP. 335.76ABOUT ENGLAND WITH DICKENS. By Alfred Rimmer. WithFifty- eight Illustrations by the Author, Charles A. Vanderhoof,and others. Square 8vo. London: Chatto and Windus,1883, pp. ix. 307.77A SHORT LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS. WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS LETTERS. BY CHARLES H. JONES. (Appleton'sNew Handy- Volume Series. ) New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1880, pp. 260.78Charles Dickens and Rochester. By Robert Langton. With numerous Illustrations from original drawings by the late William Hull and the Author. London: Chapman and Hall,1880, pp. 24.Reprinted, with additions, from the Papers of the Manchester Literary Club (before whom it was read February 16, 1880) , vol. vi. (Manchester,1880) , pp. 148-166.79The Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens. By RobertLangton. Illustrated by the Author. ( In preparation. ) Aspecimen has appeared in The Manchester Quarterly Review.80Charles Dickens as an Editor; Charles Dickens at Home.—Recreations ofa Literary Man. By Percy Fitzgerald. London:Chatto and Windus, 1882, vol. i . , pp. 48-171.The substance of these two papers had already appeared anonymously in The Gentleman's Magazine for June and November, 1881. The second paper is considerably enlarged in the book.372 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.81THE CHARLES DICKENS BIRTHDAY BOOK. Compiled andEdited by his Eldest Daughter. With five Illustrations by his Youngest Daughter. Fcp. 4to. London: Chapman and Hall, 1882.82English Men ofLetters. Edited byJohn Morley.DICKENS. BY ADOLPHUS WILLIAM WARD. London: Macmillan and Co. , 1882, pp.viii. 224.83Charles Dickens. By Mowbray Morris. -Fortnightly Review,December, 1882, pp. 762-779.84In a Catalogue dated April 29, 1882, issued by Messrs. Henry Sotheran and Co., Booksellers, of 36, Piccadilly, the followinginteresting and important collection was offered for sale:DICKENS (C. ) , AUTOGRAPH CORRESPONDENCE: being a seriesof 172 Interesting Letters on personal, literary, business, legal,and other matters, entirely in his handwriting, and extendingfrom an early period (about 1833) to 2nd June, 1870. To which are added some curious documents of a personalcharacter, also in his handwriting. Also 149 autograph lettersto Charles Dickens, from the following eminent persons:William Harrison Ainsworth (6letters ).Lord Ashley.Lady Blessington (2).Lord Brougham.Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) (5) .Robert Browning.George Cattermole (8).Charles Cowden Clarke.Baroness Burdett Coutts ( 10).George Cruikshank (6).Count D'Orsay (2).Dr. Elliotson (4).Albany Fonblanque.J. Forrest (Lord Provost of Edin burgh).W. P. Frith, R.A. Mrs. Gore (2).Captain Basil Hall (16).John Pritt Harley (Comedian) (2).Rev. W. Harness.Col. Sir E. Henderson.Lady Holland (4).Thomas Hood (2).Leigh Hunt.Washington Irving.Lord Jeffrey ( 10).Robert Keeley (Comedian).Walter Savage Landor ( 3).Charles Lever.Lord Lytton.Daniel Maclise, R.A. ( 14).W. C. Macready (13).Macvey Napier (3).Samuel Rogers (3).Sir M. A. Shee.Sydney Smith.Clarkson Stanfield, R.A. (3).Sir T. N. Talfourd (5).C. Hare Townshend (6).Benjamin Webster.Sir David Wilkie, etc.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DICKENS.""The interest of this collection of Dickens's Letters cannot be overrated.Written as most of them were to one of his earliest friends and schoolfellows,who subsequently became his legal adviser, they embrace a number of per sonal matters which could not find admittance into a regular series of pub lished Correspondence. For instance, one of the earliest notes, dated from Bentinck- street, runs thus:-" Dear Tom, Will you transmit me by bearer,until Saturday, the enormous sum of 4s.? . I need not say I'm rather hard up this week.' Another (dated 7th November, 1866) to his solicitor,Mr. F. Ouvry, says: First ascertaining, beyond all reasonable possibility of doubt, that this vagabond's statement that I was drunk in his Theatre is libellous, -fire away.' In one of his letters to the same friend (3rd August,1868) he says: " I am fitting out another son for Australia, and another for Cambridge, and on the whole I am inclined to depart from the text of mydear friend Mrs. Gamp, and say, ' which blest is the man as has not his kiver full of sich. ' In another (10th June, 1865) he gives an account of the disastrous Railway Accident in which he was involved. His negotiations for acquiring additional land (at Gad's Hill ) show him to have been, like Shakespeare in similar circumstances, a good man of business. But Letters of much more importance, and of considerable length, are included. There are letters during his first tour in the United States, dated from Boston, Baltimore,Cincinnati, Niagara, and others from Genoa, etc. One of the most amusing is a long one (occupying 24 quarto pages) detailing his proceedings in taking a Cottage from Mrs. Prannall (not Samuell as printed) for his parents near Plymouth.373""There are also important letters connected with the publication of some of his Works, and his negotiations with the publishers-together with details of the profits, etc. , which have not yet found their way into print. Among these will be found the original letter to Mr. Macrone accepting his offer (with the terms) to publish a novel to be entitled " Gabriel Vardon, the Locksmith of London. '"The collection was arranged in two large volumes quarto, with blank leaves, illustrated by six India proof portraits of Dickens; and bound in morocco super extra, leather joints, gilt edges, in morocco cases.It waspriced £225.85SOME PASSAGES IN THE EARLY LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS.By Hargrave Jennings, Author of " The Rosicrucians," etc.London: George Redway, 12, York-street, Covent Garden.[In Preparation.1ADDISON, his Spectator, 28, 89.Administrative Reform, Dickens'sspeech on, 162-172.Alison, Sir Archibald, 114, 115.American Notes, 22; quoted, 63 note.Arabian Nights, stories in, 91, 280.Arkwright, Sir Richard, 79.Artists' Benevolent Institution, 223225.in Ashley, Lord (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury) , his earnestness works of benevolence, 130.Avanelleda, his second part of Don Quixote, 8.INDEX.""BABBAGE, Mr., his Bridgewater Treatise " referred to, 299.Bacon, quoted, 84.Bell, Mr. Robert, and the Royal Literary Fund, 175-176; 235.Bentley's Miscellany, edited by Dickens, 9.-46Black, Mr. John, of the Morning Chronicle, Dickens's tribute to, 248.Bleak House, 149.Bloomfield, Robert, 79.' Boz, " 3, 96.Bright, John, Dickens's tribute to, 308.Brougham, Lord, 290.Browne, Hablot K. , succeeds Sey mouras theillustrator ofPickwick, 8.Browning, Robert, a poem of his referred to by Dickens, 293.Buckle, Henry Thomas, quoted , 313.Burns, Robert, quoted, 50, 79, 86.CARLYLE, Thomas, quoted, 219; his French Revolution quoted, 304.Castlereagh, Lord, caution of, 130.Cervantes, 73.Christmas Card, A , 27-29; 151.Circumlocution Office, " the, 312.Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice, 290.Cocker's Arithmetic, 169.Collins, Mr. Wilkie, 226.Commercial Travellers, 154-157.Copyright, International, Dickens's letter on, 19-21; 66.Coventry, 222.Crabbe, George, 79.Cruikshank, George, his illustrations to Sketches by Boz, 6; to Oliver Twist and Grimaldi, 9.Cunningham, Peter, his Handbook of London, 160.66DANA, R. H. , his Two Years before the Mast, 296.DICKENS, CHARLES, his birth and parentage, I; his early educationand school - days, 2-3; commences his career as a reporter, 4; his earliest " Sketches, " 5; as a drama tist, 6-7; his Sunday under ThreeHeads, 7-8; his Pickwick Papers,8; edits Bentley's Miscellany, 9;edits the Memoirs of Grimaldi,9-10; his Nicholas Nickleby, 10;Humphrey's Clock, 11-16; his first visit to America, 16, 19; banquet to, at Edinburgh, 16-19; his letter376 INDEX.on International Copyright, 19-21;his American Notes, 22; Martin Chuzzlewit, 22-23; his Preface to John Overs's Evenings of a Work ing Man, 24-27; his Christmas stories, 27-29; his Hard Times,30-31; his use of the Bible, 32 40; his public readings, 40—41;his whimsical anecdotes, 41-43;on the earthquake of October, 1853,43-44; his enthusiasm of humanity,' 44; his Edwin Drood, 45;death, and burial in Westminster Abbey, ib.Dickens, John, father of Charles Dickens, 1 , 2, 4, 5.Dufferin , Lord, speech of, at a ban quet to Dickens at Liverpool, 287,288.EASTLAKE, Sir Charles, 144, 147, 148.Edinburgh, banquet to Dickens at,49; description of the old town of,190; reading of Christmas Carolat,195.Edwin Drood, 45.Elliotson, Dr. , 26–27.FERGUSON, 79.Field, Kate, on the American portraits in Martin Chuzzlewit, 22-23.Forster, John, his Life of Dickens,quoted, 2, 4; his sonnet to Dickens,quoted, 44.Franklin, Benjamin, 79, 306.GARDENING, Dickens's speeches on,131-137.Gil Blas, 118.Giles, Mr. William, Dickens's school master, 2, 3.Gladstone, W. E. , his speech at the Academy Banquet of 1870, 322 323.Goldsmith, Oliver, 71, 160.Grant, Sir Francis, President of theRoyal Academy, 322, 323.Greeley, Horace, presides at a fare well dinner to Dickens in New York, 279.Grimaldi, Joseph, Memoirs of, edited by Dickens, 9.HARLEY, John Pritt, performs in Dickens's three dramatic pieces at the St. James's Theatre, 7.Hartford, 63.Hazlitt, William, on actors, 100;quoted, 114."6Hewett, Captain, testimonial to, 55 56.Hoskyns, Chandos Wren (author of Chronicles of a Clay Farm ") ,takes the chair at a banquet to Dickens at Coventry, 221; Dickens's tribute to, 222-223.Houghton, Lord, his charge against Dickens, 290, 291.Hullah, John, composes the musicfor Dickens's Village Coquettes, 7.INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT,Dickens's letter on, 19-21; 66.Irving, Washington, presides at abanquet to Dickens, 19; 68; his letter to Dickens, 70; Dickens's tribute to, 71-73.JEFFREY, Lord, on Dickens's Christ mas Carol, 27-28.Johnson, Dr. , quoted, 236, 245.KEAN, Charles, Dickens's tribute to,208-209.LAMB, Charles, on " Dream Children, " 194; quoted, 276.Layard, A. H., 162, 171.Longfellow, H. W. , his Village Black smith quoted, 216.Longley, Dr. , bishop of Ripon, his speech on Sanitary Reform, 128.Lytton, Sir Edward Bulwer (after wards Lord Lytton) , presides at the Macready Banquet, 117; Dickens's tribute to, 120-121; his Lady of Lyons quoted, 215; entertains the Guild of Literature and Art at Kneb worth, 250-251; presides at abanquet to Dickens previous to his departure on his second visitINDEX.to America, 273; 290; his Lady of Lyons quoted, 300.MACE, James, 263.Maclise, Daniel, death of, 324; Dic kens's tribute to, ib.Macready, Dickens's speech at the banquet to, 117–121.Martin Chuzzlewit, 22, 23.Master Humphrey's Clock, II—16;61.Mayhew, Horace, 160.Mendelssohn, 142.Milnes, Richard Monckton, 291. See also HOUGHTON, Lord.Moore, George, Dickens's tribute to,159.Moore, Thomas, quoted, 175.More, Sir Thomas, 79.Motley, John Lothrop, 321.Nicholas Nickleby, 10.North, Christopher, presides at Edin burgh banquet to Dickens, 17; his speech on the occasion, 17-19; 49;his health proposed by Dickens,52, 53; remark to Dickens, 287.Oliver Twist, 9, 23.Overs, John, his Evenings ofa Work ing Man, 24-27.PALMERSTON, Lord, Dickens's apos trophe to, 172.Paxton, Sir Joseph, 122, 131, 132 133, 160.Pepys, Samuel, his Diary quoted, 165 -166; 257-258.Phillips, Sir Benjamin, Lord Mayor of London, 259-261; 320.Phiz, see BROWNE, Hablot K. Printers' Readers, 271-272.RAILWAY BENEVOLENT SOCIETY,265-270.Raleigh, Sir Walter, in the Tower, 79.Reuter, Julius, 238.Rip van Winkle, 72, 178.Rogers, Henry, his contributions to the Edinburgh Review, 144.Rowing Clubs, 262, 263.377Ruskin, John, on Dickens's Hard Times, 30-31.Russell, Lord John ( afterwards Earl Russell), Dickens's tribute to, 186;290.Russell, W. H., his health proposed by Dickens, 249.SANDFORD, Archdeacon, 140.Sanitary Reform, Dickens's speech on, 127-130.Scott, Sir Walter, 66-67.Seymour, Robert, his illustrations tothe Pickwick Papers, 8; his death ,ib.Shakespeare, quoted, 54; 60; 65,95, 96; 98; 114, 119; 123; 166;171; 210, 230, 232, 233; 274, 308,312.Sheffield cutlery, 173.Sketches by Boz, 5, 6.Smith, Albert, his Ascent of Mont Blanc, 160.Smith, Sydney, on "the foppery of universality," 307-308.Southey, Robert, his poem of TheHolly Tree, quoted by Dickens,115.Sparks, Timothy, pseudonym of Dickens, 7.Spectator, The, 28.Stanfield, Clarkson, his picture of " The Victory, " 147-148.Stirling, Mrs. , Dickens's tribute to,258.Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, over hears some private conversation of Dickens, 150.Strange Gentleman, The, a farce by Dickens, performed at the St. James's Theatre, 6-7.Sunday under Three Heads, 8.TENNYSON, Alfred, quoted, 88; 132;136.Thackeray, W. M. , on Dickens's Christmas Carol, 28-29; presides at a dinner of the Theatrical Fund,197; Dickens's tribute to hiswritings, 199; at Academy Pan quet of 1858, 202.378INDEX.VALENTINE'S DAY, 252-253 Village Coquettes, The, an opera, by Dickens, performed at the St.James's Theatre, 7.WALKINGHAME, his Tutor's Assistant, 169.Ward, A. W., his Life of Dickens,quoted, 3 , note.Ward, E. M., his picture of " CharlotteCorday going to Execution, " 142.Webster, Benjamin, 231.Westminster Abbey, grave of Dickens in, 45.Wilkie, Sir David, death of, 53-547 his Spanish monk, 324.Wilks, Thomas Egerton, and Gri maldi's Life, 9.Wilson, Professor, see NORTH, Chris topher.Wordsworth, William, sonnet of,alluded to by Dickens, 182.THE END.BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD AND LONDON.

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