The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-06-25 00:00:00

PROFESSOR JOWETT, ILA., ON CHARLES DICKENS.

. .
At the special Sunday evening service at West-
minster Abbey, on Sunday evening, the Rev. B.
Jowett, Professor of Greek at Oxford, alluded as
follows to the death of Mr. Charlie Dickens. After
reftrriag to men of genius who had previously de-
parted, the rev, gentleman proceeded:—
• " . . _ .

I have already detained you too long, and yet I do not
like to concla,!e without saying one word more—that word
which has be en in the hearts and on the tongues of most of
as during the past week. We know that we cannot leave the
grave of adeparted friend without taking a last look, and we
like to think of the rays of the setting sun upon his resting-
place. Ile whom we now mourn was the friend of mankind,
a philanthropiat in the true sense, the friend of youth,
the friend of the poor, the enemy of every form if mean.
s and epprcssion. lam not going to attempt to draw
a portrait of him. Sten of genius are different from
what we suppose them to ha: they have greater pleasue.
and greater pains, greater affection., and greater tempta.
tions than the generality of mankind, and they c at never
be altogether understood by their fellow men. We do net
wish to Intrude upon them, or analyse their lives and cha-
racters. They are eltraorollnary persons, and we cannot pre-
stribe to them what they should be. But we feel that alight
has gone out, the world is darker to as, when they depart.
There are so very few of them that we cannot afford to lose
them one by one, 81141 we look vainly round for others who
may supply their places. And he whose loss we now mourn
occupied a greater space than any other writer in the minds
of Englishmen during the last lib years. We read him,
talked about him, acted him ; we laughed with him, we
were roused by him to a consciousness of the misery
of others, and to a pathetic interest In Marian
life. The workhouse child, the cripple, the half.
clothed and half-starved inhabitant of a debtor's prison
found a way to his heart, and, through the exertions I f his
genius, to our hearts also. Works of fiction would be in-
tolerable If they attempted to be sermon, directly to instruct
us but indirectly they are great instructors of this w.
and we can hardly exaggerate the debt of gratitude which is
due to a writer who has led us to sympathize with this,
good, true, sincere, honest Eaglish characters of ordinary
life, and to laugh at the egotitna, the hypocrisy, the Ulm re-

s,” ctability of religious professors and others. o another
great humorist who lies In this church the words have been
applied that the gaiety t I nations was eclipsed by his death.
But of him who has been recently taken I would rather say,
in humbler language, that no one was ever so much beloved
or so much mourned. Men seem to have lost not a great
writer only, but one whom they had personally known. Aid
so we bid him farewell.

In the mama of a speech made by Mr. MondeDa,
M.P., at Sheffi4l, on Monday, that gentleman said :
--
"I was dining with a distinguished artist a few days ago,
and he said to roe, "A •hort time acrn I painted the portrait
of Charles Dickens. It was art angel that I &load s.t in his
room whits, he was at work, for he was a m ,st painntaking,
in .nstrious, and methodical man, and nothing could divert
hun from the regularity of his habits. He sat for hours,
again, and again, and again, and he wrote, as it seemed to
me, almost with anguish. I looked in his face, and watched
the anxiety and care, and the blotting out and re-writiog of
its work. I was astonished to find how much he owed to
his indomitable perseverance."

The sale of Mr. Charles Dickens's pictures, draw-
ings, and olij- cts of art, to be held at the rooms of
Moser. Chriatie and Manson, on Saturday, July 9th,
will command a special interest, as many of the finest
works were presents to the lamented author by the
artiste. Among the pictures is the celebrated portrait
of Mr. Dickens by the late Daniel Maclise, MA.,
painted in 1939; Dotheboys Hall," by T. Webster,
RA. ; ' Dolly Varden " and 'Kate Nickleby " by W.
P. Frith, R. ; "Pickwick and Mrs. Barden "by C.
Leslie, RA. ; three splendid works by Clarkson; Stan-
field illustrating, " rhe Fnaen Deep;" a portraitof Mr.
Dickens in "Used Up," by A. Egg, A.R. A. ; "Tilda
Price" by Frank Stone, A.R.A. ; "The Novel" and
"The Play" by R. Hannah; "Miss F.'s Aunt" by
W. Gale, &c. The draw logs include "The Britannia,"
the vesael in which Mr. Dickens first went to America,
by C. Stanfield, R A. ; 'Little Nell's Home," and
"Little Nell'e Grave," by G. Cattermole ; "Little
Nell and her Grandfather" and " Barnaby Rags and
his Mother," by F. W. Tophani ; an illustration to
"The Cotter's Saturday Night," by Sir David Wilkie,
RA., &c. The "Silver Pickwick Ladies," with cha-
t alters from the work presented by the publishers,
and a splendid collection of bronzes, old Nankin blue
and white, and richly enamelled Pekin porcelain,
Parisian candelabra, and other decorative objects will
be included in the sale. The collection will be on

imbue view for Oise days preceding the sale, and will
doubtless prove very attractive.