The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-11 00:00:00

them, have enjoyed an amount of artistic delight
and enjoyment which, perhaps, it is given to few
men to know. In this task, and in every
other I have ever undertaken as a faithful servant of
the public, always imbued with a sense of duty to them,
and always striving to do his best, I have .been
uniformly cheered by the readiest response, the most
generous sympathy, and the most stimulating support.
Nevertheless, I have thought it well at the full flood-tide
of your favour to retire upon those older associations
between us which date from much further back than
these, and henceforth to devote myself exclusively to the
art that first brought us together. Ladies and gentlemen,
in but two short weeks from this time I hope that you
may enter, in your own homes, on a new series of read-
ings at which my assistance will be indispensable ; but
from these garish lights I vanish now for evermore, with
one heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and affectionate fare-
well."

That farewell has now been spoken to a wider circle,
and throughout all England and America there will be
but one unmixed sentiment of regret at the mournful in-
telligence thus unexpectedly communicated.
Mr. Dickens married early in life the daughter• of Mr.
George Hogarth, who was for some years the musical critic
of the Daily News. By this lady, who survives him, he had
several children. Of two daughters, one is unmarried;
the other is the wife of Mr. Charles Collins, the son of
the celebrated painter, and the brother of Mr. Wilkie
Collins, and himself an author and artist of ability. Mr.
Dickens's eldest son, Mr. Charles Dickens, has been for
some time the acting editor of All the Year Round;
another son is an officer in the army ; two others are in
Australia ; and a fifth, is a student in Trinity-hall,
Cambridge.

LATER PARTICULARS.
[CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM]

Some particulars are supplied to us of the circumstances
surrounding the death of Mr. Charles Dickens. He was
at Rochester on Tuesday the 7th inst ; on Wednesday he
was employed at his literary labours until dinner time.
When at dinner he was seized with a violent pain in the
head, and fell down becoming totally unconscious.
He was placed on a sofa in the dining-room
as it was not considered advisable to remove him upstairs.
Mr. S. Steele, of Strood, his local medical adviser was
sent for, and found him labouring under a severe form of
apoplexy. Stertorous breathing had taken place, and the
extremities very soon became cold. Mr. Steele remained
with him until near midnight, when Mr. F. Carr Beard,
surgeon, of Welbeck-street, London, an old personal
friend of Mr. Dickens, arrived with Mrs. Collins, and Miss
Dickens, daughter of the great novelist. Mr. Beard
immediately consulted with Mr. Steele, but they hid
little hope. Mr. Dickens was still unconscious and
remained in that state up to the time of his death. Mr.
Beard remained with him all night. Dr. J. Russell
Reynolds, the eminent physician of Gro venor-
street, was telegraphed for, and arrived on Thursday
afternoon. He agreed with Messrs. Beard and
Steele, in considering the case a hopeless one from the
first. The death took place at a quarter past six. The
deceased was well on the Wednesday, and wrote a great
deal during the day. He had lately had no premonitory
symptoms of an affection of the brain. He had not been
since his indisposition, about twelve months since, arising
from the fatigue of travelling. A post-mortem examination
is to be made.

THE QUEEN AND MR. CHARLES DICKENS.
[CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.]

Colonel Ponsonby has, on behalf of the Queen, sent a
telegram from Balmoral to Mr. Arthur Helps, Clerk to
the Privy Council, with respect to the lamented death of
Mr. Charles Dickens. Her Majesty commands Colonel
Ponsonby to express her deepest regret at the sad news.

THE CHARITY CHILDREN AT ST. PAUL'S
CATHEDRAL.

On Thursday afternoon, an interesting gathering was
held under the venerable old dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.
-The charity children held their usual annual festival, and
nearly 5,000 children assembled, besides a vast con-
course of visitors, including the Lord Mayor and
aldermen, the cathedral body being represented by
the Dean and Canon Melville. The service commenced
at twelve o'clock by the children singing the old
metrical version of the 100th Psalm, accompanied by the
great organ in the south bay, also by two trumpets, two
cornets, and a pair of kettle drums. The prayers were
intoned by the Rev. J. H. Coward, M.A., and the lessons
were read by the Rev. J. V. Povah, 8.D., bothgentlemen
minor canons of the cathedral. The psalms for the day
were sung by the choir, which was augmented by voices
from the Chapel Royal, St. James's, St. George's chapel,
Windsor, Westminster Abbey, and other places, the
children joining in the Glorias at the end of each
psalm. "It is not an easy thing, says the Post, for those
who were not present to realise the effect of the multitude
of children's voices singing with one accord such phrases
as ' God save the King," and ' May the King live for
ever,' to the sublimely simple strain to which Handel
has set these words, or to imagine the awful grandeur
produced by a body of voices in unison, for though
many of the peculiarities of local intonation and
pronunciation were doubtless to be distinguished,
yet the combination of sound was too magnificent
to allow the thought that arose c-mcerning details to hold
place:for a moment. The Hallelujah Chorus, with all its
great effects for a limited and educated choir, rarely
brings about such a result as that obtained at these gather-
ings, and the chorales never seem to be so full of beauty
as when emitted from the 5,000 throats of these poor
and happy children. The sight, too, is one that could
not possibly be obtained under any other circumstance,
or in any other place. The noble proportions
of the majestic building are better understood after a
sight of the little ones ranged in their galleries round the
area of the dome. The quaint and Old World character
of the headdresses worn by the girls, speaking of the
fashions of a bygone day ; the various colours of the
uniforms, relievedby the different hue of the ribbons, make
the children appear, not like the hackneyed simile of a
paterre of flowers, but like a soil cleared for cultivation,
with a few obstinate weeds chewing themselves in their
most attractive form ; and when, during certain portions
of the service, the boys bow their heads, or the girls raise
their mitten or white linen covered arms to their
faces by one consent at a given signal, the sight is
like the shadow of a cloud passing over the surface
of a party-coloured ground, with here and there a streak
of sunshine seen as it were through a rent in the cloud,
so that, with the singing and the spectacle, the meet-
ing of the charity children at St. Nulls is a sight as
affecting as it is unique. For several months before the
service takes place the children of the various schools are
trained in sections, under the immediate super-
intendence of Mr. James Shoubridge, vicar-
choral of the cathedral, se that the mere direc-
tion of the large body of voices undertaken by that
gentleman in the cathedral—where, mounted on a high
pulpit and in his surplice, he guides the voices by the
motion of his arm—represents but a very small portion of
the work necessary to the production of so beautiful and
one-minded an effect as that heard on Thursday ; and as
the singing was more than usually successful, and with
less variation and wavering from the time of the organ
accompaniment, it is only reasonable to conclude that
more than ordinary pains have been taken to bring about
such a success. The sermon, which on this occasion is
generally a short one, was delivered by the Right
Rev. the Bishop of Worcester, and the collections made
at the doors amounted to a considerable sum, but one
that was somewhat below the usual average. The
occasion was unusually interesting, as it is rumoured
that it is the last meeting of the sort that will be allowed
to take place in the cathedral, some colour being given
to the rumour from the fact of the more recently
appointed and influential members of the chapter being
absent ; but whether the rumour be correct or not, it is
to be hoped that the change will not be made after the
manner that many of the recent alterations at the cathedral
have been effected, and that no change will be instituted.
for the mere sake of change. If the meeting takes place
another year, it may be thought desirable to have the
children taught to sing the ancient plain song of the re-
sponses, instead of Tallis's added melody; the effect would
be more consistent, and would, besides, be easier for them
to sing ; and, again, as the service takes place after twelve
o'clock, it has perhaps escaped the attention of the Society
of Patrons that the morning prayers and lessons are less
appropriate than those belonging to the evening service
under those circumstances.

A. great meeting of Nonconformists on the Govern-
ment Education Bill is to be held at Exeter Hall on
Monday next, under the presidency of Mr. M'Arthur,
M.P.

SIR JAMES VALLENTIN'S COLLECTION OF OB-
JECTS OF ART, JEWELS, AND PLATE.—The valuable col-
lection of ancient silver and silver-gilt plate, objects of
art, and jewellery of the late Sir James VaLlentin, Sheriff
of London, has been finally dispersed at the rooms of
Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods, in King-street, St.
James's. Among the more valuable objects included in
the last day's sale were the following jewels :—A bra-
Rant flower pattern brooch, with pendants ; a gold brace*
with black enamel ornaments and brilliant centre • la
brooch, pendant, and pair of earrings to match-134.
A fine old pendant, formed as a Cupid, beautify
modelled in gold, partly enamelled, and set with rubs
and table diamonds-74gs. A kneeling figure of an angel,
set with rubies and diamonds-56gs. A pair of large gold
pendants, set with emeralds ; a pair of earrings to match,
with cut emerald drops ; a cross formed of large emeraldk,
the back enamelled in colours ; and an enamelled gold
necklace, with cross-66gs. A splendid single-stone bra.-
liant ring, in richly-enamelled gold setting, weighing ¢i
carats—all, The whole produced upwards of £6,000.