The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-16 00:00:00

Mr. Charles Dictens's Readings.

(From the Daily News.)
Readings by Mr. Charles Dickens are now looked
'or as a matter of course at this season of the year,

and were they not forthcoming there is no doubt
that a large section of the public would be grievously
disappointed. For it cannot be denied that there is
a strange fascination in hearing an author give dra-
matic life and form to his own creations, and the fas-
cination is certainly not diminished when the author
occupies such a high position in general favour as
Mr. Charles Dickens. " Mugby Junction," from
which his selections were made
last night at
St. James's-hall, is but a minor contribution to
the literature of the Christmas season, but it
is the latest production to which his name
is appended,
it is fresh in the recollection of
the public, and it is still the subject of com-
ment and of conversation in the domestic circle. It
was sure, therefore, to excite interest, and to be
listened to with as much attention and as keen a
sympathy as the author's most popular works could
have aroused. Mr. Dickens divides his reading
into two parts. The first includes the chapters in
" Mugby Junction" headed
" Barbox Brothers" and
" Barbox Brothers and Co.', The second consists

merely of the narrative in which the experiences of
the Boy at Mugby are related. To say that Mr,

Dickens reads these productions is, however, to con•
vey a very imperfect idea of the interpretation they
receive at his hands. It would be more to the
purpose to say that he recites them with drama-
tic intention and in a dramatic spirit. Nay, so
careful is he that nothing shall be wanting to
give them full effeet, that he learns every word
beforehand, and seems to regard his book merely as
a resource only to be appealed to
should memory
fail. He is thus enabled to impart to his embodi-
ments of character the facial expression and the
gestures which give them a more distinct indivi-
duality and a more vital significance. The power
of doing this he evidently possesses in such abun-
dance that had he not been a popular author there
can be but little doubt he would have chosen the
stage for his profession and become one of its
brightest illustrations. In his reading of " Barbox
Brothers," the character which stood out con-
spicuous from the rest was unquestionably
the honest, simple-hearted " Lamps" of Mugby
Junction. As in his literary portrayals so in his
dramatic, Mr. Dickens is thoroughly at home with
eccentricity in humble life. " Lamps, " with his
poetical tendencies, his cheerful philosophy, and his
tendency when agitated to give himself a " rounder,"
that is, to rub his face with his oily handkerchief,
was brought so to speak visibly before the audience.
Every little feature which, the author had delineated
was reproduced by the reader, and had Mr. Dickens
put on fustian and really greased his face, the
portrait could scarcely have been more complete.
rhe commencement of the second division of the
first narrative, where Barbox Brothers holds the
dialogue with himself at the inn window and
recalls the experiences of his past life, was
given with much impressiveness, and the innocent
prattle of the lost child Polly was rendered with
admirable effect. All were able to appreciate the
concluding portion of the entertainment " The
Boy at Mugby." This was given with a distinct-
ness of utterance and a breadth of humour which
directly appealed to every one present. As sen-
tence followed sentence, laughter followed laughter,
the whole room joining so heartily and with such
good temper in the merriment that the truth
1 1
underlying the Mugby Boy's rather highly seasoned
satire obviously met with general recognition.

Mr. Charle(sF7D.omicekheenjsiorning
gave last e'rening at St.
James's Hall a public reading of some choi,c,emsneglebcy-
tions from his latest Christmas
entertainment,
people
regard story,
J unction." Notwithstanding the extreme severity
of the frost which, as the managers have found to
:tell
o firesidehai i w aa
ss
theirt h n cost,
pleasantestmakes
place ma manyyf
crowded to excess. The peculiar attractiveness of
a auut
r contributed
ergive
used
vti
the occasion accounted for the
Apart from the not unpardonable feeling of hero
worship which is gratified by the mere sight of a man
of the first celebrity, whose genius
to the sum of intellectual happiness there •
, is a
manifest
interpretation
t
advantage ino
ilisworks. hearing
n h
orks. hasTa nr
ee h
d to
own
say that the critics often mistook his pictures, attri-
buting to them a meaning he had never intended,
and finding in them more than he had ever put into
them. When painter or author undertakes to be
the exponent of his own creations this unfortunate
l b
writing
the man
it,
misconception of purpose is out of the question. It
is both pleasant and profitable to hear a good
story to
quali-
fied to understand it. He best knows what he
meant in d
of all others r
presumingthe best
that h
has dramatic utterance and histrionic power,
with both of which Mr. Dickens is largely
gifted, he can always give the true local colour to
i the dialogue, and in every case present faithful por-
traits of his ideal personages. He can impart to
them the very form and aspect with which he de-
sires them to be invested in the imagination of his
readers. All this Mr. Dickens does with excellent
effect in his reading of "Mugby Junction." He
colheavrearnlytearsdaopittshheisstovoryic, and, hdaving
manner
a parental fami-
liarity with his book, he is under no neeessity to
keep his gaze fixed continuously upon the page, and
to the various
is therefore free to enforce the text with suitable ac-
tion and appropriate play of features. Mr. Dickens
has his story off by heart, and so seldom refers
to the volume before him that his performance is
not so much a " reading"
as a spirited recitation
richly illustrated with dramatic sketches. His viva
voce description of " Barbox Brothers," of the
scenes that eccentric traveller visited, and of the
various personages whom he encountered on his
travels, especially " Lamps," his daughter, and the
exposeprecocious Polly, is exceedingly life-like and
characteristic. The Mugby Boy's slashing
of the railway refreshment system was keenly
relished by the audience, not only on account of ita
abundant truth and humour, but as affording full
scope for the display of Mr. Dickens's comic powers
and his surprising diversity of facial expression.
On Tuesday, the 29th inst., the reading will be
repeated. .

BENEVOLENT BARBARITY.—WC are glad to hear
that, thanks to the beneficence of the rich, a great many
poor people have been thoroughly coaled during the re-
cent inclement weather.—Fun.