The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-16 00:00:00

CHARLES DICIMVS AT BOSTON.

A Special Telegram, under date Boston, Pecell,l.;
ber 2, 1867, 11.30 o'clock p.m., to the New 31,.
Herald, thus relates the first appearance of
Dickens in the Tremont Temple at Boston, and t'
complete success of his readings :
Mr. Dickens's first reading took place this even'
ing at Tremont Temple, according to announcesc
ruent. It was a success in every possible resPeclo
pecuniarly, artistically, and fashionably.
weather was just stormy and unpleasant enctie,
out of doors to make almost any interior seem to
liciously liciously cosey, yet it was not stormy enongbord
frighten the ladies into those precautions in reg
to dress that might have taken all the brillisecilo
and colour out of the picture, So the TOP 0
bloomed freshly and richly in toilets, and must bav
suited the most difficult taste by their very Yerie.,j
The pieces read were a " Christmas Carol,"
the "Trial of Bardell versus Pickwick," from t
"Pickwick Papers." They were read with ee°6ll.llln;
mate skill, and the effect in securing and earill-10
with the reader the sympathies of his hearers 1
beyond whatever the warmest admirers of 171
Dickens had conceived possible. The comPlinieiti
in applause was extravagant ; and this was a easepo
which extravagance in compliment was perhaPs.it
offence against taste, oven in the eyes of the is'
amiable of satirists.
e 5
The scene outside was all animation. Carrier,o t
began to arrive in profusion at a quarter P3slit
seven o'clock, and a few minutes before elkt.
o'clock the human freight which they had broug,,i
together with the pedestrian arrivals, had Alltet
nearly all the seats in the Temple. The tifl'ej
office was then opened, and- some ten hucu:,-ci
tickets for standing room were quickly disPGea-
of, the eager purchasers having patiently Nl3iwo
for the same fur an hour or more. At no time
there any great crowd or confusion about the 11. 1.1
Very few assembled who had not secured adreissi°
before coming, and if there had been any moderate
rush of the curious they would have been out°lll
bered by the police, who were there in force to relit
any demonstration that an eager multitude Islig4
have made. Indeed, when all were gathered two
seated, awaiting the reader, the scene was 0010,
which happy and expectant faces gave the pre.
minant tone. All the world of literature, of faehl°ot,
and much also of the world of politics, were preseii,
The Governor of Massachusetts stood for the
tics, all the handsome ladies of the city presec.,re
fashion in a most attractive mood, while literet;r,
and science were represented by Agassiz, 'V
bitt
Longfellow, Lowell, and Holmes.
„fr
About two thousand people were seated ttie
ably in their places at eight o'clock awaitingad
coming of Mr. Dickens. The hall, a light -It
pleasant one, was filled to its utmost capaeitlrail
is a ball that presents a very pleasant coup ;of
when filled. The gallery, rising very grace'' ocl
from the further wall of the lower portion 500
giving a good distance from the very foot °f vog
reader's desk to the limit of this distance, pia
one delightful perspective of happy faces. Pr°ll3Pl,o
at his Lour Mr. Dickens came. He was clad in A►
t-
dress suit, with a white necktie, and wore kid g lothe
of a neutral tint. His head and face 010
yep
finger of Time in deepening lines and coming he
—for the colour has gone from the thin bear'boi
wears on his chin and from his moustache. 104, be
is bald on the top, and the hair remaining to
sides is brushed energetically forward, as
i l
show a spirit in what remains. He stepped libeitcl•
and quickly across the platform to the rout,
ing desk, and his coming was the signal for an It
burst of applause that lasted some moments' 0
gained strength as it was kept up, and we°t ft
of
°
hand to mouth till from the ordinary even t
hee
clapping hands it became quite an ovation Of c

the subject taking it all with easy dignity. thiS
From the reader's standpoint the sight
pleasant reception must have been very agrel'or
So soon as the pleasant little storm of c`c,,eilt
ing applause had passed away, Mr. Dickens 1. oro
rapidly forward with his reading. Both Piee,estf of
highly dramatic in dialogue, with great Yar'e,,-;ce•
character, the " Christmas Carol" the more 140 tt
ably so of the two. All listeners Vre get
moment in the very presence of Old Si9jolll
of his patient, light-hearted clerk, the sod
Nephew, the ghost of Marley, Tiny Tirtaof,
rho Conversational Boy under the Wm 003
It is hardly correct to say that Mr. Dicken,,' as
this story. He told it—he told the story'
o,clote'
common-place persons will tell any little all 7 toe
giving, with more or less success, the air
en " 0;e tbat
of such speaker as they may introduce, , hi°
Mr. Dickens presented the individuality °`
011011
speakers with such well-defined lines, wit"1, thed
vivid conception of the identity of each that etern
became real—and no one of his dozen charncoa•
following closely through the hour beearliet air'
fused with another. Each had a differellaiffe'
and many a different tone of voice, 3 orb°
rent face, so that the recognition of 00 35
was speaking in the story was as read!' 3 The
easy as if each had walked on in thepero
reader was frequently interruptal by e
plause and centinued laughter of the audiene
when, in the Pickwick trial, he came
where the clerk calls " The next witness'
Weller," the very name of this favourite bre"ose•
e b°
genial recognition from every hand in th t one
To our thinking, all the persons in Treto°ll ore
ud,
pie, through the whole reading and at its e 001
Wl° of
as full as possible of merriment and god
,
lag
keen for the most dainty jest or lightest 00
• of spoor r.
word, and fairly bubbling with the spin ,bte
• hit* o•
taneous, general, contagious, epidemic
~e 0 tilt
to tha2;ool
Happier men or more delighted women, taj'.. NO,
gether, could not be found in all the valle3Tlgotoo
or cities, lying between Richmond-bill and