The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-04 00:00:00

MR. CHARLES DICKENS 1N AMERICA.

A letter from Boston of the 19th ult. says :
" The great event in Boston to-day has been the
arrival of Charles Dickens from Europe per the
steamer Cuba. Through the agency of the tele-
graph announcements were made which gave cur-
rency to the belief that the Cuba and the distin—
guished novelist would arrive in the middle of the
afternoon, and though there was no public ovation
or demonstration contemplated, a crowd of several
thousand persons assembled around the wharf where
the steamer was expected, and in spite of the in-
clement weather remained until the failure of their
desire was assured. if the Cuba had made her
time Mr. Dickens would have been in Boston at 3
o'clock, and inasmuch as there was the unusual
interruptions of half a dozen hours from Halifax the
fears of a disaster were not without some shadow of
foundation. At about half-past 7 o'clock, hoe ever,
it was announced from the Old State House News
Room that the Cuba was approaching Hull, on her
course to Boston, and that she had been boarded by
the United States tug boat Hannibal Hamlin, and
Mr. Dickens taken on board. The tugboat proceeded
immediately to Boston, and arrived at Long Wharf an
hour in advance of the Cuba. Among those who
were on board the tugboat were Mr. Dolby, agent of
Mr. Dickens ; Collector Russell, of the port of Bos-
ton ; Oliver IVendell Holmes, General Sherwin,
Hon. Josiah Quincy, James Fields, of the publish-
ing firm of Tickner and F ields, and several other
literary celebrities. After the customary greetings
and congratulations, a repast was served on board
the Hamlin, and when it was finished she had
arrived at her dock in Boston. The party then
took carriages and proceeded immediately to the
Parker-house, where Mr. Dickens will remain until
his departure for New York. The first series of
his readings will begin in Tremont 'Temple on the
evening of December 2, and his first in New York
will be given on the evening of the 9th. Mr.
Dickens's voyage from Liverpool to Boston was ono
of uninterrupted pleasure, and while declining for
the present all public ovations, he nevertheless feels
profoundly gratified for the many manifestations of
welcome which the American people have already
shown towards him. Mr. Dolby, his advance
agent, has already disposed of some 8,000 tickets
for his first series of Boston readings, and there is
no apparent diminution in the number of appli-
cants. A considerable number of them have
probably been bought up by speculators." The
New York herald comments upon the arrival in its
characteristic style. 11re rcad :—" Charles Dickens
arrived at Boston on Tuesday, the 19th of
November, by the steamer Cuba. Seven
thousand of the philosophers of the Ilub,'
in breeches and in petticoats, awaited his arrival
ou the dock, but they lost the opportunity of wel-
coming him with the usual demonstrations of toady-
ism, inasmuch as he left the steamer on a tug, and
directly he landed hastened to his hotel in Shool-
street. To make amends for the loss of a chance
to take the horses from his carriage and to haul him
up to Parker's, the Bostonians all met before sun-
rise on the first day of the sale of the tickets for his
readings in the tri-mountain city, and, besieging
the bookstore of his publishers, created a furore un-
equalled since that excited by his arrival in the same
city 25 years ago. The police force had to be sum-
moned in order to preserve peace and order among
the eager purchasers of tickets. Nothing like this,
furore has been occasioned since his first visit, unless
we except that which marked the reception of Jenny
Lind on her arrival in this country. Mr. Dolby
the agent to Mr. Dickens, appears to be a sort of
refined Barnum, with all the enterprise and none of
the vulgarity of the notorious showman. The
Boston journals inform us that Mr. Dolby has
already disposed of more than 8,000 tickets for Mr.
Dickens's first course of readings in Boston. But
Mr. Dolby seems to have failed to profit by our
recent suggestion—that the price of tickets for Mr.
Dickens's readings might safely be put at a higher
figure than he has set upon them. The conse-
quence of this mistake is that speculators have got
possession of no inconsiderable number of tickets,
and are selling them at twenty dollars each. By
the time that Mr. Dickens reaches New York it
seems not unlikely that the price of tickets
will advance to one hundred dollars, or more.
At his first visit Boston fell into ecstacies
over him. The excitement occasioned by his
arrival was in the beginning like a cloud no
bigger than a man's hand, but it soon swelled to a
hurricane of adulation, which afterwards reached
its height at the Dickens Ball in New York, and
then subsided. It will be easy for the New Yorkers
to beat the Bostonians if the former think fit to
enter into competition with the latter. If the Bos-
tonians can assemble seven thousand people to wel-
come Dickens, we can assemble, at equally short
notice, seventy thousand. We can afford to pay
higher prices for tickets than even those demanded
by the Boston speculators. We can have an auction,
at which some rival of the latter who made his for-
tune by bidding $212 for a reserved scat may double,
if need be ,that sum. We do not know what has
become of Genin, who became famous for the highest
bid at Jenny Lind's first concert, but here is cer-
tainly a chance for Knox to become equally famous.
Dickens might have spared himself the trouble of
bringing over any London clothes, for the tailors
and hatters and bootmakers of Boston and New
York must be ready and eager to take his measure
and supply him with a complete'outfit, replenishing
it as often as circumstances may require. Neither
Bostonians nor New Yorkers seem disposed to listen
to our advice, so far as to moderate their enthusiasm
in behalf of Dickens as to abstain from making
themselves ridiculous. We think they might do
this, and still manifest their hearty appreciation of
his genius. But it arrears to he useless to try to
check eny of tinx.e storms of popular excitement
which periodically agitate the American mind,
whether caused by Jenny Lind, Japanese Tommy,
the Prince of Wales, or Mr. Dickens. We can only
advise the public to keep as cool as possible, and
Mr. Dolby to make the most of the latest sensa-
tion' as long as it lasts."

SACRILEGE.—The new church of St. Clement'e,
Notting-hill, was broken into late on Saturday night. The
thieves succeeded in carrying off the communion cloths,
all the robes, curtains, and other effects. They wore,
however, disappointed in not finding the church plate,
which is always kept elsewhere. Other instances of saeri-
lege in the neighbourhood of Loudon are resorted.