The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-05 00:00:00

THE LATE VINCENT WALLACE.

Last evening the first of a series of memorial con-
certs, proposed for the benefit of the late composer's
bereaved family, was given at Hanover-square
Rooms, but we regret to say the attendance was
limited in the extreme. The artistes who gave their
services on the occasion were—Madame Lemmens-
Sherrington, Miss Whytock, Mr. W. 11. Cummings,
and Mr. G. Patey ; and the iusfrumentalists were
—Mr. H. Blagrove (violin), and Mr. Chevalier
Lemmens (pianoforte and harmonium). Madame
Sherrington sang the brilliant and difficult rondo
from the " Amber Witch," "My long hair is
braided," in a brilliant manner ; and Miss Why-
tock sang " Gentle Troubadour," from " Lurline,"
charmingly. The beautiful trio, " Turn on, old
Time" (" Maritana"), was also given with great
taste and judgment by the last named lady and Mr.
W. H. Cummings and Mr. G. Patey. Chevalier
Lemmens and Mr. Blagrove executed a brilliant
Tema and variations for piano and violin, which
contributed much to the gratification of those pre-
sent. It is to be hoped that some more active steps
may be taken before the next concert is given.

Early Recognition of the Genius of Charles

Dickens

(By the Quarterly and Edinburgh Reviews.)

The success of the "Pickwick Papers" may be
regarded not only as an era in the life of its author,
but in the history of modern English literature. It
is very interesting to observe the immediate re-
sponse to this remarkable book, not only amongst
the public of readers but of critics. We will here give
an extract from the Quarterly Review of October,
1837 :

The popularity of this writer," remarks the re-
viewer, "is one of the most remarkable literary
phenomena of recent times, for it has been fairly
earned without resorting to any of the means by
which most other writers have succeeded in attract-
ing the attention of their contemporaries. He has
flattered no popular prejudice, and profited by no
passing folly; he has attempted no caricature
sketches of the manners or conversation of the aris-
tocracy ; and there are very few political or per-
sonal allusions in his works. Moreover, his class of
subjects are such as to expose him at the outset to
the fatal objection of vulgarity; and, with the ex-
ception of occasional extracts in the newspapers, he
received little or no assistance from the press. Yet,
in less than six months from the appearance of the
first number of the " Pickwick Papers,' the whole
reading public were talking about them ; the names
of Winkle, Wardle, Weller, Snodgrass, Dodson,
and Fogg had become familiar in our mouths as
household words, and Mr. Dickens was the grand
object of interest to the whole tribe of " Leo-
hunters," male and female, of the metropolis. Nay,
Pickwick chintzes figured in linendrapers' windows,
and Weller corduroys in breeches-makers' adver-
tisements ; Boz cabs might be seen rattling through
the streets, and the portrait of the author of " Pel-
ham" or " Crichton" was scraped down or passed
over, to make room for that of the new popular
favourite in the omnibuses. This is only to be
accounted for on the supposition that a fresh vein
of humour had been opened ; that a new and decid-
edly original genius had sprung up."
During the publication of " Pickwick " Mr.
Dickens had married the daughter of Mr. George
Hogarth, the well-known writer upon music. The
great success of " Pickwick" turned the eager re-
gards of the public upon the young author, and he
published, in twenty monthly parts, the story of
" Nicholas Nickleby," the aim of this second Rork
being, not so much amusement as a moral purpose.
In " Nicholas Nickleby " Dickens commenced that
crusade against public and private abuses andJ
oppressions which has formed so marked a feature
in the later works from his pen.
The Edinburgh Review of October, 1838, ob-
serves, in reference to " Nicholas Nickleby," and
to " Oliver Twist," its immediate snccessor :
" There is no misanthropy in his satire, and no
coarseness in his descriptions—a merit enhanced by
the nature of his subjects. The reader is led
through scenes of poverty and crime, and all the
characters are made to discourse in the appropriate
language of their respective classes ; and yet we
recollect no passage which ought to cause pain to
!A. .4 -Laud Li female
society. One of the qualities we the most admire
in him is his comprehensive spirit of humanity.
The tendency of his writings is to make us prac-
tically benevolent, to excite our sympathy in behalf
of the aggrieved and suffering in all classes, and
especially in those most removed from observation.
He especially directs our attention to the helpless
victims of untoward circumstances or a vicious sys-
tem, to the imprisoned debtor, the orphan pauper,
the parish apprentice, the juvenile criminal, and to
the tyranny which, under the combination of pa-
rental neglect with the mercenary brutality of a
pedagogue, may be exercised with impunity in
schools. His humanity is plain, practical, and
manly."—Extracted from Photo Portraits of Men of
Eminence.

Auguste Comte, the Founder of Positivism.

From a remarkable Paper on Comte and his Philosophy, by
G. 11. Lewes, in the newly published Number of " The
Fortnightly."
The last of his private pupils, whose name has
not transpired, has given an interesting glimpse of
his illustrious teacher, in a paper which appeared in
Chanzbers's Journal (June 19, 1858). After nar-
rating how he found himself iu this position, he
adds :—" Daily as the clock struck eight on the
horloge of the Luxembourg, while the ringing ham-
mer on the bell was yet audib:e, the door of my
room opened, and there entered a man, short, rather
stout, almost one might call sleek, freshly shaven,
without vestige of whisker or moustache. He was
invariably dressed in a suit of the most spotless
black, as if going to a dinner party ; his white neck-
cloth was fresh from the laundress's hands, and his
hat shining like a racer's coat. He advanced to the
arm-chair prepared for him in the centre of the
writing-table, laid his hat on the left-hand corner,
his snuff-box was deposited on the same side beside
the quire of paper placed in readiness for his use,
and dipping the pen twice into the ink-bottle, then
bringing it to within an inch of his nose, to make
sure it was properly filled, he broke silence : We
have said that the chord A B,' &c. For three-quar-
ters of an hour he continued his demonstration,
making short notes as he went on, to guide the
listener in repeating the problem alone then, tak-
ing up another cahier which lay beside him, he went
over the written repetition of the former lesson.
explained,cnine7
sHtreu of then,
corrected,Nvith theor
littlecommented
finger t thethe clockright
hand brushing from his coat and waistcoat the
shower of superfluous snuff which had fallen on
"them, he pocketed his snuff-box, and, resuming his
hat, he as silently as when he came in made his
exit by the door which I rushed to open for him.
This man of few words was the Aristotle or Bacon
of the 19th century."
Naturally the pupil at first regarded this silent
and automatic teacher with a certain vague fear.
He learned at length to love him. Not, as he can-
didly says, that he knew anything of the hidden
greatness of the man, but because he instinctively
felt the smothered kindliness beneath that cold ex-
terior. Years afterwards he saw him, when he was
celebrated and in poverty. "He recalled one of
those pictures of the middle ages representing St.
Francis wedded to poverty." But I must refer to
the narrative itself, which is too long for extract
here.

The year 1842 is doubly memorable : it saw the
termination of his great work and of his conjugal
life. I have already said that into the domestic
question I cannot enter. Be the blame of the
failure chiefly hers or chiefly his, the failure sprang
from conditions we cannot accurately appreciate.
That the separation was her deed, and not his,
seems indisputable • and in one of his letters to
Madame de Vaux fle writes :--" An indispensable
separation, all the more irrevocable on my side be-
cause I in no way provoked it, completely relieved
me of an intolerable domestic oppression, now hap
pily converted into a simple pecuniary charge which
my character forbids my feeling in its true weight.
In truth, the two first years of that new situation,
during the interval between the close of my first
great elaboration and the opening of the second,
were passed in enjoyment of the negative happiness
resulting from this unhoped-for calm succeeding the
long and daily agitation." It is clear from many
indications that they quarrelled frequently and vio-
lently ; their views of life were different, and pro-
bably the worldly views of the one were a continual
exasperation to the other ; but it is also clear that
he did not regard her as haying done anything to
forfeit his respect and admiration. In one of his
letters he lays the principal stress on the fact of
her having never loved him. He continued for
some years to correspond with her on affectionate
terms.