The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-22 00:00:00

EVENINGS of a WORKING MAN.

This is the title of a little work on the point of pub-
lication, stated to be the result of. the occupation of the
scanty loi.sura of the-uuthor—Solin Overs, a working
man. Mr. Charles Dickens has contributed the following
preface to the volume ; and it is hard which to admire
most—the modest intelligent spirit of the unknown
writer, struggling with difficulty and clinging to litera-
ture, as alike Use hope and the charm of his life ; or the
generous and kindly encouragement afforded by the
successful and celebrated author to his humble compe-
titor :

" The indulgent reader of- this little book—not called
indulgent, I may hope, by courtesy alone. but with some
reference also to its title and pretensions—may very
naturally inquire how it comes to have a preface to
which my name is attached ; nor is the reader's right or
inclination to be satisfied on this head likely to be much
diminished, when I state, in the outset, that I do not
recommend it as a book of surprising originality or
transcendant merit. That Ido not claim to have dis-
covered, in humble life, an extraordinary and brilliant
genius. That I cannot charge mankind in general with
having entered into a conspiracy to neglect the author
of this volume, or to leave him pining in obscurity.
That I have not the smallest intention of comparing
him with Burns, the exciseman ; or with Bloomfield, the
shoemaker ; or with Ebenezer Elliott, a worker in iron ;
or with James Hogg, the shepherd. That I see no rea-
son to be hot, or bitter, or lowering, or sarcastic, or in-
dignant, or fierce, or sour, or sharp, in his behalf. That
I have nothing to rail at ; nothing to exalt ; nothing to
flourish in the face of a stony-hearted world ; and have
but a very short and simple tale to tell.
" But, such as it is, it has interested me; and I hope
it may inierest,the reader too, if I state it, unaffectedly
and plainly.
" John Overs, the writer of the following pages, is, as
is set forth on the title-page, a working man. A man
who earns his weekly wages (or who did when he was
strong enough) by plying of the hammer, plane, and
chisel. He became known to me, to the best of my re-
collection, nearly six years ago, when he sent me some
songs, appropriate to the different montha of the year,
with a letter, stating under what circumstances they
had been composed, and in what manner he was occu-
pied from morning until night. I was, just then, relin-
quishing the conduct of a monthly periodical; or I would
gladly have published them. As it was, I returned them
to him, with a private expression of the interest I felt in
such productions. They were afterwards accepted, with
much readiness and consideration, by Mr. Tait, of Edin-
burgh; and were printed in his magazine..
"Finding, after some further correspondence with my
new friend, that his authorship had not ceased with
these verses, but that he still occupied his leisure mo-
ments in writing, I took occasion to remonstrate with
him seriously against his pursuing that course. I pointed
out to him a few of the uncertainties, anxieties, and
difficulties of such a life, at the best. I entreated him
to remember the position of heavy disadvantage in
which he stood, by reason of his self-education and im-
perfect attainments; and I besought him to consider
whether, having one or two of his pieces accepted occa-
sionally, here and there, after long suspense and many
refusals, it was probable that he would-find himself, in
tho ond, a happior or a more contented man. On all
these grounds, I told him his persistance in his new call-
ing made me uneasy; and I advised him to abandon it as
strongly as I could.
" In answer to this dissuasion of mine, he wrote me as
manly and straightforward, but withal as modest a letter,
as ever I read in my life. lie explained to me how
limited his ambition was, soaring no higher than the
establishment of his wife in some light business, and the
better education of his children. He set before me the
difference between his evening and holiday studies, such
as they were: and the having no better resource than an
alehouse or a skittleground. He told me, how every
small addition to his stock of knowledge made his Sun-
day; the hedge flowers sweeter ;
interest and meaning to him. He
every walks
sg
the
more plefaalslanofter
assured me, that his daily work was not neglected for
his self-imposed pursuits; but was faithfully and honestly
performed ; and, so, indeed, it was. He hinted to me,
that his greatest self-respect was some inducement and
reward: Fupposing every other to elude his grasp ; and
showed me, how the fancy that he would turn this or
that acquisition from his books to account, by-and-bye, in
writing, made him more fresh and eager to peruse and
profit by them, when his long day's work was done.
"I would not, if I could, have offered one solitary ob-
jection more, to arguments so unpretending and so true.
" From that time to the present I have seen him fre-
quently. It has been a pleasure to me to put a few
books in his way ; to give him a word or two of counsel
in his little projects and difficulties ; and to read his
compositions with him, when he has had an hour or so to
spare. I have never altered them, otherwise than by re-
commending condensation now and then; nor have I, in
looking over these sheets, made any emendation in them,
beyond the ordinary corrections of the press: desiring
them to be his genuine work, as they have been his sober
and rational amusement.

" The latter observation brings me to the origin of the
present volume, and of this my slight share in it. The
reader will soon comprehend why I touch the subject
lightly, and with a sorrowful and faultering hand.
"In all the knowledge I have had of John Overs,
and in all the many conversations I have held with him,
I have invariably found him, in every essential particu-
lar, but one, the same. I have found him from first to
last
his a s ssimple,
steady, upright, honourable man ;
especially to be noted for the unobtrusive independence
of his character ; the instinctive propriety of his manner,
and the perfect neatness of his appearance. The extent
o
information—regard being had to his opportuni-
le, frugal,
ties of acquiring it—is very remarkable ; and the dis-
crimination with which he has risen superior to the mere
prejudices of the class with which he is associated, with-
out losing his sympathy for all their real wrongs and
grievances—they have a few—impressed me, in the be-
ginning of our acquaintance, strongly in his favour.
"The one respect -in which he is not what he was, is
in his hold on

"He is very ill ; the faintest shadow of the man who
came into my little study for the first time half a dozen
years ago, after the correspondence I have mentioned.
He has been very ill for a long, long period ; his disease
is a severe and wasting affection of the lungs, which has
incapacitated him, these many months, for every kind of
occupation. If I could only do a hard day's work,' he
said to me the other day, hov.- happy I should be !'
" Having these papers by him, amongst others, he
bethought himself that if ho could get a bookseller to
purchase them for publication in a volume, they would
enable him to make some temporary provision for his
sick wife and very young family. We talked the matter
over together ; and that it might be easy of acco.nplish-
ment, promised him that I would write an introduction
to his book.
" I would to Heaven that I could do him better ser-
vice! I would to Heaven it were an introduction to a
long, and vigorous, and useful life ! But Hope will not
trim her lamp the less brightly for him and his, because
of this impulse to their struggling fortunes; and trust
me, reader, they deserve her light, and need it sorely.
"He has inscribed this'book to one whose skill will
help him, under Providence, in all that human skill can
do.* To one who never could have recognised in any
potentate on earth, a higher claim to constant kindness
and attention, than he has recognised in him.
" I have little more to say of it. While Ido not corn-
mend it, on the one hand, as a prodigy, I do sincerely
believe it, on the other, to possess some points of real
interest, however considered; but which, if considered
with reference to its title and origin, are of great in-
terest.
" If- any delicate readers should approach the perusal
of these Evenings of a Working Man,' with a genteel
distaste to the principle of a working man turning
yswamp any
author at all, I may perhaps be permitted to suggest
that the best protection against such an offence will be
in evffnelgetaural to the
l
minds,
found in the universal education of the people ; for the
interestenlightenment
that
mayo
f the m
now
attach, a ny
will
few among them who are enabled, in any degree, to
overcome the great difficulties of their position.
" And if such readers should deny the immense im-
portance of communicating to this class, at this time,
every pomible means of knowledge, refinement, and re-
creation; or the cause we have to hail with delight the
least token that may arise among them of a desire to be
wiser, better, and more gentle; I earnestly entreat them
to educate themselves in this neglected branch of their
own learning without delay; promising them that it is
the easiest in its acquisition of any: requiring only open
eyes and ears, and six easy lessons of an hour each in a