The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer. (Bel Air, Md.) 1862-1864, 1864-02-26
BEL Jsle AIR AIR ND b. FRIDAY MORNING DINING

aDle ana Wiling 70 pay Tor, me visit 70 us,
if be speaksin un-fattering terms Of our
country or our people, The simple truth
is il is not our hospitality, but oar pcari-
osity, that makes, us bow. down before, the
celebrated foreigners who Yisit this coua-
itry; But enough Of DEPRESSION. ~ 5grI
II The, most striking characteristic of
Charles Dickens novels is The clear aud
faithful delineations we End in them Of
real life, 4sostbat when we have read lthea,
I've seem to have enlarged the circle of our
acquaintance; and "Sam Weller" "Mr
Pickwick," captain Cuttle,' ':Bunsby,"'
BETSY Trotwood," "Traddles," aud $50
lphy down in Devonshire,' who was one of
ten" seem to be friends whom we have
met, and we enter into the details Of their
lives and their sayings, with an interest
entirely different from that with which
the heros and heroines of other noyelis,s
ere regarded, Dickens has kept nature
for, his model, and in this is the great Sc
cret Of his success. His characters are
chosen from the middle and lower classes;
and we owe him debt of gratitude for
having SO shown them to US in their pow
erty and inAtheir ignorance, that after pc.
lrusing his novels our respect for those less
fortunate than ourselves, is strengthened.
| We DISCERN in the little street sweeper
who lived in "Tom all alone's,' those i'm
pulses OF gratitude and better aspirations.
which his life of loneliness and misery
could not wholly extinguish. Who can
read his death without tears, or listen to
the appeal for those like him, "who are
dying thus around us every hour" with
out having his benevolent feelings quick
ened -? -. %. &c '-..'.,
Nor must we undervalue those deliuea-
Itions Of, the "whited sepulchres," which
have dared, 10 the holy name Of Religion,
to palm of iapa,icism, and those impos,
tors who, neglecting the careof their own
families, have spent their lives in sending
l.Jfannes shirts to the little negroes in AZ
RIGA, and moral pocket-hapdkerchiefs to
the East India men" The picture of
"Mrs. Jellyby's" domestic affairs; of
those neglected children, Garry" and
I"Peepy;" of "Mr. Jellyby's mute de-
spair, shall not pass from the mind of the
reader without leaving an iaaehbls inn
preston. Neither will he forget tl,at'ceu-
surer Of 'tMrs. Jellyby," "Mrs. Pardig-
gle, land her marshallipg of her little
forces in the butts of the poor; of her
reading ofgooa books in loud and moral
tone. Of voice, utterly Indifferent to the
mood or situation Of her audience. Yes,
Charles Dickens, thou hast done well in
teacbing that true benevolence Is never
seen without delicacy Of feeling; that it
sounds no trumpet; that its voice is not
heard 10 our streets; that it generally
chooses those quiet paths, and speaks in
those unobtrusiyes terms, so that the "right
hand knoweth. not what the left hand do
eth "a What . fund of merrimentis to be
found IN the works Of Charles Dickens
The sPickwick Papers, are fountain Of
twit and humor. With the exception Of
'Great Expectations" which is his Only
novel that disappointed our expectatiohs--
which of his novels is devoid Of rhirth-
inspiring character? Amidst all the pa
thos Of the 'sOld Curiosity Shop" we have
.sDick Swiveler." In "Bleak House,
we have "Horaee Skimpolo" ana "Mr.
Guppy!' I'M" Dombey & Son." amid all
those figures Of the money .worshipper, the
hypecrite, Of that pfide,which, incapable
Of good, led Edith Donnbey to work Que
her own sad history, VIC have those world
famed Captains, "Cattle' and ssBunsby,,, /,
and the inimi.able "Susan Nipper." ia
The tale Of s'sThe Two Cities founded on
Revolutionary History there is d certain
quaint humor about tue picture Of the
French woman who, Emitting and seeing
lnothing, ystwitlI every stitch Knitting
the name Of smother victim Of the guillo-
tine, soathat her memory needed nd other,
Ehetp than the aid of her stocking. 'h =
Weean only speak for ourselves, and
We are glad 10 offer our poor tribute 10 the
worth 'of;an apthor whb gives us So much
pleasure = TIE hours Nc have spent over
che nosels.of Charles Dickens, have Been
among the most pleasant Of bur life. I'VE
are persuaded thai. bis books strengthen
the better feelings, give to the reader trner
Hove for that which IL genuinely, beautiful,
| and good, and inculcate lessons Of CHART
" forlthe failihgs and frailties Of Others
fftlte y t.i14! sl92f TX lla
at4eh Il --l---i-1 10 !. ! " zen
A passenger on o steamer had a roll Of
Canvass with him. Ina lurch Of the Boat
| tfoned overheard. He pitched ii after
IT, Or seeing which, \ bystandet re-