Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-10-01
DICKENS IN

in the week, according to circum-
stances. His habit has been to
take a small hall which does not give
seats to above six hundred persons, and
to read two extracts a night three times
a week. Each week is thus made to
comprehend all the selectiousthat Dick
ems will read during the season. Last
Winter these were: Tuesday night, A
Christmas Carol and the Trial scene in
Pickwick; Thursday night, The Death
Of Little Paul and David Copperfeld;
Friday night, Scenes from Nicholas
Nickleby and our Mutual Friend. Dick
ems has often contemplated writing o
special story for reading purposes only,
but his manuscript pieces have not met
with the favor of his current writings,
and he has contented himself with cut
ting down, and giving dramatic climax
to his known chef Teurres. Each read
ing begins at seven and-a-half o'clock,
and is finished by half past nine, with
out any accessories of music, committee
men, patrons, or introducers. The prices
of admission vary from two shillings to
fve-about, in our currency now, sew
enty-6ve cents to two dollars. The
highest priced seats are in front, and
require of their ~occupiers the formality
of a dress-coat and white gloves, a style
Of dress that the reader also adopts.
Dickens is free to explain to his own
friends the extent Of his dealings with
American publishers. He says it has
been common for many years for people
whom he never knew to advertise that
their pirated edition of his new books
had been paid for at enormous rates.
"These advertisements" said Mr.. Dick
ems, ait was useless for me to notice.
The fact is that l got to expecting
nothing from America, and when, there
fore, now and then some fellow, out OF
vanity or a desire to get an autograph
or an interview, or find out my earnings
and habits, sent me fifty pounds, l put
it all to the account Of conscience
money. or late years some sensitive
ness of American publishers, hitherto
reckless v of appearances, has been
stimulated by what I take to be the
growing scrupulousness Of the Ameri-
cans at large. Some Of them have
urged that l should be grateful that
they introduced me to the trans-Atlan-
tic public. To enter into discussion
with such impudence was preposterous.
i know of one fellow who made FIVE or
six thousand pounds out of my Ameri-
can Notes and Chuzzlewit, and never
gave me a penny nor accompaniment, but
returned me a letter of demonstration
that l hatmisportrayed his countrym'en.
After ALL" says Dickens, further, 81
have had no reason, no encouragement,
to be enthusiastic for the United States.
l do not speak of your criticism, which,
until of late, has been so crude that IN
artist could not feel flattered even by
its praises ; but Of the way in which all
melancholy and unavoidable personal
troubles Of British literary men have
been hailed there. l could make q
sc~rap-book. of abuse of me greater
than all that I have ever written.
Nothing would have been easier and
more untrie than for me to indiscrim-
iustely praise what had seen. But
having satirized the tollies and many Of
the institutions Of my own country, l
was not unmindful Of the youthful err
rors Of yours. Laying claim to no gift
of prophecy, l may say that many of
the faults l satirized have been admit
ted since by the American sentiment.
In common with all Englishmen, I con-
fess my admiration of the enterprise,
courage, and growing sense of justice
of the Americans. In politics have
always been aliberal. I never said a
word for shareholders nor uttered o
wish against the lawful cause in your
war. As to being treated with anything
but eivility on my next visit to America,
that is absurd. The day of Macready
riots is over there. If l thought a dog
would bark at me l would not touch the
shore. But a nation is still not quite
perfect in the spirit Of the century that
would cast a doubt in a literary mans
mind of his safety in it. To ask US to
surrender opinion because we visit you
this is the bigotry of a village"
In this strong way, says tho Tribune
correspondent, Mr. Dickens ~conversed a
short time ago with a gentleman of for
tune and leisure who had been his cor
respondent. The author is a sanguine,
somewhat restless person, and having
projected this re%visitation of the Repub-
lie, he is already DESTROYS Of setting out.
All sorts of paragraphs are aioat as to
his Interior purposes. 1t has been
printed that he means to "locate a
novel in New York at the offer of a
prominent American publisher, and also
that he will write a romance of the Re-
bsllion. At any rate, he will read in
both sections of the Republic, and put
the relative courtesy of North and South
to a test.
A Philadelphia. stationer offered
Dickens the suS of $780, 900 for 100
nights during this year, and a Boston
manager offered him two-thirds of the
gross receipts, bearing no part of the
expenses. The character Of Eugene
wrayburn in "Ohr Mutual Friend" is
said to have been suggested by Mr..
Dickens by an American journalist Of
plausible address, who called upon him
with such handsome offers of money for
Winters readings that the novelist
was bewildered. Making inquiries, Mr..