New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-12-13
MIR. DTCKENSs THIRD READING.

wow! FOR driving Dnnulng, pibii0o9, pNiO-
ing storm! All the air, as high as the stars, a
whirling mist of snow; millions OF icy atoms
dancing madly up and down, hither and thither,
70 the great bass vol of the roaring wind;
hundreds of miserable, merry, laughing, swear
ing, angry, good natured, human atoms stream
ing up street, struggling down, packed INTO
horse-cars, crammed into buses, despainng IN
ferry boats, cOncered in hired hacks till the
fight came over the pay, miserable on foot,
embracing lamp-pOsts, slipping up on coal
shoOt-cOyers, pumped into by reckless and
ungOvernabe umbrellas, Aoundering in drifts
Jumping into cutters, now Responding. now
courageous, till FOurteenth-st. was gained, and
the delightful, well-knOwn din of swearing,
irate haclmen deep in the old fight with their
ancient enemies the peece. greets our tingling
ears, and Steinway Hall glares out upon the
mist like the very gates of Heaven.
A silly, infatuated snOw-stom if it
thought itself q match for Charles Dickens!
How it howled, as it saw the thickening car
riages, and the merry, crushing crowd How
malciOusly it lay in wait round the most advan-
tageOus corners, and hoped bypOuncing out with
a screaming whistle and its hands full of snow
balls, to drive back the bright-eyed, rosy, laugh
ing girls and sweet-faced women clinging in
mock terror to lovers and husbands arms! a
storm that had never read Dickens Ar ig-
norant pompous, Ihard-headed, storm, that had
no notion what all these people were after, and
WAS made angrier and angrier by seeing that
the worst he could do only made the drivers
wbip ND their horses, and the lovers and hus-
bands cheer up their bright companions, and the
pretty little feet trot trOt along faster and his
worst fury vain TO keep the people away from
Charles Dickens and Stcinway Hall
If, as we hear from several sources, Dickens
is reading much better here than he did IN
Boston, it is also true that he read last night
better than he has thus far read in New York.
He seemed in unusual spirits, and threw him
self with all his force into every part. The
| Reading consisted of the chapters of Nicholas
Nickleby relating to the heros life at DOthe-
bows Hall, and that loveliest of domestic fairy
tales. Boots at the Holly-tree Inn" 1t is
plan that Mr.. Dickens, like all great actors, is
very much affected by his audience. Those
who heard him in Boston say that after the
! first night the people acted on him
more and more, like wetter and
wetter blanket and that, though he strug-
/ glcd manfully against the tide, nothing but
n vigorous dash for New-YOrk nc the end Of the
! week saved HIM from being utterly drowned
! and lost TO us forever. The audiences IN Boston
were rTepiOachable IN decOrum. Ihey came
| with meek punctuality. the ladies with then
| knitting and German gTammaTs, the gentlemen
! with The North american RcU'eW, and the chi
! drcn with Our YOuHg Folks; they sternly
/, frowned down applause and If any ill-bred per,
! son laughed, he was very properly lnsulted' ana
| held up TO public ridicule in the evening. paper
next day; they grew stiller and stiller with each
! successive reading, until on the last evening the
| loVelieSt and most embarrassing silence relgned
in fremont Temple for the whole two hours,
! The audience was perfect in discipline, perfect
! in decOrum, bat, like perfect people IN general,
! il was disagrecablc to know. When Mr.. Dickens
| was pathetic the BOstOnlans became critical, ana
counted theirteaTs when he was funny, they hes
itatcd to laugh TIL they saw whether the best peO-
| pie We're laughing too, and IN tine, not only We're
| all the seats reserved, but the people VINO Slt
| in them were btty times as reserved as Tue
seats The reason why Mr.. Dickens reads SO
much better here than in Boston is simply that
his audience is thoroughly sympathetic with
him. We regret TO say that 1t Is not at all a
| well behaved audience. 10 has never done
coming in 1t walks in Mt all stages of the
performance with lady on It's arm, and the
Ollcnse Is not lesscned, but rather aggravated
! by the fact that all the ladies are pretty, and
| wear enchanting bOnnets, because the whole
! assembly Is seized with a desire TO turn round
and look ut them. The audience smokers night
out whenever It wants to. Ii has repeatedly
stopped Mr. Dickens in his very funniest
moments by laughing out as loud rs IT
could, and making the reader laugh
| too, than which, of course nothing
could be more reprehensiblc But somehow
or other, all this bad behavior does not in the
/ least damp the spirits of the Reader. With a
! generous consideration FOR human weakness, he
reflects that they cannot help laughing and cry
| ing when he is working his spells, and ne ac-
! c0rdingly works them with Will, The more
! they laugh, the funner he gets; the more they
| cry, the more tears he wrings from them; and
80 far from being displeased with conduct for
which our Boston neiglbOrs, if they could only
see it. wOuld have nothing but repr0Ot he
actually gets into higher and higher spirits,
| and leaves the stage with step that seems as
| if he were leading of in country dance, with
| the whole audience for partners.
Like all great masters in every art, Mr.:
| Dickens shows his power IN his simplicity. Ot
elocution: properly, or rather Improperly speak
! ing, there il TO trace in their readings. lie
! laughs the Rules to scOrn. lie Is as gult-
! less of inhexions rs n Chinese noun. sometimes
every sentence, every clause IN a long paragraph
| will turn up its toes, tiguratlYey speaking, IN
! n manner that would make Prof. HOws gasp
! with horror. Sometimes he is mOn0tOnoIs to that
! degree that every well regulated elocutlonal
person must scofh him with inarticulate scorn.
! Sometimes he is quite indstinct IN his utter
! ance. lie makes just what gestures he has 2
mind to- lie even de6es proprlety time, and
again by making gestures with ms legs.
! Viewed from the conventional standpoint, his
reading is quite shocking. The less said about
| il fine better. What, we should like to know,
are books good for. and rules and axiOms, and
illustrative examples" if this gentlemanis to
throw them ruthlessly to the winds IN tins
style. IL is enough to make the santed dead,
| Walker and Macready and Kemble and For
rest, and Murdoch and Russell, and the rest,
rise from their graves, to see all their estab-
Ished teachings put to open shame by reader
natwre without apparent art, without discover
~ o,;Gco con make n thousand peODle