Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-12-18
Statesman.
Private u,i.ner w,,h Charlie. Dick.
from the New York Tribune. |
ems.

Private Dinner with Charles Dick
ems.
lFrom the Now York Tribune.I
A distinguished American actor, who
heard Mr.. Dickens read from his works
on two occasions while in London, re-
Gently said to me: "You can have no
conception of the perfection of his man
ner. He is born actor, if there ever
was one; and yet there is not a particle
of stage exaggeration, either in gesture
or pronunciation, nor any grimace or af-
fectation in the playful or pathetic
changes of his countenance, as he indi-
vidualizes the different immortal charac-
tiers of his own creation; while his voice
is the most musical and flexible that 1
ever heard in my life on the stage or off
it. His Yorkshire pronunciation, in the
rendering of John Brodie's talk with
Nicholas Nickleby. after his escape with
Smike from old Squires's school, and the
soliloquies and 'patter' of Mrs. Camp,
and the touching description of the
death of little Paul Dombey, seemed to
me like original creations from the
readers desk:
1 can well believe all this. At the
dinner" of which I now proceed to
give you the brief conclusion which 1
promised, noticed this dramatic fea-
ture of Mr.. Dickens manner in several
instances; heightened at thattime by the
extreme youthfulness of his appearance,
which is well represented in his portrait
by Maclise, copy of which Mr.. Dick
ems forwarded to me from London. soon
after the publication Of ."Chuzzlewit,"
pronounced it as on the whole the best
which had appeared of him. The eyes
were large and lustrous, and the hair 80
profuse that he could scarcely keep the
large, and wavy curls out of his eyes.
At the dinner which had been given
him at the City Hotel, two or three days
before, l had noticed the curious antics
of several boys, who had forced their
way to the reception-room, before the
company had gone down. and were sur
veying him with amazing curiosity. 1
asked Mr.. Dickens if he saw them.
EYES," said he, "who could help it !?
l couldn't precisely decide whether they
came to look at me as wild beast or a
building! They kept shy of me as if
afraid of me. but beginning at my foun-
dations, surveyed me to the top of my
head, taking in all my architectural
points as if l had been church !''
In speaking of Samuel Rogers, men
ton was made of the little statuette bust
which stood SO long Il hope it stands
there yeti upon the mantel piece in Mr..
Washington Irving's library at Sunny
side, and which 1 had often examined
with irrepressible admiration! 1t is a
perfect miracle of Ugliness always
regarded it as caricature, until Mr.. 1r-
wing told me one day it was an exceed
ingly good likeness. We were well pre-
pared, therefore, for Mr.. Dickens anec-
dote of Sydney Smith, who, when asked
by Rogers how he should be painted by
some eminent artist to whom he was
about to sit, said: ain the attitude of
saying your prayers, with your hands
before your face!"
aa I think it was Mr.. Bryant, who, Tin
this connection), mentioned the fact to
Rogers that Halleck, when in England,
had passed his house near Hyde Park.
ssTell him. said Rogers, "when he is
next in England, that the author of
Marco Bozzaris' must not pass my house
again-he must come in.'' '
Mr.. Dickens had been speaking of a
visit which he had paid day or two be-
fore at the Toombs; and gave very
graphic description of the differences
between the forms and proceedings in
English criminal courts and our own
"In our courts" said he, ''the prisoner
is elevated in dock, kind of unsanc-
titled pulpit, above the heads of the
bench, counsel. jury, &c, and in full
view of the spectators. In your case
] should think it would be difficult to tel
the difference between the culprit and
his counsel. Then the table, covered
with dry. disinfecting herbs to prevent
jail-fevers), spread between the counse
and the prisoner, was another missing
feature. Some general remarks among
the company as to the wearing of thu
barrister's gown, were generally in favo
of that black silk distinction but th'
horse-hair wigs were, think. laughed
at and voted down, men. con.
Speaking of the Duke of yelling
ton, Mr.. Irving remarked. when tn
conversation, desultory and pleasantly
changing all the while, had turned il
that direction. that the first time he ha,
met him was in Paris, not long after tn
restoration, though he had met him oftel
afterward in society in London, and a
his own residence in Apsley House, ant
once, think he said, at Strathfieldsaye
But the first impression was never erased
The Duke was walking slowly along tn
Boulevard, with his narrow-brimmed hat
small umbrella under his arm ; tn
nose, tires aquiline, as in Punch's pass
port the military bearing, all proclaime'
"the man :" yet he was comparatiuel.
noticed as he sauntered along, looking a
the prints of the battle of Waterloo il
the adjoining windows.
The transition to Napoleon Bonapart
was natural enough. Mr.. Henry Bre
voort, if 1 remember rightly, was tn
only person at the table who had eve
seen the "Great Captain" 1t was a
the Theatre Francois. The house wa
crowded to the utmost with the most dis
tinguished persons-military, scientific
and otherwise renowned-of the ga,
capital. 1t was, think, in 1912. Such
galaxy of beauty and splendor had rarel,
been witnessed, even in Paris; and as tn
Emperor, attended by his military suite
entered his pavilion box, the enthusiasm
was unbounded. The Emperor wor
the military dress in which his creates
pictures have been preserved to posteri
Itty. IL thought" said Mr.. b., "that h
seemed i'll at ease, though he acknowl
edged his welcome with great grace an