The Portland daily press., 1868-01-14
Miscellany.
IT, ...der and Eli. Aus,icuces.


The Springfield Republican has lively |
letter from "ssraws, Jr." Miss Kate Fieids,l 7
in which the task OF getting tickets to the
Dickens readings, the physiognony OF the
crowd present thereat, and many other
things are pleasantly set forth. The follow
ing is Miss Fields sketch of the reader and
his audience yTiwHsa 90 .oH
p Then Charles Dickens came, and we saw
and heard, and he conquered,-not all at
once, but gradually, slowly and surely. The
more he reads, or should say the more he
acts, the better he acts, and what delightful
actor he is, l need not tell you, who have
been told so often Moreover, aln gossip
ing, not criticising. The least responsive au-
dience Mr.. Dickens has had here twas his
first. The public began at zero; lere appre-
citation and enthusiasm have risen nightly,
until now Mr.. Dickens declares that he never
read to more sympathetic audiences. OF
course there are people who really can't see
what there is to admire in Mr.. Dickens read
ings." Ristori is very bad actress, IN the
opinion of certain knowing ones, and Fanny
Kemble is q delusion and snare. 1t is an
unspeakabe comfort, however, to hear Dick
ems decried by the anti Ristorite, for he could
not be in better company. Indeed, abuse is
sometimes the greatest compliment that can
be paid an artist. "Ihere are dozen actors
in New York." declares one writer, "who can
read Dickens infinitely better than Dickens
himself" If there be dozen actors so Won
deIfully gifted, "let the parties Immediately
step forward" Fortunes await them in the
pockets of the public. New York theatres
are sufficient denial of this statement. There
is nothing so offensive to a third rate author
OF actor as a first rate author and actor. Poor
human nature can't endure such an extraor-
binary combination. s q aaata'a l& Es.s
s.Well aw, you see aw, Dickens comes Of a
very low family" said an Englishman, the
other day. ---
- few more such low families, in order to be
able to boast of such offspring" replied an
American. The Englishman who belongs to
very good family, glared sayagely. FL 81
"Family's nothing" said another American,
"but he must be a vulgar snob, for he wears
two diamond rings, andfowers in his button
hole t4tF
"Oh, of course, this evidence is conclusive"
answered a third American. Because you
and do not wear diamond rings, it necessa-
rily proves that every man who does, is Snob.
There is nothing we Americans pardon so
little as individuality in dress. When Dick
ems first visited America, he wore white kid
gloves one evening at the fremont theater,
for which outrage upon the feelings OF the
public, who at that time were in favor of no
gloves at all, Mr.. Dickens was written down
snob. By mems works We shall know them.
II Mr.. Dickens wants to wear two diamond
rings, that are probably the valued gifts of
valued friends, am glad that he is not brow
beaten out of his desire by the stupid cry OF
snobbery. II Mr.. Dickenss books are not suf-
ficient relstation of any such charges, nothing
in the world can be-" ----
Remarking the concern which these dia.
monds are giving some good people, I have
made it point to study Mr.. Dickens's dress
for the benefit of jenkins, who seems TO en-
rf1if fIla OH hat
brains are situated in his clothes. After very
close scrutiny have discovered that he does
wear two unpretending diamond rings, one
on the third finger OF each hand. / have also
discovered that he wears diamond studs in
Immediately white shirt bosoms that do hon
or to his laundress, whoever she may be. It
is great pity that there are not more shirt
bosoms Of the same description worn by pub
lie men. There may be something noble and
manly ia doubtful linen, but have never
been able to establish the connections. Other
wise there is nothing noticeable in Mr.. Dick
ens's appearance He wears a plain black
evening suit, such as every civilized country
prescribes for similar occasions. Now if there
is more gloomy, unpicturesque sight in the
world. than man encased in, black broakcioth,
a hammer-tail coat and a white cravat, may
never gaze upon it. Ii, therefore, Mr.. Dick
ems or any other man endeayors to dispel the
fUnereal aspect by fragrant and beauti-
let him. He deserves thanks rather than CEN
sure. 3 GEO .4 t.5-,-
have forgotten to notice, what sortof boots
Mr.. Dickens wears. But this do know, that
the boots that like most, and which wear
best, are his "Boots. at the Holly Tree Inn."
Let ne here state that Mr. Dickens carries
white kid gloves and pocket handkerchief
in his right hand, and that he frequently uses
the latter, but never the former. si1ss
jenkins need not suppose for one moment
thai Mr.. Dickens makes no change in his cos
tune for matinee, because he does. Then
hammer-tails give way to ffock coat, low
bosomed waistcoat to high bosomed waist
coat, white cravat to large scarf that is run
through ring and fanshaped meanders down
his shirt bosom, diamond studs to plain gold
studs. There, JenkenS has Mr.. Dickens COM
pete, and it is to be hoped that further biog-
raphers will not neglect to avail themselves
of the valuable information given in this COM
munication.
never realized that there are people who
cannot take a joke until the other evening,
when, swaying to and fro With laughter at
Jack Hopkins boy who swallowed the neck
lace Bob Sawyers party, 1 caught sightef a
man who looked as if he were going to his
own funeral, Had he been corpse his mus
Giles could not have been more rigid. What
such people are born for, don't know. An
All-wise Providence does, however, and it
may be that they are intended to populate
our possessions in the Gulf of Mexico. I'M
movable bodies can have no reasonable OBJ
jections to earthquakes. Sensibility does not
seem to be universal, however. The other af-
ternoon, as Mr.. Dickens retired after reading
David Copperfeld, leaving Steerforth and
Ham Peggotty dead before us, a "lady" be-
hind me exclaimed =
"That was sort of nice, wasn't it? Well,
as was saying before he began, l think four
teen yards will make EMS dress, don't you? ?"
eyes, indeed. OF course you will trim it
with bugles?"
"Of course'"-
Dickens, Dickens ! of what account is your
dramatic power, when weighed in,the balance
with new gown and--bugles!
From the pertinacity with which some of
Mr.. Dickens hearers, who sit W thin a few
feet of the stage, apply themselves to books
of the readings, should suppose that, like
Ristori, Mr.. Dickens spoke in foreign tongue
and that lbrettos were absolutely necessary
to an understanding of the performance
Landor once declared that he wrote two dead
languages-Latin and English. AS Mr..
Dickens writes English, this devotion to text
books may be accounted for on the Landori-
an theory. To those who comprehend our
mother tongue, the little books issued by
Ticknor & Fields are invaluable everywhere