, 1869-10-30
Why Dickens Separated from His
[From the Roston FoIIo.l

ter as follows; You have not only
my full permission to show this, but
| beg you to show this to any one
who has been misled into doing me a
wrong" We therefore take pleasure
in presenting his statement to our
readers /:
My DEAR Mrs. Dickens and
have lived uuhappily together for
many years. Hardly any one who
has known us intimately can fail to
have known that we are in all re-
spects Of character and tempera-
meut, wonderfully unsuited to each
other. / suppose that no two peo>
pie, not vicious in themselves, ever
were joined together, who had a
greater difficulty in understanding
one another, or who had less in COM
mon. An attached woman servant,
(more friend to both of US than ser
vant) who lived with US sixteen years
and is now married, and who was,
and still is, in Mrs. Dickens conf
dence and mine, who had the closest
familiar experience of this unhappi-
ness in London, in the country, in
France, in Italy, wherever we have
been, year after year. month after
month, week after week, day after
day, will bear testimony to this.
Nothing has, on many occasions,
stood between us aud u separation,
but Mrs. Dickens sister, Georgine
Hogartb. From the age of fifteen
she has devoted herself to our house
and children. She has been their
pla ymate, nurse, instructress, friend,
pro tectress, adviser and companion.
In the manly consideration towards
Mrs. Dickens which 1 owe to my
wife, l will only remark of her that
the popularity of her character has
thrown all the care of the children
on some one else. | do not know, |
cannot by any stretch of fancy imag
ine-what would have become of
them but for this aunt who has grown
up with them, to whom they are de-
voted, and who has sacrificed the
best part of her youth and life to
them.
She has demonstrated, reasoned,
suffered and toiled, aud could come
again to prevent separation between
Mrs. Dickens and NE. Mrs. Dick
ems has often expressed to her a sense
of her affectioLate care and devotion
in the house-never more strongly
than within the last twelve months.
For some years past Mrs. Dickens
has been in the habit of representing
to me that it would be better for her
to go away and live apart; that her
always increasing estrangement made
a mental disorder under which she
sometimes labors ; more that she felt
herself unfit for the life she had to lead
as my wife, and that she would be
far better away. l have uniformly
replied that she must bear our mis-
fortune and fight the fight out to the
end that the children were the first
consideration, and that | feared they
must bind US together I" in appear
aRce."
At length, within these three
weeks, it was suggested to me by
Foster, that even for their sakes, it
would surely be better to reconstruct
and rearrange the unhappy home.
[ empowered him to treat with Mrs.
Dickens as the friend of both of US
for one and twenty years. Mrs.
Dickens wished to add, on her part,
Mark Lemon, and did so. On Sat-
urday last, Lemon wrote to Foster,
that Mrs. Dickens gratefully and
thankfully accepted" the terms l
proposed to her. Of the pecuniary
part of them, l will only say that |
believe these are as generous as if
Mrs. Dickens were a lady of distinc-
tion and l a man of fortune. The
remaining parts of them are easily
described-my Oldest boy to live with
Mrs. Dickens and to take care of her
my eldest girl to keep my house
both my girls and all my children
but the eldest son to live with me 10
continued companiOnship or their
Aunt Georgine for whom they have all
the tenderest affections that 1 have
ever seen among young people, and
who has higher claim (as l have
often declared, for many years, upon
my affection, respect and gratitude
than anybody in the world.
| hope that no one who may be-
come acquainted with what l write
here, can possibly be so cruel and
unjust as 10 put any misconstruction
on our separation SO far. My elder
children all understand it perfectly,
and accept it as inevitable.
There is not a shadow of doubt or
concealment among us. My eldest
son and | are one as to it all.
The wicked persons, who should
have spoken very different of me, in
consideration ofrespect and gratitude
have (as l am told, indeed, to my
personal knOwledge,) coupled with
separation the naue of a young lady
for whom / have a great attachment
and regard. will not repeat the
name-I honor it too much. Upon
my soul and honor there is not ON
this earth a more virtuous and spot
less creature than that young lady.
l know her to be innocent and pure,
and as good as my own daughters.