, 1870-07-24
SOME MEMORIES OF CHARLES
DICKENS.
Ell JANA r. HHDS.
Ffop4 the Au!51tst Atlantic,

Ou sunny morning in October Last the
writer Of there Feculleetirus heard from the
authors bps tho first chapters of new story,
tho concluding lues OF which initial pages
were ttep scarcely dry from the pen The
story is unfinished. and he who read that
autumn morning xith much vigur OF voice snd
dramatic power il in Lis grave Tlis private
| reading took place IN the little room where the
great nove1Dt for uaaDy years has been secus-
tomed to write. anil In the house where
| en- pleasant evening in Jana he died Tho
| spot il one of tho lovehes, III Kent, and must
alwAyo he remembered IL the last ree1denre Of
Chaties Dickens. He ueed To declsre his firm
! belief that Shakespeare WAS especially fond Of
Eent. md that the poet chose Gad's Hill aud
Rochester for the sceneIy Of bis plays from in
tmate personal knowledge Of their localities.
| He said he h&d no manner Of doubt tut that
1 ono OF Shakepeares h&unts Was the old
inn 1t Rochester. and that this oopyic-
ton came forahly upon him ono night u he
VAIN over the chimney just - Shakespeare
has described it, In words put Into the mouth
Of the ea1rier in King Henry the Fourth.
Iheto Is no prettior place than GAd's Hill in
all England 1ot tha easlicdt and latest flowers,
and Dickens chos,e It. when he had arrived At
tho falness Of his fame and prosperity, As the
home In which he most wished 10 spend tho
rtnunde1 Of his days. When \ boy, he would
often pass the house with bin father, and sre-
aaeasas ssss :s,a a2 ts him In al" T erss nsdl hays III
Place is the house I mean 10 buy"
In thas beautiful retreat he has tor many years
been accustomed 10 welcome his frieuds, and
find relaxation from the cruwded Life Of Lon
don. On the lawn pisying At bowls, in the
Swiss sunmer-hoase chas1ningly shaded by
| Of summer, beautiful az the season is in the
delightful region where he lived. In letter
written mol long ago to friend iu America lie
thus described hin home:
divers birds sing lere all d&y. and the
| nightingales al night. The place ia lovely and
| the Swiss chalet (where / write), aud they re-
fleet snd reftact, in Ill kinda Of ways, the
| leaves that are qusrering At the windows, And
| the great fields Of waving corn. and the
saikdotsea river; NJ room is up, among
the butterflies dy in and out. and ths green
| branches shoot In 1t the open wiudows, And
! the lights and shadows Of the clouds come and
80 with the rest OF tue company. The scent
| OF tho howere, and, indeed, Of everything that
| is growing for nilea and 1niles, il most de-
| Gciou4."
| There he could be most thoroughly enjoyed,
for he never seemed go cheerfullJ at home
anywhere else. At his Own table. surrnuulcd
1nces from iown,--au ong them sonetimas
Forster, Carlyle, Eeade, Collins, lay
ard. Maclise, Stone, M.cre4dy, TaIfourd,-he
was alwsys the choicest and livalies: compAa-
| ion. He wss not what IL called in soc1eky I
professed ta1ker, but he WAS something far
better and rarer.
In his own intmitalle manner he would fro
quently relate to i friend, il prompted, eto-
res Of his youthful days, when he WAS toll
ing on the London Morning Chronicle, p.ss-
ing aleepless hours ~ = reporter On the
road IN ! post-chaise, driTing day and night
from point to point to iAke down The
speeehes Of Shiel or O'Conne1. He liked
to describe the poat-boJs+ who we're &C.
ustonnod TO hurry him over the road that be
might roach London in advance Of his rival re-
writing out for the press, a. he dew over The
ground, the words he lad taken dovnin short
hand. Those we're his days OF severe tram
Ing. when in. Eain, And elect, and cold he
dashed along, scarcely abls to keep ths blind
ing mud ont Of his tired eyes aud he imputed
business. and determined Il possib1e to ear1
Beven guineas week / large sheet
VAS started 1t this period OF his lie,
in which all the important speeches Of
Parliament were to be reported pTtd-
gagged on this gigantic journal. Mf. Stanley
l,sd spoken At great length on the condition Of
Ireland. 1t was very long and eloquent
speech, occupying many hours in the delivery.
light reporters were sent IN to 10 the work.
Each one Vas required to report three-quArters
of Ii hour, then to retire, write ous his por-
hon, and to be euceesded by the next. Young
Dickens aas detailed to lead on with the irst
part- 1t also fell to Ills lot, when the tine
came round, 10 report the cloting portions os
the speech On Saturday the whole was gisen
to tue prest, and Dickens ran down to the
country fot SUNDAYS rest. Sunday morning
| hRd eelzcely d4w1ed, when his father, who
was a man OF immense energy, made
bis appearance IN his cons sleeping room.
| Mr- Stanley wHs 70 disaati86ed with what he
found in print, except the beginning and end
ing OF his speech Uust what Dickens had
oaica aud obtained The sheets Of these parts Of
the report. He there found the name OF the
reporter, which, according to custom, Was
written on the margin. Then he requested
that tie young man bear;ng the nano Of
Dickens should he Immediately sent for.
Dickens father, ali aslov With the prospect
1 OF probable promotion IN the office, went iu-
uaediately to his sons stopping.place In
the country and brought him back 10
London, In telling the story, Dickens said:
II re- remember perfectly, to this day, tie aspect
gentlemen in it, Ats. Stanley and hls father.
ne, % bill nosed their evident surprise 4 tie
spoke together. I had taken SCI. extended
to me in the middle Of the room. Mr. StAu
ley told mo he wished to 60 over the whole
speech and have It written out By me, and il
was ready he would begin no~. Where would
IKE 20 sit: told Kim was very well
Immediately. He tiled to induce mo 70
sit NJ dcsk, but 1t that time IN
the House Of Commons there wss moth.
ing but ones knees TO write upon, and had
formed the hAhit o! doing my wozk IN thA
way. Without further pause lie began and
went rapidly On. hour after hour, to the end,
often becoming very much excited, and fro
9uensly bringing down hin band with crest
violence upon the deak near which ho stood"
No writer ever lived whose method WAS
more exact, Ehoee pnnctushty VAS more
never shi,ked labor, meutM or bodily. He
rarely declined, II tho object uore good one,
taking the chair Al public meeting. Or ac-
celting = charitable uust Many widows
and orphans OF doeeased literary mon have
ehip or counsel. and he spent great portion
Of his time personally looking after the prop
etty Of tire poor whose interests were under
his CONTROL He was. ~ has been iulmAted,
| one OK the most industrious Of naea, and mar
vellons stories are tod (not by h1mselp OF
literary and sociM mAttets- His studies wero
al from nature and life, and his habits OF OBJ
sevasion we're untiring. II he contemplated
writing - HaEd Tines, he a1rangedlxish the
uasse! Of Ass]ey's ciscus to spend many hours
behind the scenes with the riders and
position Of the T4le Of Two Cities were
occupying his thoughts, he could baniah him
eclf to France for two years to prepare fol-
that crest work: Hogarth pencilled on hie
vished to preserve Dickens with his Trans.
| cendent memory. ch.oulcled in his mind
whAtcvcr OF interest met bis eye or re.chei
his ear, any time Or anJwhere~ Speaking q
, memory one day, be said the memory Of chit
tren WAS prodigious it WAS mistake II
| fancy children ever forgot ANYTHING. Wheu
. he was de1ineating the character Of Mrs. Ftp
chin, he had in his mind IN old lodging-housA
, keeper in N English HAsering.plae
xhsss .. s b otsr "a hsns lhv'ns +. *',h h, b,
, r.Fo years old. After The book w.s written b
! sent it to his sister, who wrote bAck At ones
. "Gpod heavens. Whist does this nean7 1ot
: have painted onr lodeing-house keeper, an
you werc but two years old It That tine J!
. Characters and Incidents crowded the chan
. zion required. No subject Of human intere.
was ever Indifferent to him, snd never d
: went BY that did not anorl him Some sugges
. tiou to be utilized In the future.
q His fa:orlte mode OF exercise WAS walking
:. and when in America, two yearo aen~ scazeel
= I day passed, no matter what the weather, tha
. hc did not accomplish bis eight or ten mile,
o It wAs on these expeditions thxt he liked :
u recount 10 the comphuion OF his 7mhle
!. 1 stories xnd Incidents OF his ea9ly life; IN
8 whrn he vas In the mood, his fun and hume
o knew no bounds. he would then trequtntl
. tli.cuns the numerous characters in his dclighl
b tul books, and would set out on the rost
!, dramatic situations, where Nicklehv or Coz
b pezheld Or Swivtller would play di:!insniaht
e pafss. 1t il remembered that De said, on OF
Of the occasions, that during the eonposlt;o
Of his first stories be co..isi never entirely di
miss the eharactarB about uhom
happened to b. writing thl
While the "oid curioeity Shop