Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1870-06-22
TO BE CONTINUED.
Dickens as a Man and an Author

Dickens as Man and an Author.
1t is generally supposed that the pre-
cuniary success of Mr.. Dickens career
has been at least equal to his literary
reputation. But his history is another
example of the great results which may
frequently spring from small begin,
nings. His parents were far from rich
and in his younger days Charles was
reckless i'll his personal expenditures,
and apparently unstable in character
Many anecdotes are told of his youth
fuI escapades in his native village, and
one which was related to the writer by
one of Dickens friends, now a noted
London journalist, is somewhat singu-
lar. While writing his early sketches
for the Morning Chronicle, he was, OF
fancied himself to be, deeply enamOred
of q young lady named Emma Floyd
She lived at distance of about three
miles from his fathers house. Midway
between the two was the pOst-Office
where Dickens mailed his manuscript
to the London editor. In those days it
was optional to prepay a letter or inflict
the expense on the recipient. Postage
was then eight pence an ounce, and
Dickens, fearing that unpaid matter
might be refused, was compelled to bOr-
row the necessary funds from the vii
lage grocer. When in possession Ot
money he would hurry past the office to
see his inOnIOTdtG, and having many
friends he contracted habit of stopping
at the Elms, a Wayside tavern, and
when he left, there was of course, nc
funds to pay the letter due in London.
This went on for sometime until Miss
Emma Floyd, alarmed by the reports
of her lovers unsteadiness, cast him off
and Dickens, in despair, as was said, re-
sorted to wild life for a time. There is
a singular story told of a mistake he
made under these circumstances: Re.
turning home from the iElms' in the
evening, he met a young lady closely
yelled, about Emma's height, and re-
sembling her in gait and general ap-
pearance. In most agitated manner
he at once made a feTvent declaration
of love, renewed his protests of Undy-
ing attachment, and begged forgiveness
for all$is errors in the past. The young
lady happened to be the daughter of the
rector of the parish, and, therefore, of
course, slightly acquainted with the
young author. His appeal was so elO-
qUent, and his sincerity so manifest,
that Miss Rs heart was touched,
and she promised to speak to her father.
The next morning Charles Dickens re-
ceived a letter from the Reverend Rec
tor, expressing his surprise at so sudden
a declaration to his daughter after so
slight an acquaintance; but as he recUg-
nized his ability, so he would accept his
VOWS of amendment, and if both parties
remained in the same frame of mind
for u n
show any prospect Of maintaining q
wife, he would not object to their union.
This singular double engagement clap
ped the climax of his social difficulties
in his native village, and within fort
night of the unexpected renc0ntre he
removed to London and entered uDOn
the labor of his life.
When DR.. Black, the then editor of
the Morning Chronicle, proposed to en-
gage him as reporter in the Police
Courts, Dickens was reduced almost to
the last eXtTemities. He lived in a
small garret room in Wych street; he
was indebted to his landlady for nearly
a months rent. His watch was in the
hands of his uncle'-a gentleman with
three golden balls round the corner
and his stock of linen was more like
that of prosperous young journalist.
But in a few weeks all was changed.
Having obtained q situation uDOn the
paper, and finding his own proper liter
ary work renumeTatiVe, Mr.. Dickens
another being. He was all
energy, and his versatile powers rapid-
ly made themselves conspicuous, so
much so, indeed, that he was not vet
five and twenty when engaged to write
the Ptc6lUicE Papers. Chapter by chap
ter they were published as soon as writ
ten, and, however admirable the trans
actions of the "Pickwick ClubU are as
a whole, traces of want of continuity
are apparent in the work. The ceIebrat-
ed Mrs. Bardell'' was drawn from n
living portrait; she was a Mrs. Ann
Ellis, who kept an eating house near
Doctors Commons, on Great knight
Rider istreet. 'Nr. SnOdgrass,D in his
principal characteristics, and even the
description of his personal appearance,
was at once accepted as a carfcature oil
MIR. Winters, TOUeGlL richie, who might
be seen in the season every afternoon
1t four o'clock Ogling the ladies in the
Ladies' Mile in the Park, and in the
summer at Cheltenham, Bath, and the
watering places. The Fat
8Oy' was acknowledged to be sketched
rom the servant of a gate-keeper in
Essex, on the London and Chelmsford |
'Oad. Many other characters in his |
novels have also, from time to time, /
)een traced to real characters. Their |
.uthOr, however, in most instances, has !
lenied the authenticity of the portraits. |
f, however, the great author, who has |
ust left us, did not paint from the Iiv- /
ng figure heads the individual actors in |
lis novels, he certainly drew life from |
IS broad lights and shades as it actually |
vas. Oliver TtUist, Bleak House and DaU-
q COpperfcld, exposed some of the most
laring wrongs in the lower and middle
trata Of English society; and suggested
which were ultimately
arried out in the management of the
all and the WOrk-hOuse. The reform
n Chancery practice, nominally intro
uced by Lords BrOugham and Lynd-
uTst, may also be referred almost di-
ectly to the influence of the Novelist
But it is of the man rather than the
uthor we are now thinking. Charles
dickens, although, perhaps, far from
Tictly temperate in his habits, was q
arm friend and constant advocate Of (
II measures or projects aimed at the
iminutiOn of the national vice of ,
During the great agita-
on of the temperance movement i'm ,
357, Lord Shaftesbury, Mr.. Dickens,
Ir. Fawcett, and John Stuart Mill, ]
let together i'm one of the rooms adiOin-
lg st. James Hall to devise n scheme
n meeting the increased and increas-
lg evils, which Lord Shaftesbury argu- s
ere the result of the excitement caus- ]
1 by the Crimean War,a the return of ]
le soldiers from active service. 1t was |