New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-06-12
DEATH OF CHARLES DICKENS.


IMPORT to admires of the good, has reached
the country, as the dispatch announcing tne
death of Charles Dickens.
From the time he first became famous as
the author of "Pickwick," through the long
series of literary creations enanatlng from
his prolific brain, all replete with high moral
purpose instructing and delighting, Charles
Dickens has been benefactor to his race,
and wherever the English language IS
spoken and wholesome light literature
properly appreciated, the name OF DICKENS
has been household word. The nap
piness of style, the truthfulness of dellnea-
ton which, apparently exaggerated, mas
on analysis been found so close to nature,
give the works of Dickens an attractlveness
to all classes of readers that has gone far to
counteract the poisonous effects OF the Paul
DeKock school of moral destructives.
Few, even among the very large class OF
readers not given to deep reflection, have
arisen from the perusal Of work OF DICK
ems, without feeling their better impulses
strengthened by renewed admiration OF
virtue and detestation of wrong.
Mr.. Dickens was remarkably unlike the
mass of writer's of fiction in one important
respect. Most of those who have made
tale and story the vehicle Of moral teach.
ings, have been content to concentrate all
the moral effect in the denouement. But
with Dickens every chapter, every sentence
even. seems to contain it's appropriate les
son. The villains of his novels call forth
a feeling of detestation for the criminal and
the crime far deeper than the sentiment IN
spired by remorseless barons and wicked
noblemen; while his deiineations OF VIZ
tuous action seem to give higher and
purer tone to the mind OF the reader.
Another popularity Of Mr.. Dickens was
| the selection of his scenes mainly from the
| lower walks of life. This has led many to
| rank his productions as low comedy is
| ranked in the drama. The SURPRISING ex-
| cellence of Mr.. Dickens was, however, to
| show the world that high minded virtue
was no ways inconsistent with poverty,
| even when poverty was accompanied by lg'
norance and temptation. He was, there
| fore, while fully valued by the opulent and
the learned, empha tically the novelist OF
the lowly and the poor.
| As writer, he stood alone. Others have
| depicted low life; but except in the writings
| of Scott, Richmond, and few others, it has
been low life allied with vice. Contrary to
| this, many of the characters in the works OF
| Dickens, though, drawn from the ranks OF
| poverty and toll, show to the reader, that
| poverty and toll may be allied to consclen'
| tious integrity. There is nothing forced or
| unnatural, either, in his pictures of life.
Ham Peggotty and John Peerybingle are
as thoroughly gentlemen at heart as the Sir
| Charles Grandson of fiction, or the Cheva-
lier Bayard of history. And while we re-
coguize their nobility of nature, we see
nothing in it incougruous with the fact that
they are in condition requiring daily toll
for daily bread.
| It is unnecessary to compare Mr..
| Dickens, as an author, with either contem'
pora7y writers or those of a past generation.
| He excelled all his predecessors in the
| faculty of blending instruction with amuse
| ment. Humphrey Clinker" and 1.-The
Good natured Man" are intensely amusing,
| but where is the moral? In many literary
productions where the moral tone is salient
the absence of attractiveness renders them
useless for popular instruction. In a fal
higher degree than any other, Mr.. Dickens
possessed the faculty of combining the purest
morality with all the attractiveness arising
from the romantic or the ludicrous.
Many years ago, when he had already be-
come celebrated wherever English literature
is cultivated Mr. Dickens visited aud made
limited tour in the United States. The re-
suit of this visit was american Notes" ant
Martin Chuzzlewit." That the satire o
these productions made him for time un
popular in this country can not be disputed
But the feeling has long passed away, ant
if remembered at all, it is with the ides
that American manners and custom!
are not without some tinge, at least
of human imperfection, and that there
is, perhaps, little room among US for i'm
proyement and progress. Mr.. Dickens fol-
many years has been regarded by the
people CT this country with feeling @
respect and affection 40 ways inferior tt
what he was held in the minds of his OWL
countrymen.
The tidings of his death will send {
mournful thrill throughout this continent
and wherever his mother tongue obtains
For among the many who have arisen tt
adorn the path of letters since his da.
began, none will be found to fill his pecnlia
place.
Colored people have now a chance to Sc
cure for themselves home on easy terms
by purchasing lot of land from J. j