The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-06-18
information.
sketch Of He Literary Career OF
s'F.arIcs tsscl.cUs.

who held position IL the Navy ray DePart'
nert was brr., -u LanGport. Portsmouth, Eng
land. in 1872. ~ t!e close of the war with the
United States his father retired on pension,
and removed to London where he became connect.
ed with one of the daily journals as reporter OF
Parliamentary debates. Charles entered an at
torney's office - CLERK but finding his duties dis
tasteful. and drawn by natural bias towards mt
erary occupations, he sou-h, an engagement asa
reporter on the staff OF the Morning thFOhtcit.
This newspaper was then at the height OF Its
porularity, under the management OF Mr. John
BLACK. who. recJ-u:ziu : the readiness and abill-
" OF the new ut, s'lo, soon gave hira chance TO
display his versatility by publishing in the
Chronicle the sketches Of English Lite and
Character" which wer. collected and reprinted
under the ti,la %! "SEo.ctes by Boz, N 1896
and 1887.
The freshness and humor of these papers, and
perhaps the dramatic power indicated by The
Village Coquet:s," comic opera which Mr..
Dickens wrote about that time, attracted the at
:en.ior Of Mcssrs. Chapman n Hall, publishers
who applied to "Boz" to prepare for them >eri-
al story to be published IL monthly parts The
result was the "iosthumous Memoirs OF the
Pickwick Club" with Illustrations AT first from
the pencil of Seymour, and after his death from
tina, of Halber, X. Browne, PHI Mt Dick
ems has given ina preface to later editions OF those
famous memo. n rar~ interesting account OF the
concept on a. -t with of the work. which, begun
without any Sc. ,,lan, rcmains the most per-
feet thine Of i,. Kind i'm the English language.
The sYnces ..s rr.r .7..'a.ck Papers was i'm
mediate and great. L., wl', pathos, and shrewd
picturing OF English character. high and low,
touched the heart su- fancy OF all classes. The
sayings OF sam Weller were quoted by speakers
in the Hou-. Of Parliament and by the ragged
qaininS in the Sums OF london. 'In less than
six months .t.la aYoeala-ce Of the first num-
Der of the .'lickwiek I.r.rs' the whole reading
public were talking about tnen-the names OF
Wrinkle, War'o. NlNsr, &nodgrass, Dodson, and
Fogy had ba,om, as familiar in our mouths as
household terms; and Mr.. Dickens was the
grand object of interest To tie whole tribe OF
LEO huutcr-" male and female of the metropo-
is. Nay, Pirkwcl ch.nrzes figured in linen
Diapers VIII .oys, and " ellcr corduroys III
brseches-mak .iyartj-ements Boz cabs
might De seem r.ttlue through the streets, and
the portrait O., the au.A or OF Pelham or 'Crich-
ton" was .craped down or posted over to make
room Tor that OF the new popular tavorite in the
omnbusses. This is only to be accounted for on
the suppositiou mat hew vein OF humor had
been opened that a new and decidedly original
genius had sprung no. and the most cursory ref
erence to the preceding English writer's OF the
comic order will show that n his peculiar walk,
Mr. Dickens IS not Simply the most distinguish
ed, but the first.
Thus the heavy Quarterly Reriem The young
man who made all this tumult in literary Lon.
don was twenty three or four years old. Taking
into consideration his youth and surroundings,
his sudden fame j. witlot parallel in the biogra.
phies of men of letter, IN England it is much
easier f,r lord to wake M md find himself ia
nous t. ID il is for n man r.ro has neither rank
nor wealth 10 back bis lbjiity--,o very much
IT, Ia: lif-renLe Is appalling.
Mr. D.okaa- Vas now IN the full tide OF sue
.ce,s OF course the editor Of the priceless Pick
wiclian msnusclip5s did not lack for brilliant
PROPOSES from the Icalin- London publishers
He acce pied from Mr. Bentley the eaitorship of
his Niscelioat IN the second numbe, of which,
for February, 1891. app. red .he frat INSTALL
ment Of solver z Yl,t,' The story, admirably
illustrated by George Crakshank, at once be.
came a tavorito. and is still regarded ~ one OF
the author most ,tuk ing novels. "Oliver Twist"
like nicholas Nick oby' which wss issued in
shilling numbers. uniform with "Pickwick,
shortly after the mp.et,on of that work.. dealt
with abuses and ,ruelties which prevailed in Ger.
tain public institutions. and was happily instru.
mental ia repeating laws that sanctioned gross
Injustice II is noticeable that in most of his
novels Mr.. Dickens has battled with some covert
wrong aylinsr society, and, while adding to lit.
erature 4 crowd of imperi shable creations, has
taught u, the deepest Iesso II Of human love and
charity.
Mr.. Dickens in lS4O, undertook the produce
ton of series of tales in weekly numbers, un.
der the general title of Master Humphreys
Clock" |; was in this series that 1.-The Old Gu
rosity Shop" and "Barnaby Rudgs" we're first
given to the world While "Ma.ter Humphreys
Clock was still running Mr.. Dickens edited the
"Memoirs OF Joseph Grinaldi" the celebrated
clown
On finishing master Humphrey's Clock" Mr.