Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-10-18
DICKENS, LOVE OF ANNALS.

He always had much to say about
animals as well as of men, and there
were certain dogs and horses he had
met and known intimately, which it
was specially interesting to him to
remember and picture. There was a
particular dog in Washington which
he was never tired of delineating.
The first night Dickens read in the
Capital this dog attracted his atten-
ton. He came into the hall by
himself" said he, "gOt a good place
before the reading began. and paid
strict attention throughout. He came
the second night, Gnd was ignOmini-
ously shown out by one of the check
takers. On the third night he ap-
peared again with another dog, which
he had evidently promised to pass in
free; but you SET" continued Dickens,
upon the imposition being unmask-
ed, the other dog apologized by q
no doubt, were of the best, but he
afterwards explained outside, with
such inconyenient eloquence to the
reader and his audience, that they
were obliged to put him down stairs"
In a letter during his reading tour
in America, 1868, and dated from
Albany, he says: I'VE hadall sorts
of adventures by the way, among
which two Of the most notable were
l. Picking up two trains out Of the
water, in which the passengers had
been compOsedly sitting all night,
until relief should arrive. 2. I'm
packing and releasing into the open
country q great train of cattle and
sheep that had been in the water, l
don't know how long, and that had
begun in their imprisonment to eat
each other. ] never could have real
lied the strong and dismal expressions
of which the faces of sheep are capa-
BILE, had not seen the haggard coun-
tenances of this unfortunate flock, as
they were tumbled, out of their dens
and picked themselves up, and made
of, leaping wildly (nany with broken
legs) over a great mound of frozen
snow, and oyer the worried body of
a dead companion. Their misery was
so very human, that was sorry to
recognize several intimate acquaint-
ances conducting themselves In this
forlornly gymnRstic manner.n He
was such firm believer in the mental
faculties of animals, that it would
have gone hard with a companion
with whom he was talking, if doubt
wsre thrown, however inadvertently,
on the mental intelligence of any
four-footed friend that CHANGED to be
- kL,N Aa
All animals which be took under his
especial patronage seemed to have a
marked affection for him. Quite a
colony of dogs has always been a
feature at Gad's Hill. When Dickens
returned home from his last visit to
America, these dogs were frequently
spoken Of in his letters. In May,
1868, he writes: "As you ask me
about the dogs, / begin with them.
The two Newfoundland dogs coming
to meet me, with the usual carriage
and the usual driver, and beholding
me coming in my usual dress out of
the usual door, it struck me that their
recollection of my having been ab-
sent for any unusual time was at once
cancelled. They behaved (they are
both young dOgs) exactly in their
usual manner; coming behind the
basket phaetOn as We trotted along,
and lifting up their heads to have
ears pulled, ,-aspecial attention which
they receive from no one else. But
when I drove into the stable yard,
Linda (the ST. Bernard) was greatly
excited, weeping profusely, and
throwing herself on her back that
she might caress my foot with her
fore-paws. Ms little dog, too, Mrs.
Bouncer, barked in the greatest agita-
ton, on being called down, and asked
Who is this % tearing round and
round me like the dog in the Faust
outlines"
In many walks and talks with
Dickens, his conversation, now alas
so imperfectly7 recalled, frequently
ran on the habits OF birds,-the raven,
of course, interesting him particular
ly. He always liked to have a raven
hopping about his grounds, and who
ever has read the new preface to
" Barnaby Rudge," must remember
several of his old friends in that line.
He had quite q fund Of canary-bird
anecdotes, and the pert ways of birds
that picked up worms for a living
afforded him infinite amusement.
He would give capital imitation of
tie way q rObin-redbreast cooked his
head on one side preliminary to dash
forward on his victim. There is a
small grave at Gad's Hill TO which
Dickens would occasionally take a
friend, and it was quite privilege to
stand with him beside the burial
place of little Dick, the family's
favorite canary.-FrOBl Fields Mem