Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-03-14

1t troubles me when some of my young
friends say, Il don't like Dickens. |
can't read him." But | remember that,
several years ago. Ibid not like him my
self, though / read him. lga1 $3.50
Youthful eagerness wanted to skip-tO
get at the pith Of the story. Tho little
details, grotesquely humorous--the fine
points-the more than human, and yet,
in sense, so wonderfully human crea-
tions of his genius-the marvellous ugli-
ness-the fantastic idiosyncracies Of his
minor Characteristic minute hair lines
of his descriptive touches-were not as
appreciable then as now
The inimitable drollery that makes
one chuckle, not langh-the infinite
pathos that drives the tears from almost
. sealed fountains-these no amateur in
novels, no tyro in literature, can pos
sibly enjoy in all their breadth and full
ness. Yet, besides these, take from his
pages the simple story of some tender
life, and he who can read, and nothing
more, will feel his better nature stirring
within him. ~ AZ
Come down, little Nell, from thy sa-
cred niche, and let me love thee, dear
child. To me thou art no creature of
fancy; but one of the fairest, purest
spirits that ever left earth for heaven.
Somewhere thou art, and | shall see thee
yet-loving, tender, heaven-hearted little
Nell.
And thou wondrous Micawber, genial
as the sunshine, and hopeful on the very
prison threshold, more willing to wait
than to work, always expectant of some
good Just before thee-thou, too, shalt
have place in our hearts proud father,
fond husband and generous friend. Thy
puffy cheeks and noble waistband, thine
open hand and ruddy face are they not
painted indelibly on the walls of our
memory, never to be obliterated while
these walls shall stand as,s rrF
/ have heard Dickens gently abused
all my life, and principally by frivolous
people. If from the depths of luxu-
rious easy-chair some chignoned woman,
who bears the marks of toilsome hours
spent before her dressing-table, declares
that Dickens novels are such bore to
her, and" Pray, where do you see
any beauty in them, my dear?" write
her down brainless. lE
believe, to enjoy Dickens, one must
be either well cultivated in the regions
of thought and feeling, or else finely en-
dowed by nature with something of that
same instinct of which his genius was
born. ts.s.s.i.is e41lt
The rich owe Dickens very much; he
has told them great many truths in
plain language. The poor and the
down-trodden ought always to speak his
name with reverence. Shallow men
who are religionists, hypocrites who are
everything by turns, monopolists who
work with only selfish interests, heart
less men who grind down the poor-I
can fancy them sneering at Dickens,
meeting their own unsoftened lineaments
as they do. But for the oppressed he
has been silently and thoroughly doing
work which they did not anticipate,
and which many of them, deep-sunken
in the slough of ignorance, will die with
out knowing. But their children viii
rise up and call him blessed. Like
Burns and Hood, only in a greater de-
gree, and with wider influence, he makes
the whole world kin. 9hi ni
remember hearing Dickens discussed
in an English drawing-room one night
Several notabilities were present. two or
three authors, the editor Of a widely
known magazine-whose leonine head
holds world of knowledge, dangerously
misapplied, sometimes fear, and
sprinkling of professional men with their
wives.
Over their dainty cups of tea and deli
cately sliced bread-(ahl that English
4 4 4 ak.,I ..rhsN to
as cream, they gave their several opn
ions without care or forethought, and it
was very amusing to listen.
A urly-headed lieutenant, whose rosy
cheeks and fair complexion almost sug-
gested the nursery, observed "that-aw,
he thought Dickens vote too much about
the wower classes of society, you know.
What did he care to wead about washer
women and pickpockets, and wags and
dirt in general? After all, Boz must be
"a bit of cad himself he vote so much
about cads. ......
A clergyman present spoke up boldly
IN defense of the great British novel
writer, in answer to some one who ac
cused him Of in6delity, and proved that,
while seldom or never quoting from the
hlduudfu huluOlot hc uIcN idIkcAg nun
the Bible in illustration, or TO give force
to moral truth. Then, quoting several
sentences, he turned 10 the lieutenant
with the question; ..
did you ever read that, or this
"Why, no; he never did--a--that is
straight through. He read very few
novels stwaight through, in fact, when he
did" He left us to infer that such
books were stunning" They must
have been.
The magazine editor gave his opinion
in few ponderous syllables-said that
Dickens belonged to the people; that he
created a moral daylight in many dark
dwelling, and taught the sublimity of
goodness in those places where the
Bible never entered. By the bye, he
should not have quoted the Bible, for he |
does not believe it, and Dickens did.
Somebody says that refined taste
may be an equivalent for halt an incomei
and a sense Of what is beautiful in God's $
world may make a poor man Passing
rich with forty pounds year.
And that is what Dickens books have
done They have entered the homes of
the great middle classes and have shown !
that the truest, greatest nobility is con- |
ferred by God, not by princes. He GER
tainly has exercised refining influence
upon the taste Of his millions Of readers. |
He has sent heavens sunshine INTO many |
a barred and darkened window. He has |
made the long watches by sick-beds less
wearisome, and taught men who seldom
we're taught in any other way, that with |
the most limited opportunities, they
might circulate the fine, golden courte-
sizes Of life, aud cheer and help, and