The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-01-09
"REMINISCENCES OF DICKENS.

"REMINISCENCES OF DICKENS.
Extracts from Letters to his Friends.
From Forster's Dickens, Volume 81
WHAT DICKENS THOUGHT OF THE Law.
NV feeling about the - is the feeling
common, suppose, to three-fourths OF the
refecting part of the community in our hap
piest Of all possible countries, and that is that
1t is better to suffer great wrong than to have
recourse to the much greater wrong of the law
| I shall not easily forget the expense and
anxiety and horrible injustice Of the Carol
case, wherein, IN asserting the planest right
on earth, was really treated as il 1 we're the
robber instead OF the robbed. It is
useless to affect that I don't know / have o
morbid susceptibility of evaporation, to which
| the meanness and the badness OF the law in
such matter will be singing to the last de-
gree.
The HEROINE OF sToRY-suaaEsrEp BY H1s
sIsTER-N-LAw.
Mr. Forster says:
sin note-b book begun by him in January,
1855, where for the first time in his life he
jotted down hints and fancies proposed to be
made available in future WRITINGS, I find q
character sketched which, if the whole was
not suggested by his sister-In-law, the most
| part was applicable to her." 'She-sacritoed
| to children, and sufficiently rewarded. From
a child herself. always the children (of some
body ese) to engross her. And 30 1t comes
| to pass that she is never married; never her
self has child; is always devoted to the
| children (of somebody else;) and they love
her; and she has always youth dependant on
her till after her death-sud dies quite happi-
ly.
THE CHIMES.
The writing of this piece had an e1sraordi-
nary effect upon Dickens, which is thus de-
scribed by himself:
This book (whether in the Hail Baba sense
or not cannot say, but certainly the literal
| one) has made my face white in foreign land.
| My cheeks, which were beginning to fill out,
! have sank again; my eyes have grown immense
ly large; my hair is very lank, and the head In
side the hair Is hot and glddy. Read the scene
| at the end Of the third part twice. wouldn't
write it twice for something. YOU
will see that have substituted the name Of
Lillian for Jessie. 1t is prettier in sound, and
suits my music better. mention this lest you
should wonder who and what mean by that
name. | hope you will like the little
book. Since conceived at the beginning OF
tho second part what must happen in the third,
have undergone as much sorrow and agitation
as If the thing were real; and have wakened up
with it at night. was obliged to lock myself
10 when finished it yesterday, for my face was
swollen for the time TO twice Its proper size,
and was hugely ridiculous. I am
going for long walk to clear my head. l feel
that am very shaky from work, and throw
down my pen for the day. There! CHATS
where it fell.)
COMPLETING s'CoPPERFIELD."
Dickens wrote to Forster on completing
"Coppertield:"
II have been Q5th Of September) tremen-
dousy at work these two days: eight hours at
a stretch yesterday, and six hours and half
to-day, with the Ham and Steerforth chapter,
which has completely knocked me over-utter-
ly defeated mel l am (21st Of October) within
three pages vi the shore, and am strangely
divided as usual in such cases, between sor-
row and Joy. Oh, my dear Forster, II we're to
say half OF what 'Copperheld' makes me feel to-
night, how strangely, even to you, l should
be turned inside out? | seem to be sending
some part Of myself into the chadowy World
ABOUT HIS THEATRICAL PRoCLIvITIEs.
"When was about twenty, and knew three
or four successive years of Mathews's At
Homes from sitting in the pit to hear them,
wrote to Bartley, who was stage manager at
Coyent Garden, and told him how young was,
that believed I had a strong perception OF
character and oddity, and 3 natural power OF
reproducing IN my own person what observed
in others. There must have been something
in the letter that struck the authorities, for
BARLEY wrote to me almost Immediately to say
back ESQ they we're, but that they would COM
municate with me again in a fortnight. Pune
tual to the time another letter came. with an
appointment to do anything OF Mathews |
pleased before him and Charles Kemble on q
certain day at tt heatre. My sister Fanny
was in the secret, and was to go with me to
play the songs. was laid up when the day
came with terrible bad cold and an infamma
tlon Of the face; the begInniug, by the by, OF
that annoyance III one ear to which am sub
ject to this day. wrote to say so, and added
that would resume my application next sea-
son. made great splash IN the gallery
soon afterwards; the Chronicle opened to me;
had distinction in the little world OF the
newspaper, which made me like it; began to
write; didn't Wa mt money; had never thought
OF the stage bat as means OF getting it; grad
ually left off turning my thoughts that way,
and never resumed the idea. Thls
was at the time when / was at Doctors Com
mons as q shorthand writer for the proctors.
And recollect wrote the letter from little
office had there, where the answer came also.
1t wasn't very good living (though not very
bad one,) and was wearlly uncertain, which
made me think OF the theatre IN quite bus-
ness.like way. | went to some theatre every
night, with very few exceptions, tor at least
three years, really studying the bills first, and
going to where there was the best acting, aud
always to see Mathews when ever he played.
practiced immensely (even such things as
walking in and out and sitting down in chair,)
often four, five, six hours day, shut up in my
own room or walking about in the fields. I
prescribed to myself, too, sort Of Hamilto
uian system for learning parts, and learnt a
great number. I haven't even lost the habit
now. ~ must have done good deal,
for just as Macready found me out they used
to challenge me at Barham's; and Yates, who
was knowing enough in these thugs, wasn't to
be panied at all. 1t was just the same that day
"Cnuzzewi last Juue. y I had an
odd fancy, when was reading the unfortunate
little farce st Covent Garden, that Bartley
looked as If some struggling recollection and
connection were Strung I'M within him. hnt IL