The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-09

Mr.. Yates writes Us q most interesting
letter, which we print elsewhere, giving his
views on the life of Dickens, by John Forster.
Although we have reviewed this work at
length in our columns the intimate relations
existing between Mr. Yates and the famous
author, not to speak of the rank which Mr..
Yates has himself attained in the world OF
letters, give any statement he may make
unusual interest in q controversy like that
now pertaining to the life and character of
Dickens, which bids fair to have literature Of
its own. Mr.. Yates initiates the reserve and
dehcacy shown by Mr.. Forster in speaking
of Dickens He was his literary pupil,
follower and cherished personal friend, and in
dealing with that sad event in the life OF
Dickens which shattered his influence while
living and will forever darken his fame, these
two gentlemen resemble those virtuous sons
of the patriarch who walked backward with
averted eyes to hide his shame.
While there is no positive evidence from
Mr.. Yates throwing new light on the causes OF
Dickens treatment of his wife, We learn that
after the separation the novelist himself felt
those who loved Dickens and gloried in his
fame resented his extraordinary conduct, and
among them his very dear friend and patron,
to whom he dedicated one Of his novels, the
Baroness Burdett-Coutts We learn also that
his friends divided into two parties, some
Dickens, or, rather, preferring not to deal
harshly with him, for no one seems to have
approved of his conduct No one was
closer to him than Mr. Forster and Mr.. Yates
and the utmost that these gentlemen say,
Mr.. Forster in his book and Mr.. Yates in his
letter, is that there may have been reasons of
temperament on the part Of Dickens into
which we should not inquire too curiously
They look upon the act with sorrow, some
thing to be mourned as true friends mourn
over the misfortunes of other friends-some-
thing to be pardoned, perhaps, to that supreme
and noble intellect which did SO much to
strengthen the spirit OF love and charity and
duty among men.
This is something of our own feeling.
There is no censure that we can pass that will
do away with the abiding influence of the
genius of Dickens. It will live in our itera-
ture as something spiritual, apart from the
acts of the mere body. We cherish the soul
of this master in his books and teachings as We
cherish the soul Of Byron and Shakespeare,
who behaved no better to their wives, we fear.
But the painful thought is that the selfish and
impulsive behavior Of Dickens, which not
even the friends who loved him like John
Forster and Edmund Yates defend, brings dis
credit upon the literary character The world
will say, ''Who are these strangely gifted
menu Do they mean what they write? Are
they artifcers Of words and phrases who use
words as the gunner uses shot, merely to
produce o business and artistic effect;
or are they teachers with a message from the
Most High, in the form Of genius, commits
stoned to teach virtue and faith and duty?"
If Dickens, who taught this generation new
truths in domestic love and created world
of felicity and beauty for the comfort of oil
men and women-if Dickens the master, did
not believe what he taught, what teacher
the rocks Of scepticsm, fearing that there is
no truth after all in these men who claim to
be its apostles
We could have wished that Mr.. Yates had
told us something that would lead US to other
conclusions He speaks Of his master and
friend lovingly, tenderly, with warm appreci-
alton of the beauty that was in his character,
but evidently accepts the judgment of the
world, that it would have been better for his
fame had he only been true in his elder years
to the VOWS he gave so proudly in his youth.