Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-12-26
char!e. Dickans's Letters.

edited by his sister-in-law and his eldest
daughter. He here gives lis picture OF his
own interior life he thought, how he
felt, what pleased and annoyed him, what
administered to his pride, what idols he
worshipped, what conccit possessed him.
He first came to America in 1912, ami his
reception he thus describes in commnnica-
ton to Il friend
| can give YOU no conception OF my wei
come here. There never was king or en-
| peror upon the earth SO cheCred and followed
/ by crowds and entertained in public at
| splendid balls and dinners, and waited on by
public bodies and populations of all kinds.
| have had one from the far West-a journey
/ of :, 900 miles If | 90 ont in a carriagc
| the crowd surround il and escort me home :;
! if | go To the theatre. the whole house.
/ crowded to the door, rises as one man. and
/ the timbers ring again. You cannot M
agine what it is. have five great public
dinners on hand at this moment, and invita-
| tons from every town and village and city in
/ the States.
This is what he thought OF the republic
| Ny dear Macready, desircto he 50 honest
and lust to those who have 50 enthusiast
.
burned the last letter wrote to you-cvcn
| to you, to whom | would speak as TO myself
rather than let it come with anything that
might seem like an ill-consideredword of dis
appointment. | preferred that You should
think me neglectful tif you could imagine
ANYTHING so Wild rather than | should do
wrong in this respect. Still it is of no use. |
am disappointed. This is not the republic |
came to see: this is not the republic of my
Imagination. | infinitely prefer 4 liberal
monarchy-even with its sickening accom-
paniments of court circlcs-to such a gov
ernment as this. The more think Gifts
youth and strength, the poorer and more tri-
fling in thousand aspects II appears IN my
eyes. In everything of which it has made a
boast-eXccpting It's education Of the people
and its care for poor childrcn-it sinks I'M
measurably below the level had placed it
upon; and England, even England, bad and
faulty as the old land is, and miserable as
millions of her people are, rises in the com
parison You live here. Macrcady. asl have
sometimes heard you imagining, You.
Loving you with all my heart and soul, and
knowing what your disposition really is |
would not condemn you to Il years residence
on this side of the Atlantic for any money.
Freedom of opinion! Where is it, | see 4
press more mean, and raltry, and silly, and
disgracctul than any country ever knew.
This is in a somewhat plcasanter vein
The people are afTectionatc, generous.
open-heartcd, hesptable, enthusiastic, good
humored, polite TO women, frank and candid
to all strangers, anxious to obligc, far less
prcjudiccd than they have been described to
be, frequently polished and refined, very
seldom rude or dsagrccablc | have made
Il great many friends here, even in public
convcyanccs, whom have been truly sorry
to part from. In the towns | have formed
perfect attachments. | have seen none of
that grecdiness. and indecorOusncss on which
travellers have laid 50 much emphasis. |
have returned frankness with frankncSs; met
questions not intended to he rude with ans
swers meant to he satisfactory, and have not
spoken TO one man, woman or child of any
degree who has not grown positively alice
tonate before we parted. In the respects of
not being left alone, and of being horribly
disgusted with tobacco chewing and tobacco
spittlc, | have suffered considerably The
sight of slavery in Virginia, the hatred Of
British feeling upon the subject, and the
miserable hints Of the impotcnt Indignation
Of the South, have panied me very much
On the last head, of course, have felt moth
ing but mingled pity and amusement on
the other, sheer distress. But however much
| like the ingredients of this great dish.
cannot hut come back to the point at which
| started, and say that the dish itself goes
against the grain with me, and that don't
like it.
In New Yorl Dickens anticipated Tai
mage in this wise:
Parties - parties parties - of course
every day and night But it's not all parties.
tla.,
watch-houscs, the hospitals, the work
houses was out half the night in New
York with two Of their most famous con
stables; started at midnight and wen, into
every br"thel. thieves house, numbering
hovcl, sailors dancing place and abode OF
vilainy, both black and white, in the town.
| went iHcOg. behind the scenes to the little
theatre, where Mitchell is making fortune.
He has been rearing little dog Tor me and
has called him Boz" am going To bring
him home. In Il word. | 20 everywhere,
and hard life it is. But am careful 10
drink hardly anything, and not TO smoke at
all. have recourse 10 my medicine chest
whenever feel at all bilious, and am, thank
God, thoroughly well.
His second visit 10 this country, in 1861,
seems to have set better on his feelings In
letter to his daughter he wrote;
dine to-day with Longfcllow. Emerson,
Holmes and Agassiz. Longfcllow was here
yesterday. Perfectly white hair and beard,
but a remarkably handsome and notable
looking man. The rity has increased cnor
mously in five and twenty wears II has
grown more mercantile: is like Leeds mixed
with Preston and favored with New Bri%h-
ton: but for smoke and fog you substitute
irrbt litfht al | f,tluI a.
rooms beautifully decorated by Mrs. Fields
with choice flowers, and set oil 10y Il number
of good books am not much prosecuted
by people in general, as Dolby has happily
made up his mind that the less am exhib-
tied for nothing the better. So our men sit
outside the door and wrcstlc with mankind.
They are said 10 be- Il very quiet
audience here, apprcciatiyc but not demon
strativc. shall try 10 change their chlrac-
ter little
His readings here as every one rcmcm-
bers, were a tremendous success This i, the
manner in which the people hclIaycI in
Brooklyn, according TO his description In =
letter to Charles Fcchtcr:
The noble army Of Spectators arc LOW
furnished (this is literally true, and ;s.4
I
| trcss, Il little bag of bread and meat, two
blankets and bottle of whisky. With this
| outfit they lie in line down ON the pavement
| the whole night before the tickets are sold,
/ generally taking up their position at about
| 10. 1t being severely cold at brooklyn, they
made an immense bonfire in the street II
narrow street of wooden houses which the
police turn out tU eNtinUIish. y general
fight then took place. out of which the pcp-
Pile iurihcst off in the line rushed bleeding
when they saw chance of displacn- Others
near the door, and put their mattresses III
those Inccs, and then held on 10y the iron
| rails
In Washington the novelist met Secretary
Stanton who pleased him immensely. lie
| wrote:
dincd against my rules with Charles
Sumner on Sunday, he having been an
old friend of mine Secretary Stanton
war minister was there. lie is a man of {;
very remarkable memory, and famous foi
his acquaintance with the minutrst details "l
my books. Give him any passage anywhcr,
and he will instantly cap it and COON withth'
context. He was commandcr-i chief of al
the Northern forces concentrated here, ano
never went Ia sleep at night without iirS
reading something from my books. Thlcl
were always with him. | put him through ;
pretty severe examination but hc was better
up than was.
4 new and novel treatment of drunk
enncss WAS devised and tested hya Du
buquc wife Her husband came HON,
moderately intuxica ted, and expected tt
get the usual scolding lie was ns
tonished. therefore, when thr W"nsaI
received hlm smilinely, asked hlm If h
would have some brandy, und produced ;
bottle and glass lie promptly arccpto,
the liquor, and drank So much that h'
was helpless Then she tied him To II bed
post, and whipped him with II rawllI'
until, as the 1ctcDrGIh says, lac was 80
tender as n good becfstonk.
Mr. Robert Burdcttc, OF the BurIme
ton HdWEcye, has been lccturiu" il
Colorado. lie Is quoted as saying
''rhc day arrived III Denver the lndinl