New-York tribune., 1880-01-18
THE prIrlrE LIiE or ~ lCToR

/ I'M YIIJ J IL Ilil. VT j. y 10 iVits
If it should I've discovered dat Thackcray
was not the kind. good. generous man the
world has supposed him to be, none Of us
could ever again read the Roundabout Pa
pcr," with Il spark of pleasure, or 20 back
to Vanity Far" without dl gust. II some
lcartics- euhbcr among dead mems bones
should prove that Oliver Goldsmith VAS not
what we have taken Linn for, but selfish and
calculating hypociitc, the cham ol the "Nlcar
Of Wakefield" would be spoiled forever
Fortunately, the identification oi the author
with his work is not always 30 complete.
When we are in the company Of Sam Weller
ANA Mr.. Picllwick and Micawbcr and Ms.
Camp, we do not think much about Charlie
Dickens; and the characters OF his which are
most dear to u, the chapters which will live
the longest, are just those which bear the
slightest marks OF the author personality. il
is fortunate, we say, that we have tl'"s been
accustomed to separate the man from his
work We can enjoy the droll and liclikc
figures III the Dickens gallery almost as much
as ever, in spite Of the painful discussion Of
the character OF the real Charles Dickens
which has been renewed by The recent publi-
cation of his Letters.
"a writer iii the current HulnDCI oi IHf ''tH-
Ollie Word calls attention to fact which
seems TO have been generally overlooked,
although it is mentioned, somewhat daIkly,
in Forstcr'- biography; We mean that Dickens
caricatured his own mother under Tire
name of Mrs. Nclrlcby. 1t is well known TINT
his father figures as Mr.. Micawbcr; that his
friend Leigh Hunt was the original of the airy
but odious swndler, Harold Skimpolc; and
that the pcculaIites of many of bis
acqualntanccs were held up TO public laughter,
50 little Disguised That they were easily recog-
nizcd I'm lampoOning his mother, how
ever, the novelist exercised a license of
which we believe that few examples can
be found in literature. There are no
letters to either Of his parents in the volumes
lust published, and the brief illusions 10 his
father and mother which occur in the letters To
Forster and others are not pleasant. He felt
that he had been neglected in his bOyhOod
the elder Dickens, always in pccuniary diff
culies, was thrown into a debtors prison.
where his wife went to live with him, and
Charles was sent to work tying up bottles
in blacking factory owned by his cousin.
He bitterly resented this. He thought that the
moor shiftcss debtor in Jail ought to have
"common school," His sense of injury seems to
have been directed especially against his mother.
He left the factory on account OF family quar-
rel. and when it was made mp &" | never after
"waId forgot he wrote, " | never shall for
get. | never can forget, that my mother was
"warm for my being sent back"
The magazine from which we have quoted
adds that Charles Dickens had his revenge
"whcn he afterwards impalcd both his parents
"on his pen, and held them up to ridicue in
"his novels" They were both alive when
the operations were performed. The portrait Of
Mr.. John Dickens, rs Wilkins Micawber, was
generally recognized by his acquaintances. and
so many of the Mcawber incidents were
literally true narratives of the family ex-
perience that the elder Dickens might
without much difficulty have recognized him
self 1t was no secret among the noveist's
associates who sat for the picture of Mrs.
Niclllcby Leigh Hunt. as everybody knows,
was deeply hurt by the Harold Skimpole per-
formance, and Dickens wrote IA weak letter of
explanation. "Thc character is not yOu," he
said, " for there are traits in it common to
fifty thousand people besides, and did not
"fancy you would ever recognize it, Under
similar DISCUSSES my own father and mother
are in my books, and you might as we'll |
see your likeness in Micawbcr." It Is in |
commenting upon this attempt at justification |
that Mr.. Forster, who did not approve of his |
friends conduct. reveals the original of Mrs. |
Nickleby. "The distinction is" he remarks. |
q" that the foibles of Mr.. Micawbcr and of Mrs. |
".Nickleby. however laughable, make neither
" of them in speech or character less love-
" able; and that this is not to be said of
q" Skimpole's. The kindly or unkindly expres.