New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-11

morality however are for this side Of the water NJ
body presumes 10 doubt the Of an American pup
Usher to do. Ike the Duke Of Newcastle, as no likes
with his own, OF, unlike the Duke of Newcastle
with other peoples property, provided the other
people are British A Broadway publisher, signs
The Ddilv Ne,cs cannot be trusted. And 1T winds
up in fine burst of outraged sentiment:
We know already much about Dickens, more than
we know of dozen OF the greatest Writer'S =. nore
private letters is to the last degree superuous anu
Impairment.
Amid this hailstorm of hard adjectives it may not
he onite easy TO discern between those meant lor
you and for Mr. Bouton, and for The lines MI
Ouvry ought to come in for his share but he Is dea
Hisexecutors who sold the letters must bear some VI
the blame also unless, as The Daily Telegraph gen
tly lntimates they were stolen Mr.. Edmund ia'o'
nsinnates the same WITH his habit is, rather less
gentleness. In The Uorld of to-day this stern CATO
writes:
Every one will sympathize with Miss Hogarths IN
dignant disclaimer of any completely on me paIu oa
Dickenss family in the publication OF his business
letters addressed under the seal of confidence 10 MS
solicitor II is impossible TO imagine how the Iet
ters have got into the maRG 1OG az bs srcts
honor and prObity and the last 10 commit any pi0
fesslOnal laches
No doubt Mr. Bouton will be glad to state ex-
plicitly from whom ne bought the letters, and let
whatever responsibility there may be in the matter
rest where il belongs There will be, daresay,
other contributions to this discussion, but nave
quoted OF summarized all have seen thus far Win
the execution of couple of acrid paragraphs in Ih
Lceds Mercury paper which, for what reason
know not has marked prejudice against America
and. am afraid, against THE TRIBUNE. IL is OF
opinion that the protest of Miss Hogarth will meet
with general sympathy, and that the publication oI
these letters (which it describes IA appearing Ill
THE TRIBUNEl without any attempt to soften the
illusions to other persons which are certain 10 cause
pain, can only be regarded as gross outrage upon
the memory of Dickens himself" 1t plumply Calls
them stolen property" and the printing oil 'heih
"anothcr instance of the crying wrongs suffered by
English authors at the hands of the American ma
tion.D Phrases Of this sort strike one as provincial
Imay say however, that the notion OF shroudlhg
Dickenss affairs in privacy comes too late to have
any practical value IIc himself made public some
Of the most private passages of his life. To GER
tain extent he took the world into his confidence
with respect to the relations between himself and
his wife He chose deliberately to lay bare III his
will other secrets of other relatives with other
women His Life by Forster was regarded by
everybody as a disappointing book partly because
Forster made too much of his own friendship WIN
Dickens but partly also because so many stories aro
half told. The subsequent publication of three
volumes of letters by his daughters and by Miss
Hogarth spoke cloquently enough ON Theses points.
Dickens himself appeared convinced that he could
not have publicity enough. There was nothing ho
was not ready TO cOnfdc TO half a million of people
if so many could be got TO listen. So that, repeat
the nrgng now Of this plea Of priyacyis nonsense so
far as Il is meant TO the memory of the novel
list. So far as il is meant 10 attack those who are
instrumental in bringing these documents TO light
the accused will of course answer for themselves.
The Times has not yet felt called upon TO appear in
the dock. or to make any sort of apology for its
share I'm the business. q. w -