New-York tribune., 1884-11-16

tanca nf course. elected 10 walk with Dickens /;
and of we set, with such of the other guests as
chose to face the ordeal ey wSis n
was seldom less than twelve miles, ana inc pace "as
good throughout have now IN my minh eye u y
porty American gentleman III vat,sneh & Ss left
nantinp bv the wayside and for whom the basket
carJia ge had TO be sent. , =, MIL,
II was during one of these walks that DICKENS
showed me, in Gotham Park. the siiie close by
which. after a fearful struggle. Mr.. Dadd had been
murdered by his unatc son in 1913 Dickens acte,i
tne whole scene with his usual dramatic force. i
bad Lcard somothing of the story before from FIRTH
who is an excellent rdcOn',r. The murderer ,neh
escaped hut was a,tcIward secured he han peeh
travelling on a coach. and his hOnicidal tendencies
had been aroused by regarding the large neck, DIS
closed by very low collar, OF lclow-phssrngrr'
who waking from sleep. found Daius iihge,s
play ng round his threat on Searcmhg Daud ia ths
stu1lo after his arrest they found painted on tle
wall behind a screen. portraits of Egg, stone anu
Firth Dadds intimate associates, az '''th he"
hrodts cuf-a pleasant sugg' stoh oi 'hcir i'eLu "
GENERALLY accompanied by his dogs when was
first with him they were Turk, liver-c iored mas
tif, and Linda. st. Bernard, whlch Albert Sihilh
had brought from SwItzerland), Dickens would 60
along at "a swinging pace: sometimes over the
marshes famons in "Great Expectations" some
fumes along a hIlv trampn Tested rOad 10 t}raVes-
end skirtinc Gotham Park. and past tie Leather
Bottle whIther Mr.. Tupinan retired: past Fort
Pitt near which Dr. Slammer proposed To take Mr,
Wiukles life: down miry lanes and over vast
stubhlr-Geds TO outlying little churches. ara Ire
ouently to quaint old alinshouse standing. can
not remember where, in green courtyard, Ike an
Oxford squad" :.
They were stiff walks for any one not in full train
ING as Dickens always was at that tlme hut To me
they never seemed long or fatlguing begucd ns the
time was by his mast charming taik: WIN sihaii
dificulty if the subject were deity introduced he
conld lie Induced to talk about his books. to tell
how and why certain IDEAS occurred 10 hl',, an'
t;enrrally his excellent memory accurately re-
tainci his phrases and actual words so that nr
would at once correct msqn"iaIioh pn' on M %
than one occasion have, IN conyersation WIN MN.
purpOspy instructed from one uf his books. III Orucr
that he might set me right.
Another bright little aneciote follows:
One dav-a Oueen's birthday. on which had n
no day from my office We had spent tngethcra uads-
hill The family were absent. and the house was IN
charge of the gar lener, whose wife cooked MS u
steak and Dickens had taken care to bring IN"
crllar-key with him. We ramblod about during Tue
afternoon and at night We went - the Roche5'rr
Theatre. forget the play; indie q. recollect noti-
ing hut the presence OF mind oi large man III u
greer Laile tuuc and pair OF ban boots. who' 10
Dickens ioy. evidently dii not know wort "I ms
part lio siro lc INTO the middle of ho stage with
ont ut'cring syllable looked hrrcey ronnl: tmrl'
and walked quietly OH to read mp his part at the
"wug.'
Dickens stubbornly refuscd TO believe that his
health was falling and Mr. Yates ommcnt' on tho
singular bundcrs Of ths unusually kscn aud pierre
Ing intelligence where personal matters were con
ccrucd. He says;
Dickens wasstrucl. lownb apoplcXy- lition
which Sir Thomas Watson, on examination iouitr' II
months before. had lnrc'ecn-rn the eth june ana
cXnircd twenty hours later 49,
" The state thus descrlhed. SAYS Sir Thomas wat.
son after the consultation IN Aprl, Gj. " showed
plainly that -. had been on the BRINK ol an ~
tack of paralysis oI b $ let s'd'. and poSS Dly "l
apop'exv. II was. 10 doubt. the result OF cNlrcne
hurry OyrrwDrk ana excitement, incidental to ms
readings.
There is the wise physicians opinion in his own
words; aud surely IcaIug 10 oar IS almost .lsti-
Gcl ia saying that Dlchonss death lay Az hJ own
door: that TO a very great extent it was no dOubt
FASTENED. If not caused, by his eNU1oid nary per
siStencc III scli-sarricc II IL impossible Tor me TO
belIeye that be dii not cOmDrrhcnd what he WAS
doing and what result all that he did WAS tending
10 bring about. What would he have thought.
what would ne have said, ot any other man VINO
could only roa halt Of the letters Of the names over
the sop- doors who " found hun ell extremely gddy
and extremely uncertain OF the sense ol t;nch bpih
in the left leg and the LETT hand aud arm. aud who
aScribed those symptoms u the c!lcct OF mcll-
cIue"l With what cau-tit touches would iic have
described "a man who, suffering under all those
symptoms. and under many others equally signlh-
cant harasscd, worn ont. yet travels and reads and
works until he falls dead on the roadsido'
The chapter on People have Known" contains
several amusing anecdotes. though Mr.. Yates does
not always distinguish between Jokes which are new
md those which are hoary. aud ho tells one or two
with local coloring which have done duty only too
often under differing scenes Here is. one OF Lord
Westbury which ~ not old. however:
Sir Richard Bethel. bcng Attorney -Gencral. and
Sir Alexander tockpurn, beng >oicilorbrhertl.
had .cason tO discus, some important legal reform
winch WAS tO be hgOu 5ll before Parliament aud
the former suggested that II should be talked over
nt ms seat. IlackwoOd Park, near Bnsln ngst Okr.
There, accordingly. COckburn visited hn. aad on
the irs. morning they and Dick Botlrii. tnc Oldest
son went ont siiuutiug There were very ic" pleas
ants hut after they nad been out "A little time "A
terrific howl washcurI from of the keepers. who
had been badly shot warm a.irication can 'c'l
on ~ stronQ language. occurred between the two
rthas. father aud son. each accnNng the other of
having shot the man Cockbufn toOk an oppor-
iunity of asking the keeper by winch al hi, Minister'S
hc hal lbccn shot. aud got lhonpiy. D-n 'nm both
pi 'cnw Next torn time there was meeting oi
leg ldirnitirie. abont hi, qucsiln Of reform Sir
Richard Bethel opened tie procrrdncs by saying
that ho had gwen tno question cnirIul ticntlun,
and was glad 10 Say that hiS learned ificAd. the
Solicitor-Gcncr f. to whom hc had explained his
views was o. his way of thinking ON Cuckburn's
drmurrng gently. and saying he did not rrcolect
the discussion having taken plac" Sir itc ard SAID
in his most minciug and affected tones: You must
rccollec it. my dear friend; uoccarCd Inc morning
yOH shot ng LeGITV
shirley Brooks, Of the Paaci stan. was brilliant
man:
inooks's rea liness was ~ great as JcrroId's but
his humor, with strong sUb-acid idyur. was
peculiarly his own. They were talking once at my
table of the horrors of catcrpsy AMI beng buried
alive and | was mentioning thr Frankfort custom
uf dcpositng tine bodies ~ tIe dead house lJr
twenty four hours before burial with bc-rope
attached Ia the wrist, that sgnll m chit hc given
in an nsiant. N the event OF returning animation.
" AM .aid lirupns " That custom ~ IDENTIFY sug.
gcscd Tenn, sons line Many morning on Tie
muorand did hear the copsrs ringP'
Here Is n story of John Forster the biorraplci
AMI friend of Dickens:
Dickens usrd to tell very characteristic story oi
Forster. which has nctcr found lfs way into mint
~ the beginning of hostil tres between nrlrns aud
Messrs Bradbury a Evans. the copyright ~ Hopsr-
hoh Words was sold 10y nurilun ~ Mt liodcson's
Urlrns VIVA r'rrcsrnrl - the salr 10y John loistrf
and Arthur Sm'th nnuihrr intimate friend nnl nh n
uf his whuui wr VII rall Mr Blank. being nlsu
ptrsrn, When the snlr wns concluded NJ blank
was inr rst to nttivr ~ the u0ir w Nrlinpiun Al
Whrtr Drkpn9 was nnyiurev awaiting thu nrv =
liatinp irh A. NJ hlnnk sail
ranuut irais trllinr tun huW admirable tnts-
i't wps ibiunshVni rul. rtinri nnl pi-tsrlir ~.
NVV 'ii' V'n..'I ..t ,.I..i... Nm 't''N,~t .