The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1884-03-21
Charles Dickens.

What manner of man Dick AS was
we can pereeihT+ow well enough from his
| books as we'll rs his letters. We all
remember the passage in which Lord
Macaulay shows how Johnson's priva-
tons affected his character and man
ners all through his life. 1t is certain
ly no less true that the boyish expert
ences of Dickens told with wonderful
force on his character. His father was
always in money difficulties, and the
son had q miserable time of it as a
child going to and fro TO the pawT-
brokers, hanging about the Marshal
sea and feet, and tying up pots of
backing for 6S. a week. And all the
while he never lost the consciousness
that he possessed great powers and
capabilities, and fortunately, or this
consciousness would have been belied.
He also learned TO throw himself eager
ly into what he was doing, that he
might do it well. In the backing days
there was constant rivalry between
him and his companions who could tie
up pots quickest and finish them off
most neatly. The result of all which
was that when Dickens overcame his
difficulties and became u prosperous
man he never for Il moment doubted
his own powers. He had expected 10
succeed. and he had succeeded. What
more was needed? And thus he grew
more and more Sclf-conccn;rutcl, self
confident, sclf-aSscrtiye. He was not
Il good scholar like johnson or even
Thackcray, never went 10 public school,
and certainly knew very little of the
Latin grammar. But rs sickly, neg
lected child, he had loved to get away
by himself and nurse his imagination
on Fielding, and SmOllett, and LeSaIc,
and Shakespeare, aud we might almost
call this his only early book education.
His powers of memory and observation
Were altogether astonishing; they were
part of his habit. IL is hardly to be
wondered at that he seemed to have
something very like 4 conviction of his
infallibility. All through his writings
you find him laying down the law on
politics, and history, and theology,
without any sort OF misGiving that pos
sibly wider reading might have modi-
fled his views. IL was II heavy draw
back to his character, and made him
TO speak plainly arrogant. And
closely akin to this is his ovcrwconing
personal vanity. Always he seems
craving after praise, present and post
humOus. He tells MIR. Forster to be
sure and put so and SO into his biogra-
ply. And. by the way, it would have
been wiser of the biographcr TO leave
these little requests out and not TO have
exhibited his sui ject suppiicaling man.
kind for their ''plaudilr.' We could
multiply proofs of this weakness which
are within our knowledge, but we glad
ly turn to plcasantcr subject. What
kept him great, and makes us regard
this self-conccit as flaw on q fine
character, was his generous heart
Throughout his labcrs he is ever seen
anxious to improve The condition of the
world and to enlarge mems sympathies
for the poor and suffering. No one
can doubt who reads him that his
whole heart went with his denuncia-
tons of cruelties-whether of prison,
of school, or OF work house-of pseudo
philanthropy, of hypocrisy, and shams
of all sorts, as they presented them
selves before him.-1He Scottish Re
men,