Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-05-11

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square table, his right leg resting on al
ottoman. He arose slowly as / advanced
reached ont his hand, shook mine very cor
dialiy and said very kindly:
Fam glad to see you. BE seated. Just
now ! am struggling somewhat against the
multiplying yillainies of human nature
There is (pointing to his leg) particula,
villainly in the shape of a cross leg to worry
me-"
Il regret to find YOU sufferer, Mr.. Dick,
ems. Were you troubled by your enemy
when in the United StatesY'
Attimes, severely, When I gave read
ings ] was on several occasions-in Balti-
more and Boston-obligod to rest my
enemy on chair, much 10 my chagrin. y
"How did YOU like your visits to
America
Elijah Program.
my first visit / need not refer TO; that
has been quite well discussed, not only by
myself, but BY many of my friends in Amer
ica By the way, | see that you, in your
note, invest Elijah Program with tutelary
honors thereby petting him on plane with
George Washington. Many, on the other
side Of the water, were unsparing in their
disapfrobation of such character being
made a typical American. Yet he was not,
to me a mythical parsonage. On the con-
trary, he was true representative Of a
class"
"That was before my time, Mr.. Dickens.
The Americans of to-day find in Mr. Pogram
rather stimulus to merriment than a casus
belli. There may yet be, however, some
hard feelings entertained by people in GER
tain portions of my country on account Of
your views of slavery, though doubt if the
organic people in the United States would
not now fully agree with what you wrote in
in your American Notes
TempOra Mutantur.
Mr.. Dickens, during this part Of the con-
versatiOn, had been sitting at a little distance
from his table ] had good opportunity
ofstudring the face. 1t seemed to me that
the short time that interviewed since my
meeting with him-siNtcen months-had
laid its hand heavily upon him.
His forehead was high and clear cut; the
nose | thought perfect and exactly suited to
the face: il was of the Grnco-Roman order
a unique nOSe--SOmething like Roscoe
Conklng's, though'a little larger, the nos
trils especially The eyes, surmounted by
heavy hrows, we're searching-each a de-
tcctiyc end full of meaning, I thought them
cynical as well They didn't seem to make
a special effort to measure me, but | felt as
if ] were under two microscopes The
mouth was large; the lips somewhat pro-
tiuding. HaughtiuesS sat supreme on that
mouth; it was sarcastic mouth!
"Old Curiosity shop"
Ireferrcd TO his works, mentioning one
in particular, odd Curiosity Shop" Of
course had to speak of Little Nell" 81
never could read tho last chapter of her his
tory with an even voice or clear eve. When
| was writing that look, said he, "and had
gotten about midway on the road to its COM
pletion, hosts ofletters came begging me to
spare the child, but as her destiny had been
shaped from the very outset | could not
alter it, nor would | have done 50 if
could"
Whom He Loved.
Washington Irving, above all other Amer
cans, was cherished by Dickens. So he
told me very freely and apparently with a
good deal of feeling. He alluded TO the
farewell dinner given him in New York.
"As | said then so ! say now, re-
marked he, Il shall, on every suitable oc-
casion whatsoever aud whereSOever eX-
press nv high regard and grateful sense Of
my second reception Ia America,
and bear my honest testimony +" the ma
tional generosity and magnnnimltv. No
man ever had kindli"r audience than Is
mine in America: no man COuld have n
Sincercr wish to use them well. lie
praised Mr.. Longtellow and added: "l
have respect akin to reverence Tor Mr.
BRYANT.
am writing from memory, and hence |
give the conversation in disjointed way
and without orier. ] spent two hours with
Mr.. Dickens. would / could bring them
back and that face with them. They are
gone-they and he, forever. The magic
pen thatwrote and the great heart that urged
it on loading it with love and charity and
tenderness are stilled in death.
Dickens as n Husband.
Dickens had his faults-I do not deny it.
cannot conceal it. NY lamented friend,
the late DR.. Holland, editor of "Scribners
Magazine" once said to me: Il know you
admire Dickens. Of his library produc-
tions have always been an enthusiastic
admirer. would like to read all his books
again. But Dickens the man, have little
respect for. He seems to have been hard
drinker and an unfaithful husband. No
friendly hand can ever wipe out the intamy
of his putting off the wife of his youth and
the mother OF his children, when her charms
had lost their power upon his fancy, or had
heen superseded by n fresher form and face.
Dr. Holland spoke of Dickens as man,
not as an author. 1t is true that Dickens
was at time. the saddest of all times
when love should have grown into devotion
and reverence-separated from his wife,
whom he married in 1886, when he was
reporter on the Morning Chronicle.
Conclusion.
Dickens held leaders place, not only IN
literature, but in the world, in morals, IN
philanthropy, in questions of social interest
And if he was so loved as an author by so
many thousands of household, even to the
morning CLEAN of his early reputation, and
ifhe was all the more cherished when ne
had entered on the golden MONDAY OF
steadfast and everburning fame, it is to be
presumed that his name and his works Will
survive the attacks of matter of fact critics,
who are not "sentimentahsts.
CHARLES SELBr.
ILLINOIS oUTLAWRY.