New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-08
by ELEANOR Z. CHRISTIAN.
Ero,n T<tnDls Bar


lie tai cd but TITLE during tho evening, seeming
rather to allow the lead to be taken by Mr. Forster
who was also one OF tho guests ana whose ereIIer
own ;pecch had a certain thlckuess-h was family
character sticas II the tongue was toG Iars i4l tnS
mouth and h tones were low and hurried as thouRn
his IDEAS a worls racing against each other
HIS humorous remarks were gencraly delA eieu III a
exaggerated stilted style and som times with com
NIT Per ersiUn of fac 5, quite ounding to ma ter
of-fact minds, and were accompanied Oy t"ihhIe III
m prised fd hat Instead OF tie piercing satircal
expression expec ed, he usually wore rapt pre-
oceuped aaron iDok which was exceedingly mis-;
/ aiding When l to know him bet or iounl
this v as nothing but trap for the un"sry. During
bm: h, wa, quietly and unexl &c edly taking in'
every Inc dent going on ound am making I taes
al arance OF abstraction and We deluded Into te1
Ing no sen.e. ne llogi,sll ID m nnt . silly
ia land Of hi, ON peop.g surrounded by char
acters Of HIS own creation. Then suddenly up MouI3
go the curt ain from his yelled vision and he woun
brcak forth into most amusing but merciless crt
clsms of AL our convcs alton such t|s,lng ana az, AZ
torting of thcughtless word and unhedgei GGa
iha We were CO cred With confusion, though con-
Sbcn " he raE did indulge In rcverlc when
engaged in any difficulties OF composition, he W. ul
Pull cou.ly a his Ike hsr running tnses
at the same time INDUCING In his habit OF sucking
his tongue
family, they went. they usually did every sqtumn
70 Broadsars and they Induced my If Gaas M S
able house foi their occupation.
The smithsons look The house soon after, and l.
TO nv delight, went with them on visit TO which
look back of the plessaDte,t epochs IN my Iie
oz and @e s as m a R We daily osoths
on the most friendly footing At this lime, too, ms
mother and sister Mrs Mrs U fb.e WIN Two nG latter added
greatly to The general enjoy me1t as pom Sans oSa
Academy OF Music, whore they FIRST met, She was was
very sweet and amisbe, in delicate health, ana sne
died quite young Old Mrs. Dickens was very agree
ahIe entered info Youthful amLScncntS Win HuCu
enjoyment; she had worn, deeply lined lace, Cyl
ens's sister Letha Nirs AUSTIN came also for short
time She struck me as not being 80 null OF run ds
the rest Of the family she 6 Sas senGT ad most
sensible face and IN after R SafFe 81 g9%r could
been such tough struggle with poverty ana
II has been said that Mrs Nickleby and NJ
MIcawDcr were drawn from Charles's parents and,
Indeed he admitted the fact. but l saw no resem
blaucc She seemed to me to possess a good stoe
of common sense and n matter-Ofl fact manner
only detected little weahness-a love OF
n tban her son.In-Iaw or with some relation
CHARLES always looked sulky as bear the whole
husband appeared younger than she al Gd Ru SRa
in drase buf With no resemblance Mlcawber that /
could detect; no salient characteristics mar cT1 b
INDUCED occasionally In line sentiments, anu ions
worried sentences and seemed TO take an airy sunny
sided view OF things I'm general He aVowe1 hImscn
an optnlst and said he was like oOrk-f he was
pushed under water 10 one place, Ne VI non. he
to time cheerfuily III dholucI; OH" i'i' '''~ 49,
"oII' was va wv Wonderful how the whole family had
cmanclpatcd themselves from their antccedensi ana
cOnfrived 10 fiji easily into their improved posiuon
They appeared to be less al ease Win hatus nan
with any one else and seemed in fear OF OcndhS h'
There vas a snUdued manner a kind OF restraint IN
his presence not merely the result OF admiration Vl
moods were very variable some,ne, So si" 20 az ~
CAV that one became excited and exhllarated las II
champagne had been flowing freely merely from ms
CONTAGIOUS spirits at other times distracted ana even
morose~we wondered how We could possibly ever
9. La .vffi In
e. sge ed' in Sentimental fra'on with my friend
Mile (who Of certain age as wei as WIN me
nniosyed Of nv soul" Fair enslayer' "ouecn Of my
heart to the Infinite amusement OF MIS- mares
Dckcns and he would solicit dance In Inc ola Eng
'i' Wit Tread measure with sweet ladye2 Fain
would | thread the maZes of this saraband with thee
. Ave fair sir, that Will right gladly, In good
sooth I'll never say thee nay - 49,. u.,- ,.o,ah,,,
as unlike a saraband as anything imaglna6le; but
Charles edited the spectators By his TurVeydrop de-
once we proceeded to tread this measure In an I'm.
posngy majestic style when suddenly oys sgony
Ne ali stopped appalled,. lie subsidized into groans
and accompanied by contortlo9s ina. o1su ~
croesque facial and muscular performance he turned
TO Mr. smlthson with an injured and up6radlng ar,
I'm nv vicinity be humane enough to measure your
tread and don't stamp down with your fourteen na,
nv POOR foot might be tempted to wreak dire
revenge and repay you the same measure for measure
exclaimed. :. I feel that could act pompous to
perfection Let us get up some charadeS' and test
Jul We acted the word "Pompadour,' and he took the
part Of Louis XIV, Mile, the ComtGsse de sonbse,
and l. Madame de PompadOur In the first syllable
She was supposed TO rival me in the kings favor:
This scene was in pantomme representing the stiif
formaty and exaggerated etiquette of the court OF
. tbe weli-bcloved8 We changed adour' rto
adore" and Louis made bombastic love in the old
French manner 10 The Comiessc. In tho whole word,
Pompadour arfully obtains letre de cachet from the
king and gus her rival to the Bastlie and SO Is
] ,.g.apf
promptu properties and all though Dickens wore 9
ady's Wide hrmmci hat pinned up on one Side and
which persisted IN twisting the wrong wayne yet
contrvcd to maintain a most majestic demeanor
About this period his brother Frederick, whom !
now saw for tie first time, arrived by steamer and
we all went to meet him. He had tho same wearlcd
expression as Mrs Burnett the raised eyebrows small
nose and large, full Tipped mouth and spoke with tho
iblck uftcrance Of his father and brother thought
him. on the whole. more comic In sOciety than DICK
ems lie had positive genius for representing com
monplarc matters in an absurd Hight, and With ex-
aggeracd facial expression, SO that he contrlved to
! binaions They both occasionally indulged in puns
which IL not always very clever. produced shouts OF
laughter from their hearers owing TO the ABSURD way
:" one of Dckcns's good things was said to me, and
had sEe sueng BT be ssd ga singing
/ II abominably he finished a high note, with most
Musical language called turn Dickens hed man,
! aged 10 preserve pTeernaturally solemn decorum
me a look of absolute amazcmcnt.
| " what did he mean by thatl7 l asked, equally
| confoundcd.
| Ills answer was unfortunately grave-with a sage
shake of the head" oh, that's quite In rule In music
a. veil a. In accordance with proverbla philosophy.
| when things at their worst, they always take a
turn ..., ,
accused Of lrreverence While We were engaged a
whist one evening, lady seated In the background
anart frnm the players u think IL his mothor)
| s6othed by the lull, lndulgng In a placid nap
one of the players with noisy glce suddenly banged
| he kipw thp
| thereby awakened the sleeper, who started up in
! alright
| look awfully like Of tho defunot tho Day OF
| Judgment
| 1Whyi"
| because you awakened by the sound Of the
| last trump" .
lie pretended 70 be dreadfuly disguised when his
wife attempted punning, and vowed he do
terlorating under the influence OF this bad example
though be could not help laughing she pcrpetraicd
! her little harmless attempts With The most innocent
and depfrcains ar turning np her eyes, with affected