New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-17

another-in this better And perhaps he wasn't
far wrong Dckens's ladies and gentlemen were not
the least hko gentlemen and lades-Thackeray's
were tho very thing. Dickenss characters are either
black white-Thackeray's are the gray mixture.
humor whose brightest laughter has touch Of tears
Dickens the master OF its other side, which turns
straight to the fungod and suifereth not its god
BIO ecllpsed.
My first sight OF Dickens was characteristic enough
was in the second or third row Of seats with some
friends, at Of his readings of Oliver Twst' As
Thackeray was gossip on the platform, so Dickens
was an actor Like all speakers and actors he longed
for sympathy somewhere; an unanswerng audience
kills us, whichever side the fault may lie In the
days Of my political measles have harangIed London
audience for an hour and twenty minutes when have
out-of-the-way Hampshire district, where had gone
on purpose to address tho rrals for set hour, hayo
sat down, covered with confusion in ten minutes, not
being able to hit on anything that Interested them at
all saw TOO plainly in all their gOOdnatured faces,
ever seen. Or as an odd kind OF COW gone wrong and
OF no use to the three Dickenss audience that
night was dull ana ne became So TOO. M, was dls.
acting was not good and got worse as he went on 1t
was the inevitable law OF reaction. His aud ence bored
MN, ana no began 10 pore me among inc f'si. no
was not I'm tOuch' with u.s. that all and his eyes
wandered as hopeessly IN search of some sympathetc
eye to catch them as the gadatoIs OF old for mercy
in the circus. Then. suddenly, at one point OF his
reading he had to introduce the passing Character OF
nameless individual in London crowd, cholerlc old
gentleman who has only one short sentence to fire or
This he gave so spontaneously so nimtably that tho
puppet became an absolute reality IN a second. saw
him, crowd, street, man. temper and all. For am,
may say. what Is called very good audience. I
like what like, and hate what / hate and ono
occasion growled at the theatre so audIbly at what
thought very bad acting that / began to hear
ominouS cries of Turn him out' II was the first
night of ono of my own plays Dickenss electric flash
bowed me over completely and instantly that
broke into a peal Of laughter, and as VIC sometimes
do when hard HIT kept on laughing internally which
IS half tears. and half hlccough, for time after
ward Upon my word l am laughing now, as
recall it, 1t was funny. The audience, Of course,
glared at mo with the well-knOwn look OF rebukc.
" How dare you express your feelings ont loud and
disturb us ~ But Dickens's cye-I wasn't much moro
than a boy, and he didn't know me from Adam-went
at once straight for mine. Here's somebody who
likes me. nyhow," IL said For the next few minutes
he read at me- IL ever man did The sympathetic
unit is everything to MS. And on my word the result
that he warmed TO his work that he got tho
whole audience I'm his hand. and dispensed with me-
Only once again-Oh how like him IL was he fixed mo
with his eye Just toward the end of the reading and
made a short but perccpuble pause. wondered what
was coming-and soon knew The choeric Old party
I'm the street had to appear for passing instant
more and fire OFF one more passing sentence. Which
he did-with the same results. Good heavens what
actor Dickens was.
When that reading ended-wh the success which
II deservcd-ncver did that most expressive Of all
human features the eye thank boy more expreSsively.