Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-05-30
A FINE DISCOURSE.
Leon Vincent Talks Entertamingy ON
Charles Dickens.


Charles Dickens.
A good audience greeted Mr.. Leon ID.
Vincent last night at the Fourth Street
NJ. e. church, TO hear the last lecture o!
the course. on the greatest student OF
human nature, Dickens. The previous
lectures on Hawthorne, Emerson and
CARLYLE. were very fairly attended
and highly appreciated. The
real treat was reserved Tor
the last discourse. Mr. Vincent is one
of the best of the Chautauqua lecturers,
as was attested by his mastery treat
ment last night of Master. Promptly
at o'clock DR.. Cuching introduced the
lecturer. Mr.. Vincent said. "In the
last era four novelists became popu-
lar. The fourth of these novelists
never gained the notoriety the others
ACQUIRED. He has outlived them all.
Nv subject is Charles Dickens. Every
one knows him. There is no lecturer
as popular as this great man. Dickens
heart was always young; in him there
is no cynicism; we can't fancy Dickens
with the blues, we can't fancy him cast
down; he believed every cloud had a
silver lining; this was not the case
with Thackery Dear old Pickwick is
described as the principal jackaSs in a
club of jackasseS; but if we would only
acknowledge il we are all partly jack
asses. That's why we like him.
Dickens characters are often
described as impossible. Nor was
his ability only displayed in describing
characters. He was wonderful pic
ture painter. This is what makes him
so popular. Our lives are full OF pic
lures. The man who is the most picto-
rial in writing will be most read.
1t is said that only once in his
life did Dickens ideas come short of mis-
paper. He once broke an engagement
because, he said, Little Dorrit" was
breaking out all over him, something
like a disease. Dickens was lionized to
death in this country, and it annoyed
him greatly. In his letters home he
said that he couldn't drink glass OF
water without sixty people looking down
his throat, he couldn't stay at home
without being crowded TO death by call
ers. But his opinions Of Americans
were not entirely bad. He says Ameri-
cans are chivilrous, warm-hearted,
desired to oblge. When he came
to America he was only thirty years old.
When at that age he had written num-
Der of novels and gained a reputation.
He gained it in less than five years. But
there were moments of darkness, there
were moments of hardShipS in his boy
hood which he could never look back on
even when matured. Dickens younger
life was one filled with misery. His
childhood appears in some OF his
novels. He was, when only nine years
old, employed in a backing establish
ment in London. He was put down in
a cellar and made to label and tie up
packages of backing. His father was
then imprisoned for debt and to the
prison Dickens rightly betook himself.
In after lie his father became news
paper man and Charles Dickens follow
ed his example. He was the ideal news
paper man. Twenty years after he had
left the newspaper business he affirmed
that he was the fastest shorthand
writer in London. He once thought
of going on the stage and
was only prevented from doing so by
having a cold in the head. That cold
was providential. He became Dickens
the first. He likely would have made
great actor, but we needed Dickens
more than an actor. Let US look
at his first real novel, Pickwick
Papers. Sam Weller made Charles
Dickens. not Charles Dickens Sam
Weller. Genius is inherited | have
noted; also, great many people don't
inherit it, He shows his genius in old
Mr.. Weller" Mr.. Vincent then dis
coursed at some length on Pickwick
Papers, bringing before the audience
the rotlnd "Pickwick," cOmical "Sam
Weller" alfred Jingle" and the many
other characters in the novel. He then
proceeded: Now, about Dickens as
man. tits said all novelists have trouble
with their wives, all musicians drink,
all clergymen's children are bad. This
is not Just. There was much OF
happiness in DickensS' life. But
there ere some unpleasant times. He
married at twenty-three and lived with
his wife for twenty-five years, and they
then concluded that they had had
enough. His siSterin-law may have
had something to do with this. lie
himself says he loved her dearly. Dick
ems love for children was wonderful.
Sympathy don't express it. but it is the
best word l can find
Dickens first child was Charles, the
gentleman who has been reading in this
country for several years. He has
written several novels, out they are
nothing remarkable. Dickens fame was
so remarkable, so wonderful that it is
fruitful source of speculation to-day.
What are the strong parts in novel?
Generally speaking pathos and humor.
If you get the right proportions
of these in your book you
will make success. Most people like