Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-08-11
SHADOW OF A NAME.
BARRY PAINE's TRIBUTE TO THE
 MEMORY OF CHARLES CHADBAND.

Characters Wrote Brilliantly, but Would Not Publish.
 At 1 O clock on the morning of Easter Sunday at his home near Malvern We'll died Charles Chadband.
 With the name of Chadband, thanks to Dickens, the reading world is famil- jar. It is associated with eiliness, hy- pocrisy and self seeking. At the very sound of the name the reminiscent grin starts on all faces. He is national joke. But we pay for all our laughter, and Ne have paid for the Chadband jest. do not mean to say that the un- happy accident by which Dickens se- leeted the name of Ghadband for his imposter was the cause of the death of Charles Chadband. It was not. He died of an ordinary disease--consumpt ill fact. But that unhappy accident did overshadow the whole of Charles Chad bands life. It did prevent him from taking the place and fame to which he was justly entitled. 1t has prevented the general public from reading one sin gle line of his very excellent works.
 As his literary exeeutor I have had no choice but to destroy every line of his manuscript, ill accordance with his orders. Not a single copy has been taken, and not Che word of his works that his friends remember may be con- mitted to writing. l do not easily be- lieye ill the existence of genius, but I believe that Charles Chadband had genius. Some, far more competent to judge than I an, thought the same. As I watched the last sparks die out i'll the big pile of burned paper it seemed pity that so much work and such won derful gifts should De all wasted for such stupid, ignoble, maddening req son--beoause the author had inherited the name of character in Dickens.
 He was very sensitive, but, unlike most very sensitive men, he was not affected or vain. When l was first in= troduced to him, he said, laughing. that he was no relation to the original Chadband He reyeled in Dickens and would quote the original Ohadband freely. l had known him long time before 1 knew that the coincidence of the names gave him any trouble at all. It was long before I could make out why he would not publish anything He used to give the nest absurd reasons for his reticenee, and when driven into a corner he would say that he was going to publish, but not yet. One night when I had just finished long story of his, I implored him to let me take 1t away with me to London and see what could be done. No , he said. No body would publish it. ," told him that it might be refused by five men out of six, but that the sixth would afterward be proud that he had accepted it.
 Then, quite unexpectedly, the secret came out. 't No serious work, he said, tcould possibly do anything associated with the name of Chadband. He said it so light heartedly that I thought he was once more putting me off with wrong reason, but soon found that he was sincere. He imagined reviewers making jests about his name and owned that he would not be able to stand it. This surprised me, for he frequently jcked about bis name himself, and so
 
 That's different, he said. That is in conversation, among men that I know But I could not have some yul- gar brute who did Hot know me at all. doing the same thing ill cold print It would present my stuff from the wrong point of view. No, the associations of the name are too strong If you are
 
 band, and there's an end of it. You may do wkat you like in private, but you can como before the public only as an incorporate, hypoeritical, delicious ass, and in 10 other character what ever. y
 He would not hear of a pseudonym or of anonymity. If his work succeeded, the secret would be found out. and he would he ashamed If it did not sue ceed--and he did not think it would 1t WAS not worth his while to add te the annnal output of bad books "Wby make all this fuss about nothine?" l said, angry with his obstinaey If you think il matters one straw-though 1t does not--chsDge your name once for all and be done with it. " He said that it would be sheer cowardice, and he could not dream of it.
 Very unfortunately, he had private means. Poverty might have driven him to overcome lis sensitiveness and to publish. Had he done so it would have been curious to watch the growth of an entirely new set of associations around the name Chadband. think he was strong enough to have redeemed the name.
 He was unmarried-said that he did not believe ill the hereditary principles as applied to jokes. lis real reason for not marrying was, Of course, the dis ease of which he died He worked ex- ceedingly hard, and, as lie knew, to no purpose He would net ewn that he took pleasure il his work No he said, it's like smoking-I getno pleas ure from it, but 1 should miss it if