The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1897-11-23
SHADOW OF A NAME.

'CAAAADO VI VI "A ANAAAAAs
BARRY PAlNE's TRIBUTE TO THE
MEMORY OF CHARLES cHADeAND.
. Miseries Of . Talented Man Who Bore the
CogDomen of One Of Dickens Celebrated
Characters Wrote Brilliantly, but
Would Not Publish.
At o'clock on the morning of Easter
Sunday at his home near Malvern Well
died Charles Chadband.
With the name of Chadband, thanks
to Dickens, the reading world is famil-
lar. 1t is associated with ~oiliness, n.y.
pocrisy and self seeking. At the very
sound of the name the reminiscent grin
starts on all faces. He is a national
joke. But we pay for all our laughter,
and W have paid for the Chadband
jest. I do not mean to say that the I'M
happy accident by which Dickens Sc
lected the name of Chadband for his
imposter was the cause of the death Of
Charles Chadband. 1t was not. He died
of an ordinary disease-consumption,
in fact. But that unhappy accident did
o~vershadow 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 sim
gle line Of his very excellent works.
1 AS his literary executor I have had
no choice but to destroy every line Of
his manuscript, in accordance with his
orders. Not a single copy has been
taken, and not one word Of his works
that his friends remember may be CON-
mitted to writing. I do not easily be-
lieve in the existence of genius, but I
believe that Charles Chadband had
genius. Some, far more competent to
Judge than I am, thought the same. As
I watched the last sparks die out in the
big pile Of burned paper it seemed a
pity that SO much work and such won.
derful gifts should be all wasted for
such a stupid, ignoble, maddening ca
son-because the author had inherited
the lame Of a character in Dickens.
He was very sensitive, but, unlike
most very sensitive men, he was not
affected or vain. When I was first in
troduced to him, he said, laughing.
that he was no relation to the original
Chadband. He reveled in Dickens and
would quote the original Chadband
freely. I had known him a long time
before I knew that the coincidence of
the names gave him any trouble at all.
1t was long before I could make out
why he would not publish anything.
He used to give the most absurd reasons
for his reticence, 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 a long story Of
his, I implored him to let me take it
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 secre,
came out. "No serious work." he said,
could possibly do anything associated
with the name of Chadband." He sale
it SO light heartedly that I thought hi
was once more putting me off with {
wrong reason, but I soon found that hi
was sincere. He imagined reviewer
making jests about his namea and owned
that he would not be able to stand it
This surprised me, for he frequently
joked about his name himself, and 81
did his friends. He defended himself.
"That's different" he said. "Tha
is in conversation, among men that
know. But I could not have some vul
gar brute who did not know me at al
doing the same thing in cold print. I
would present my stuff from the wron;
point of view. No, the associations O
the name are too strong. If you ar
called Chadband, you are called Chad
band, and there's an end of it. Yo1
may do what you like in private, bu
you can come before the public only a
an incorporate, hypocritical. deliciou
ass, and in no other character what
ever"
He would not hear of a pseudonyr
or of anonymity. If his work succeeded
the secret would be found out, and b
would be ashamed. If it did not sue
ccu-du lit ulu uOG Lu1uA IL WOOlU-
it was not worth his while to add t
the annual output of bad books. "Wh
make all this fuss about nothing?"
said, angry with his ~obstinacy. IF 20
think it matters one straw-though
does not-change your name once 70
all and be done with it," He said tina
it would be sheer c%owardice, and h
could not dream of it.
Very unfortunately, he had privat
means. Poverty might have driven hir
to overcome his sensitiveness and t
publish. Had he done 81 it would hav
been curious to watch the growth of a
entirely new set Of associations aroun
the name Chadband. I think he wa
strong enough to have redeemed tn
name.
He was unmarried-said that he di
not believe in the hereditary principle
as applied to jokes. His real reason fo
not marrying was, Of course, the dii
ease Of which he died. He worked ez