Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1899-09-29
Reading to Profit-Part 2.
"There's chield amang you takin' notes

|
ready for work. You will probably be so
interested in the subject that pencil and a
sheet of paper will be better Tor the first
use, the extracts to be afterward carefully
copied in ink. Thus, you will avoid the
habit of SLODentiness, detestable in young or
old. The book you have taken up at ran
dom is The Old Curiosity Shop. The editor
does not place Dickens in the first rank of
novelsts His characters are, for the most
part, raked out of the cutters, the very dregs
and scum of English life, though he some
times introduces citizen OF the better class.
But no writer paints more to the life the
people he deals WITH nor better portrays
human nature, which is mostly devilish in
the original. And none surpasses him in
the touch of the good, the pure, and the be-
nevolent; examples of that influence OF
which humanity is capable in its sublimest
elevation and publication, In the present
work good and bad are so delineated as to
arouse hatred against the one and desire to
emulate the other 1t will suit my present
duty better to follow a character through
his career. The reader will naturally re.
verse that procedure, and mark his approba
ton or record his scorn as he turns the
pages
Mr.. Swiveller is not a pattern of propri-
ETY. when first we are introduced to him.
He too much mixes pure wi cortuptlng
sentiments. He thinks the place to "klndle
the fire OF soul is at the taper OF conwlvi
atty" but he ardently desires that 1.-THE
wing oilrendship may never moult teath
err" He deliberately eats dinner for which
he knows he cannot pay, and then quotes
Watts, or some other judclous poet, that
MAN wants but little here below, nor wants
that little longW And then sagely com
ments: "How true that is after dinner"
Adroltly uncovering the real eelin of the
average man. He believes the way to "drive
away dull care" is to "pass the rosy wine"-
| which was his bane Mr.. Swiveller very
cleverly illustrates a conspiracy by some
woman TO force him To propose by exciting
his jealousy, Instead OF that, he gets mad
has scuttie with his rival, says Good
night" in vnegary tones, to the girl, who
| repents her ruse, strides home to get wink
of "the balmy," and leaves Miss Sophy
Wackles to mend her heart Tor time, and
then marry the market gardener as second
best. Upon which, those OF us who despise
all match makers, and deprecate the wiles
OF women to catch unwary men, will form
a circle and shake hands all round Mr..
Swivellcr partly redeems himself by his com
passionate treatment of the poor little starved
waif whom he dubs "the Marchioness," and
out much better than his spendthrtt com
panion, Fred, whose criminal course ends
in transportation. Alter his resignation OF
Miss Wackles, Swiveller never had but one
bad spell that was when he turned Tom
Moore's tender verse into badly punctuated
prose "'Twas ever thus, from childhood's
hour I've seen my iondest hopes decay,
never loved a tree or flower but twas the
first TO fade away; | never nursed dear
Gazelle, to glad me with its soft black eye,
but when IL came to know me well, and
love me, 1t was sure to marry market-gar-
dener."
Quilpi the horrible the indescrbablel A
human devil, whose cunning, and diabOlical
actions are, however, not without their
lessons. You must do the moralzing-I
have not one twentieth enough of space. We
enjoy the misery of his scOundre lawyer
when, engaged in watching the old mans
goods, his patron having from fear of inlec
ton turned the watch into what the reporter
of our day would call "a smoker" he is
compelled by the despotic beast, Quilp, to
pull away on vile pipe, Gd ndltsedn "Is
it good, Brassp is it niceP is 1t fragrantP do
you feel like the Grand TurkP ?" At the same
time, the boy who insists on standing on his
head, or walking on his hands, is in his ele.
ment. That's a very interesting scene il
which Qulp surprises his wife and "tht
ladies" who are discussing his tea and his
character. How the visiting "ladies" dc
scamper, like lot of stray cats that have
been caught foraging in pantry We are
very sorry for the meek little wife, as she
declares she did not invite "the ladies', and
that the meeting was an accident" but it
would be funny, II he were not SO coarse, TO
see how Quilp manages that mother in-law
MRS. Jniwln, you look i'll. Go TO bed
Do go to bed" And she gOesl Many a
luckless fellow will chucke over this doing
of what he dare not do, himself. On the
other hand, many another, like the editor,
blesses God that he has, or had, the best and
dearest mother-in. law on earth Heaven
pity the home when the gray mare rules the
man, and the old witch rides both Quilp
prospers in villianY for time, but realizes
at last, that "the way OF the transgressor is
hard" ending, In his case, in sudden and
dreadful death.
Sally, the sharp, deep "Od feller," is a
study 10 the epicene Whether man or wo-
man, or mixture OF both, was never def
nitely ascertaned. In this regard, very like
the "new woman," whose develo ment Is
not yet ripe for diagnosis. Patience she's
fearful mystery, as yet, but will let Us know
what she Is, after a little. Sally must have
been the first of this horrid tribe, for she was
a trfle careless about her clothes, affected
mannish bearing, and knew more and could
do more than her brazen brother.
The power OF devoted love, though resort
ing 10 wrong methods To benefit It's object,
may be seen in the poor old grand latber.
1t was lor the child he planned, for her ne
stInled and sacrificed, Tor her resOrted TO the
gaming table, and caught that fever which
in.
blind, false hope that at must come, at last"
10 the insanity which followed IN the wake
Of RUN, holding still 10 that one idea that he
must make his guardian angel rich. You
will find much to warn, much to pity, much
to reprehend, much To pardon, In this very
sad lie
Though have read and annotated every
work ol Dickens, having within an lnstant's
reach hundreds of ndexed or copied para
graghs, know of no character of his at
once 80 pure, so gentle, 50 faithful so sell
forgetful, so innocent and therefore 20 cour
ageous, as little Nell. Dear little Nell
Grand, strong men read her story with mOis
tened eye, and speak her name with culver
ing lip. Young people should study her
character. Begin In the old shop; follow
her az she leads her bel pless parent from the
now dreaded London; mark the escape from
the HLrOllng bhOWmen inc HlBhl lIOm lhe
Wax Work establishment to save him from
crime proposed; and on, and on, till IN the
graveyard the old sexton tells her aohy the
shrubs and flowers there drOOp and die
learn how one aged man can see how an
other old man is near the end, and not know
that to morrow he will tOppe into the grave (;
hear the little boy beg Nell not togo away"
and be- an angel zee them close up her
grave, and go away with the prayer in your
hearts that your lives may be as pure and
useful as hers Your blank book will have
many precious excerpt when you close the
book