New-York tribune., 1901-12-01
LONDON LITERARY NOTES.
DICKENS LAND IN THE OLD BOROUGH
AN EDITOR IN HIS OWN PULPIT
"REMINISCENCES OF BARRY
SULLIVAN.
London, November 13-

SULLIVAN.
London November 13
Little Dorrit's Playground" is the fanciiul
name proposed for the open space which mas
been cleared IN Southwark near the site of the
old Marshalsea Prison. The London County
Council is a body of practical politicians WIN
out literary sensbty. ard it may not take
advantage of opportunity for resculns
corner of vanishing Dickens Land from oolVioh-
The name would be appropriate, for there Is
landmark close at hand which is associated
with Little Dorrit This IS St George s'Church,
where the sexton befriended her by making bed
of pew cushions in the vestry. and brought 'he
book of registry into as pillow 1t was
In St Georges, moreover, that Little Dorrie
was married in happier days. The Marshaisea
itself where Dckens's father was imprisoned
for debt disappeared long ago. Dickens went
up the Borough High Street to look for 1t when
ne was writing Little Dorrit." and. turning out
of Angel Court and standing among the crowd
ing ghosts of many miserable years.. found the
narrow yard and the paving stones of the dis
NAL old Jail. All traces of the Marshaisea nave
gone, and it is no longer practicable to identity
the site with precison 1t has shared the fate
of Kings Bench Prison where Mr.. MicawDer
was detained, for 1t is longer possible 10
locate the site among the workmens modei
dwellings at the westward turning OF Borough
Eoad Fnually futile is the search for the
White Hart Inn near London Bridge, where Mr.
Pickwick made the acquaintance of Mr. Samuei
Weller after Mr. JingIes elopement with Miss
Wardle. ST. Georges is. indeed, the only re-
naming landmark of Dickens Land on the line
of the Borough with the single exception OF the
steps near St Saviours on the Surrey side Oh
the river where Nancy met Rose Maybe and
Mr.. Brownlow.
The open space for which Little Dorrits
name has been suggested is near Lant-st, ana
that Is another reason for honoring the mover
lists memory In back attic in this grimy
old street Dickens slept in the dark days OF MS
boyhood when his father was in the Marsnasea'
and although the bed made up on the
floor and the window looked out upon tlnoer
yard he had pleasant memories of the place
and converted it in after years into the abode
of Bob Sawyer. There is an air OF repose'
It is recorded in "Pickwick Papers. about
Lant-st, in the Borough which sheds gentie
melancholy upon the soul" Lant-st can De
easily found by Bob Sawyer's printed directions
but the scene of the bachelor party ana Oh
Dickcns's own tranquil Paradise" has peeh
transformed. A great Board school occupies
the site of the house and timber yard, and IT IS
a noisy and bustling street. The Surrey side
has been rebuilt from Lant-st to the river, anu
where once were musty old dwellings there are
now warehouses and offices. The old inns in the
Borough High Street have been torn down one
after another and the streets through which
Dickens passed in boyhood to southwark OF
Blackfrars or Westminster bridge have oeen
altered beyond recognition. At the steps OF o'-
Saviour's, where Nancy was dogged by Moan
Claypole one may think Of the hungry ooy
looking across the black river or chatting Win
the workhouse girl, afterward transformed INTO
the Marchioness, before the Marshalsea doors
Hran lr rfac oF
family was served. Otherwise 1T is as futile to
look about in the Borough for "reminiscences OF
the noyeiist's boyhood as for local color for his
ronances-for Mrs. Chivery's tobacco shop. or
Mrs. CIennam's house, OF the dreary nome oi
the Father of the Marshalsea- There is only one
Dickens name In the Borough dstrict-Quiip-
ST. two short blocks from Lant-st. and 1ar
cry from Tower HILL where the dwarf with his
wife and Mrs. Jiniwin lived Little Dorrits
Playground will be pleasanter reminder OF
the realistic art of the English Balzac
Sir Edward Russell. devout English Church
man. who has been hearing sermons from his
Liverpool London pew all his life, has got
into the pulpit himself in volume published
bv Mr. Fisher IJnwin entitled "An Editors
Sermons" The Bishop of Hereford has written
a preface to the book and while he admits that
clerical readers accustomed to off1c1ai Chrls-
tanity" may find in these sermons opinions
s,artIinpIv different from their own-a reserva-
tion necessary when the preacher is outspoken
in condemnation of the Athanasian Greed ana
other matters-he welcomes these frank utter
ances of a religious minded layman- Sir Ed
ward Russell, Is the Editor of The Liverpool
Post " a dramatic critic of keen perceptions and
cultivated taste Liberal without reproach.
and n devoted admirer of Mr.. Gladstone. He is
not a Ritualst like Mr.. Gladstone's biosrapher
and euIogist Mr. George William Russell, but
an old fashioned Churchman out OF touch with
prevaiIing currents of thought in the Engllsn
Church but tolerant withal and tenacious re
specting a few simple and comprehensive dog
mas He writes earnestly about the great prob
lens of Christian life and experience. and ne mas
q lucid style scintillating with brightness and
puIsat,ng with animation. He does not preacn
from set texts and he makes no anectation OF
Scriptural learning. He is a frank preacher. ana
he is never dull. What he has to say is ao-
dressed to the clergy even more than to his
fellow Iaymen: and the value of the volume
enart from the evidences of unaffected and
manly Christian faith contained in these simple
essays. lies in the critical estimates upon the
methods employed by the official class of preach
ers The book contains revelation of the inner
mind of Intelligent la aymen. for which the Blsnop
OF Hereford candidly finds reason for gratitude
The news ordinarily silent. This is clear.
we'll trained voice from of them. and 1t is
not pitched in too high key.
The volume contains eight sermons. with re-
fectons and criticisms suggested by the Churcn
Calendar from Advent to Trinity. and eleven
ESSAYS on topics of the time, such as Disestab-