The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-04-16


pied of her Dreams if in some ruin
of the social system, the books OF
Dickens were lost; and if The Dodger,
and Charley Bates, and Mr.. Crinkle.
and Miss Squeers, and Sam Weller,
and Mrs. Camp, and Dick Swiveller
were to perish, or to vanish with
Menanders men and women" He
thinks that "every Englishman who
can read, unless he be an Ass, is a
reader of Dickens" He wrote this in
1885. Prof George Saintsbury is de-
servedly held in high regard as a
scholarly and able English critic He
writes of Dickens lin 1880 that he
never allows more than year or
two to pass without reading Pick
wick through from beginning to end, :"
and with undiminished interest. He
would not think we'll of any one who
materially altered his opinion of
'Pickwick,' however many years he
might live and how ever many times
he might read it afterwards" He
does not like "a Tale of Two Cities"
I think it is one of his five or six
best. 1 agree with him in heartily
liking Great Expectations" Before
closing the citation of critical opinions,
/ will Gull from an ADLER British
critic, Prof Thomas A. Shaw, who in
1S48, wrote of Dickens in very exalt-
ed appreciation. who had then been
a writer of novels but eleven years, /
think. / copy that my readers may
see what a competent, scholarly critic
of fifty-seven years ago thought of the
great novelist whose fame will con-
tinue to the close of English litera-
ture. Prof. Shaw wrote: THE great
est name in contemporary literature
of Great Britain is individually that
of Charles Dickens That was, re-
member, in 1S4S. Dickens as early
as 1886, became prominent somewhat
as the writer of some clever sketches
of a descriptive kind They were read
and admired, and the impression was
among men of letters that an original
writer was appearing who would do
greater things than his spirited and
graphic sketches of London Life
promised. 1t was in 1S47, that he be-
gan to publish his immortal and for
ever fresh and original "Pickwick Pa
pers' They appeared in monthly
numbers. Prof. Shaw does justice
to their excellence and striking ORR
ginality, thinks them rich and racy,
and says that the inimitable and most
striking delineation of character in
the delightful Mr.. Pickwick" is as
original and las completely drawn as
the inimitable hero of CervanteS, the
immortal, quaint Don QuiXote. He
Justly admires and praises sam
Weller. one of the most charming,
original characters in fiction. great
favorite Of mine for a half century.
He happily refers to him as that IN
imitable compound of wit, simplicity,
quaint humor and fidelity" There
was a good deal of horse-sense and
penetration i'm S'amivel, My Son.
The able Professor writes most pleas
antly of Sam. He also refers fittingly
to Mrs Bardell, Mrs. Chippens. and
Mrs Raddle with her unfortunate
hen-pecked husband" Mr.. Squeers
Mr.. Vincent Crummeles, Mr.. Fagin,
Sykes. Ralph Nickleby and Arthur
Gride, Tom Pinch, Little Nell and
Jonas Chuzzlewit. Remember that in
1S4S, many of Dickenss best novels
had not been written-"David Cop
perfield''-his' greatest--'A Tale of
Two Cities" BLEAK House" Dom
bey and SON" Great Expectation"
and some others. In 1848. Prof,
Shaw said this: Even should he
write no more he has done enough
to deserve the love and admiration OF
iposterity; his works possess the high
est and rarest of merits-that of COM
plete originality both of matter and
form; his view of life is generous,
elevating, quaint; he sympathises with
what is good and noble in all classes
and conditions alike. the only
things he has held up to ridicule and
deteStation are vice, hypocrisy, or
the pretensions of imbecile vulgarity
The intelligent reader who has sin
cere relish for the best humor, for
Incompatible fun cannot fail to love
Dickens, and he will read 'The Old
Curiosity Shop" and ''Barnaby
Rudge.' and those named above. /
know some more recent critics UNI
derrate BLEAK House" and "a Tale
of Two Cities" but as an old lover OF
Dickens-for more than half CEN
tury-I hold that 80 former is full
of power and interest, although grue-
some, while the latter deserves to be
named with his best. If had to select
the six best l rather think / would
put them in this order: David Cop
perfield," "Pickwick,' Martin Chuz-
zlewit," Great Expectations, "A
Tale of Two Cities" and "Dombey and
Son" He had some excellent gifts
now denied him by some later critics
true pathos, wit, power to paint ma
ture. dramatic endowment, real SIM
plicity. The same disposition to de-
prive and degrade has shown itself in
handling Scott. Thackeray, George
Eliot, and Charles Reade-all great
noveIists BY some writer's Dickens is
placed far below Balzac. l never read
but one novel by the latter-"Pere
Goriot'-which is regarded by some
of his critical eulogists as his best. |
believe it is decidedly below Guy
Mannering' and some other novels of
Scott; below Dickens's David Cop
perfield;" below Thackeray's Henry
Esmond''; below Charles Reade's
THE Cloister and the Hearth; below
Hardy'S Tess D'Urbvilles"; and
George Eliots adam Bede." / may
b. old fashioned and decidedly out of
date. but / write as l think, and in
of what others may say
OF course the writer's / select pro-
duced other famous and excellent
but | name those which appeal
to my judgment as foremost. Lorna
Doone' and John Inglesant' might
well be included
The merits of Dickens are indeed
manifold and positive. He not only
created more striking characters than
any other novelist since Scott, but to-
day there are more references to him
than to any other writer whatsoever
next to Shakespeare. This shows the
evidences of the impressions he made.
and he wrote but little that did not
suggest references to him in collec-
lions of sayings and every day speech.