The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-03
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Of the succeeding chapters-or. rather, there IS not difference, but a change. Partly this is due to the fact that the story, written in monthly miscellaneous, was begun by Dickens in a manner sug- gested by his publishers, and that very soon his genius ran away helter skeiter with publishers ideas and everything else. There is more, however, than that in the change that occurs in MT. Pick wick. Dickens began the story in spirit of ridicule of the laborious trivialities of pseudo-scientific societies which flourished 1n his day particularly. He meant to make MT. Pickwick the embodiment of an easily humbugged, innocent enthus- last, and in this personification started him forth to explore England. But Charles Dickens loved his characters as never another author in the world-not because he had invented them, but be- cause he loved human beings, and every one of his characters became human un- der his hands no matter what he might havV set out to do with one originally He loved MT. PickwiclS; and he made the whole world love him, for in Samuel Pick Wick he gave the world a simple, inno- cent, guileless gentleman, not without lit tie absurdities and little weaknesses, and with heart big enough for 100 wise men, "/HoEyER saw MT. PickwiclS
 
 W ber most of all the kindly old eyes that beamed with enthusiasm and good nature behind the large circular spectacles. Whoever saw him oftener than once was sure sooner or later to see him standing with one hand concealed beneath his coat tails and the other way ing in air to assist his glowing declama- ton. At such times the behoder would be impressed inevitably with three im- pressive things about Mir. Pickwick; the intense earnestness of his utterance; his philanthropic bald head that spoke as eloquently as his words; and his very fine legs encased in extreme neat gaiters. Mir. Iickwick was just a little vain about those logs.
 In this form he was worshipped by his servant Sam Weller, though Sam Vel Ter had so little worship in his general makeup that he would have been quite capable of knocking the wig down over the august and majestic ears of the great Lord Mayor of London himself q never heerd, mind you,'' Mir Weller once ex- pressed himself, nor read of in story books, nor see in picters, any angel in
 
 oles, as I remember, though that may ha' been done for anythin' I know to the contrarey, but mark my words, he's a. reg g'lar thoroughbred angel for all that, and let me see the man as ventures to tell me he knows better yum"
 Good cheer, solid and liquid, agreed so wei, with MT, Pickwck, and he agreed so well with it, that he had become a very substantial angel indeed and he never was more angelic than after he had done his duty by a good dinner and the good drinkabes that went with it. It was then that he loved most to dis course on the great achievements in sci ence of the Pickwick club, whose founder he was, and which had honored him by bestowing on him the magnificent de- gree of G. c. M. P. C.-General Chair man, Member Pickwick Club. At such times of digestive rapture he was wont to reflect with a contended smile over his own modest successes, chief among which was his famous paper: "Specula- tions on the Source of the Hampstead Ponds. with Some Observations on the Theory of Tittlebats''
 Besides being G. c. M. P. C.. he was honorary member of r other learned so- ciet'es' they having conferred the dis. tinction on him for his discovery of a stone in an ancient Kentish village bear ing these mysterious marks:
 BILST
 U M
 PS SHI
 SM
 ARK
 Ihe Y learned societies, and any num- Der of other learned societies, issued any number of explanations, and in fine print on any number of pages, and all differ ent. Mr. Picllwick himself published 97 different readings of the inscription. The only shadow on his qualification was thrown by a degraded person named Botton, who journeyed to the scene of the discovery and returned with the al- legation that he had found a yiIlaeer named Bill Stumps, who was the author of the inscription, and that the meaning of it was: Bill stumps. His Mark" Mr.. Stumps owing to reasons of education. having merely fallen into the error of spelling Bill with one '1."
 It is pleasant to record that the scr,r- rilous Blotton was expelled Unanimously from all the societies to which he be- longed, and denounced unanimously bv all the others.
 The discovery of this extraordinary stone was made by MT. Pickwicls in the course of an exploration of England. which the Pickwick club had authorized him to make at his own expense. He might, and no doubt would, have addad many other notable facts to the knowp history of the British -1sles had he mt become involved early in the journey with a person named Jingle who won his es. teem only to betray it. MT. Jingle posed as 8 member of the Pickwick club and vanished. leaving Mr. Pickwick and his companions, MT. Tupman, MT. Snodgrass and Mir. Wrinkle, in the horrifying position of being challenged to duels for offenses of which they were quite ignorant. Mr.. Jingle ran away with the maiden sister of gentleman to whom MT. Pickwicix had introduced him, and released his prize only after they had chased him half across England and bought him off. Mir Jingle's equally treacheous servant, Job Trotter. led Mir Pickwick into the equiyocable position of being caught In a select Ladies' Boarding school at night ka position from which. he extricated him.