The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-31

by;' Mary Graham in Martin Chuzzle- wit;' Rose Maylie in "Oliver Twist" Florence Dombey in "Dombey and Son;" Emma Haredale In "Barnaby Rudge;" Little Dorrit in the novel of that name; even Lizzie Hexam in "Our Mutual Friend" and Agnes Wicl1ford in David Copperfield," all remain very much in the background. In this, they are true to life in certain large sense. The good women, the women whom men wish to marry are not adventurers or adven- turous, they are not eccentric or super normal. They do not usually, stand pas- sion torn between good and evil strug- gling which to choose.s The aspect that they present to the general world is the harmony and beauty of simplicity.
 It is easy enough to make a good man interesting in literature. He may have his little (and big) weaknesses. He. may even go wrong, and still remain thor oughly good male figure. But a woman couldn't. A woman couldn't very well tramp the roads like Nicholas Nickleby, play with a strolling company, beat schoolmasters and noblemen, and still re- main in our minds an image of ideal beauty and charm. She couldn't very we'll be a drunlIard like Sydney Carton and still remain noble figure Agnes couldn't have pitched head over shoulders into love on every occasion as David Copper field did ,and still remain an Agnes to be worshipped.
 . So it happens that almost all Dickens good women stand aloof, like figures of Faith, Hope and Charity looking down, beautiful, but withdrawn, from tall and noble stained glass arches
 That this aloofness was not due to any lack of talent for drawing a good wom- an and making her powerful and dom- mating character is proved by one great exception in Dickens novels. It is the novel of "Bleak House." This novel Is one of Dickens finest books even if there were no Esther Summerson in it at all. Indeed, 1t would have been easy to con- struct the novel substantially as it Is, leaving out Esther Summerson entirely, Though her fate is tangled with all the fates in the novel, she does nothing her self-nothing except to be a good wom- an. Yet in being that-that and nothing more = Esther Summerson becomes not only the dominant figure of the story, but it's vital essence, it's permeating spirit stooping compassionately to every sor- row in it, entering every shadow in the tale, yet shining beyond and standing above the sorrow and sin and shadow as woman in real life takes on herself the burdens and still stands above the sins and sorrows and shadows of ouI world.
  T T was dark and still and stern house
 in which, Esther Summerson grew up \ It was so heavy and unchanging witt repressing gloom that she became a shy little thing. relieving her mind of its thoughts only when she sat stitching alone in her own tiny room, and she could confide in her dolly, who sat staring at her.
 She knew that she was shy, and she knew that she was not bit clever. She often wished that she could make up for these defects by loving her godmothei more than she did Her godmother, who brought her up, was very handsome, with q dark, stern beauty. Esther thought that if she would only smile she would look like an tangel, but she never smiled. One day she said to the child: Tt would have been far better, little Esther, hao you never been born!'
 Esther began to cry and said; "oh, deai godmother tell me, please tell me, did mamma dle on my birthday%'
 NO" said she. Your ngpther. Esther is your disgrace and you were hers. The time will come when you will understand this better and feel it, too, as only g woman can do. Nowsg go"
 She crept up to her room and laid her dollys face against her own that was wet .with tears. and holding that soli' tary friend against her bosom, she sobbed herself to sleep. Imperfect as her un derstanding was, she knew that she had brought no joy at any time to anybody's heart, and that she was to no one on eartl what tie dolly was to her
 This sense of something wrong, fol which she felt that she was to blame though she did not know why. made hel shy and reserved with other children, as well as in the house.
 So she grew up till she was 1 1. Then one night. when she was reading the Bible aloud, as she did nightly, she read from St. John how the Savior stopped down, writing with His finger in the dust, when they brought the sin. sul woman to Him. He lifted up Him Self and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him frs cast q stone at her!'
 Her godmother rose, put her hand te her head, and cried out in terribls voice. Then she fell to the floor. Fol more than week she lay in bed with the old resolute frown that Esther knew so well, carved on her face. Many and many time, in the day and the night, Esther kissed her, thanked her prayed for her, asked for her blessing and forgiveness, entreated her to givs the least sign that she knew or heard Her face remained immovable. To the last. and even afterward, her frown re. m4sreI unsoftened.
 ,~-ter the funeral, a lawyer arrived and informed Esther that the dead wom an was her aunt, and that now she was quite without living relatives; but said he, client of his, whom he de scribed as "a humane but at the same time singular man." named John Jarn- dyce, had taken it on himself to pay fol her tuition in school where she might learn to support herself
 She passed at this school six quiet happy years. It was understood there that she was to depend. bye and bye Sn her qualifications to earn her living as governess, and she was permitted to instruct others as soon as possible With this exception she was treated ex- actly like the rest; and she never saw n any face there that it would have been better had she never been born
 jeed 1t soon became the practice
 conflde all new pupils to her care;