Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-02-07
DIG1e1g E2nc az Gf0sgI;ZI/
y len the Thackcray centenary
Z was celebrated, less than u
N Year ago, literary men every
NJ ~. els 4 i'm,

- Il IL&N lhS 4udChCIfS NCAASAoAJ
was celebrated, less than i
year ago, literary men every
w where avoWcd their admiral
ton for the author IT VANITY Fair
as the Dickens celebration approaches,
VIC sea he contrary spectacle-thc
people nearly everywhere are pccp2r-
ms to observe the hundrcdth ami
versary OF his birth in various ways:
new editions and new Dickens books
are appearing in pota bio number; and
many signs indicate that the vogue
Of Dickens. far from waning as liter
sry snobs have predicted, is as wide
spread and potent as ever.
No wonder, for Dickens Is tho Ho-
mcr of the mob, the Burns Of prose,
to whom "a mans man for a. that"
There Is no question that, like the
Lord, he must have loved tho COM
mon people. for he created so many
Of them. And they loved him in turn.
In Belfast. after q reading, q great
part of his audience followed him
s"AO u6u SAA0 6LACClp OAU OAS CuLnuSe
iastic Hibernian seized him by the
hand. "Do me the honor" said he,
ito shake hands. Misthcr Dickens. and
God bless you. sir; not ounly for tho
light you've been to mo this night, but
for the light you've been to me house.
sjr land God bless your face!), this
many year."
The fertility Of Dickens as q Gre
alive artist may be best realized by
remembering that no Less than 1899
characters appear in the novels.
Shakespeare created less than a thou
eand. Perhaps only Balzac surpasses
Dickens In this respect, for In
the Human Comedy" over two thou
sand persons figure. But none has
surpassed Dickens in the individuality
and interest OF his characters They
live and move and have their being
like real men and women. We love
ishem or hate them an we do people
that we know. While It has become
fashionable for critics to say that
the characters of Dickens are not
characters. but caricatures. the people
who read him and see much Of hui
manity know better. Look, NAM
ma" cried q little girl in a street car
recently, budding close to her mother.
there's Daniel Quilp." A United
States Judge not long ago assured the
writer that he had met Sampson Brass
sedivivus number Of times.
Laugh and Cry With Them.
We laugh and we cry with the in
habitants Of Dickens Land. No one
knows how many subscription papers
contain the names Of the Cheeryble
brothers. how many children get kind
words that are meant for Little Nell,
:ow many people are willin' because
6arkis was, how many hard hearts
6avo been converted along with
Ecroog's, how many have come out
strong in adversely because Mark Tap
ley did.
What 10 Pickwick but a new Don
ouixote, nourished upon English roast
beef? What is the Junior Weller but
q new Sancho Panza, filled with a
knowledge Of London that Is 'exten-
Oive and PECULIAR" What is Micaw-
Der but O new Hamlet. lost in the fogs
Of London business? What IL poor
Nancy Skies but Desdemona. dragged
through the mire Of the thieves
: Kitchen: r.
We have al heard the Rev. Mr..
ehadband preach his intolerable ser
mons. How often do We meet Mr..
Thomas Gradgrind and hear him
Draiso the virtues Of hard facts" Mr..
OoAn Podsnap u still on hand protest.
Og against anything that would