The sun., 1912-08-04

sold the first four rows of seats to spec
ulators before the public sale began
Thereupon an indignation meeting pre-
sided over by. the mayor. who set forth
that he could not be suspected OF any
personal feeling in the matter, since until
this occasion "he had never heard OF
Charles Dickens in his life But Dolby
matches this with an anecdote Of his agent
in Aberdeen. who was not prepared to
estimate what the receipts might be.
since among his own friends "there were
very few who had ever heard of Charles
Dickens" Also the town clerk Of an un-
named town in Lancashire declined to
allow the use of the town hall until he had
been supplied with full particulars Of the
nature Of Mr.. Dickens's entertainment"
Not all Americans. even in the large
cities. who were willing to pay hand
somely to hear Dickens read could in
any case have had that privilege in the
number Of readings announced. and
under the conditions. Dickens refused
to take hall SO large that he could not
be we'll seen and heard in il. This in
sistence upon limiting his audience. in
the interest Of the artistic success OF his
performance, ia sufficient answer to the
charge that he was merely marketing
his notoriety or making show Of him
self for money" Moreover. the limita-
tion Of the price Of seats to 81. when It
might as we'll have been s.. was an ire
sistible temptation to the spectators.
Dickens could have filed the Madison
Square Garden. if it had been in existence.
at &5 seat. Dolby failed. as probably
anybody else in his place would have
failed. to baflle the spectators. or to
accommodate all those who were willing
to pay to hear Dickens. in consequence
OF which he was roundly denounced by
the disappointed, to his extreme bewilder-
ment. Dickens himself called Dolby the
best abused man in America. abused for
no other reason than that he could not
get two thousand sitters into one thousand
seats.
In spite OF the painful and distressing
illness which came upon "the chief dur
ing the latter part of the American tour,
there was great deal OF fun going on In
the travelling company. as will readily
be believed by those who remember James
r. Osgood, who represented Ticknor and
Fields on the trip. Dickens himself got
great deal Of fun out Of the appearance
Of Osgood ON some formal occasion. cor
rectly dressed with the exception that he
wore two left boots. He got still more
out Of u walking match which he insti-
gated in the character of tho "Gad's
Hill Casper between Dolby. in the char
acter of the Man Of Ross. and Osgood
under the name and style Of the Boston
Bantam" Dolby gives the articles drawn
up by Dickens and the report Of the match
also written by him. and in the dialect
of Bells Life. Dickens gave dinner to
all his Boston friends in celebration OF
the event, and the hilarity Of the occasion
was increased by Dolby's insistence that
Mrs. Fields had accompanied Osgood on
the homestretch with her carriage and
stayed him with bread soaked in brandy. y
All this is pleasant reading even yet.
but il is much pleasanter to tind that 80
long after Dickens's death as the book
was written the author retained so lively
an affection, as we'll as admiration, for
the star whose manager he had been. and
between whom and himself there never
seems to have passed an unkind word
except upon IA single occasion. Upon
that occasion Dickens smashed q plate in
his impatience. but his apology was 80
prompt and sweet that it endeared him
to Dolby more than ever. This volume
is the kind Of Testimony to the personal
likableness OF Dickens. which IL all the
more welcome that il cannot be said to
be superhuous