The Washington times., 1922-04-09

10 innpo8niDio AoT u " ouNSA~
tain you In q manner In which
the Cratchit family. let us say,
celebrated Christmas. am the
only substitute or approximation to
q pudding which can be put before
you this EVENING" And unfortu-
nately. tho spectacle Of q journalist
making q fool of himself u not 20
entirely fresh and novel to you ~.
say. theatrical performance was
70 the Nubbles familyl
But when we have--I win not
say. done Justice to. but--very in
adequately Indicated that supreme
social characteristic in Dickens
works. It is well. perhaps. to cor
rect tendency to overstate that.
or. rather. to undertake the other
corresponding aspect Of his work.
Dickens was--I win not say. al
though a happy man, but rather
because q happy mana very pug
naoious man. Indeed, think an
sptimist who Is not pugnacious is
the most depressing person in the
world II man cannot enjoy
fight. he cannot enjoy anything.
and the kind of philosophical op-
timist. the serene Buddhistic, calm,
smiling optimist- who approves Of
al things and accepts ali thinks--
well, there is nothing to be done
with him except to hit him thun-
dering crack on the nose and see
whether he accepts thati
DICKENS WAS PUGNACIOUS.
Now. Dickens had this other as
pect. as I say. Of pugnacity. Of re-
forming vileness, and, above all. OF
satire; and the satire marks, per-
haps. the peculiarly challenging
character of his work all over the
world. It represents, for instance,
the whole OF that question which
has often been discussed. Of his
relations to America When was
in New York in the early months
of this year. am happy to say I
attended a very delightful meeting
of our fellowship in that city.
where ] can only say that no oon-
ceivable English meeting could
have been more enthusiastic than
was that American meeting. Tor
the author Of Martin Chuzziewit-
As matter of fact what Dick
ems did in relation to America 10
very much what he did In relation
10 England. There In a curious
sort of impression. TO Judge from
some peoples criticism of Martin
Chuzziewit and of the American
Notes. which seems to suggest that
Dickens described America as a
kind of lunatic asylum. full Of GRIM
inaI lunatics like Hannibal Chollop
and Jefferson Brick; while he was.
at the same time. describing Eng
land as an island of innocence.
happy world consisting entirely Of
poor and ardent beings like Mr..
Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit,
and Chevy slyme. and Montagus
Tigg!
Now, I think that even those
Engiishmen who consider that
Dickens satire against America
was deserved. or even those Eng
iishmen who think that something
of the evils against which the sa-
tire was directed still remain i'm
America, even such Engiishman
may very reasonably look at homo
for any field Of reform, or for the
application Of the moral truths OF
Dickens.
When we have got rid Of all our
Pecksniffs, II win be time to ask
the Americans TO get rid OF all
their Jefferson Bricks! And i am
not going to give a list OF the Peck
sniffs, whom It might be well to
get rid OF. though, as, Mr.. Peck
sniff himself observed. A suitable
opportunity now offersr
Now, what Dickens aid to unite
the two peoples was to make them
laugh at each other. He satirizes
both of them. but by satirizing his
ewn people he showed that he was
doing II impartialiy; he showed that
what he satirtzed was common
human folly and weakness, and,
therefore, as I can myself testify
from my experiences IN America,
his satire has left no kind OF
bitterness whatever In the attitude
of that democracy toward that
ereat democrat-
Now, when a great sstirfst. and
enc 10 powerful N Dickens. also
20 popular. attacks the snobSerfss
or the prigxishness of this world,
this world generally has 4 moro
or iess subconscious tendency to
escape from the satire. Some fact
or other In always insistSd on, or
some fancy is INDUCED in, which
wni rob fhs satirist. 20 souns OF.
tent, OF his intellectual authority.