Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-30
EX.JUDGE JOHN NJ. PATTERSON
On the influence of Charles Dickens

NEXT to the Bible and Shakespeare, the
~ writings Of Charles Dickens have
erted greater influence upon inod"rn!
civilization and In greater number OF
activities than those Of any. oth": one
person. according TO former Judge John n.
Patterson for many years president OF the
Dickens Fellowship and now its vice presi'
dent.
..Taxe first lis own line Of work." said
Judge Patterson. "and there will he few who
will not admit that the influence of Dickens
uron other writer's has been tremendous
Hut they all refined on Dickens: there was
none who could draw with his bold strokes
or use tho colors so daringly. They all had
to be more subtle.
"In his writings Dickens was scene
painter and he was able TO use big splaShcs
of color in which his imitntors could not
follow him. The modern trend OF writing
is impressionistir: but. even so; thry are not t
suhtlcty lay in the things which he left un-
said. in which he perhaps never had an
equal.
'Of the modern writer's who owe the
most to Dickens there is George Gissing. but
he never has the cheerful aspect of his
rrucsome and mouynful style. Xangwill
has admitted the enormous influence OF
Dickens in his own work and Tom Burke
was another In other languages, tn" modern
French school Of realism, ns rtprcScntcu by
Daudet. and others, was almost modelled on
| Dickens works.
"The three greatest forces in English
| Ntcraturc 0mitting some writer's exclusively
! uocts, we're Chaucrr. Shakespeare and Dick
ems. and they were all more or less r'aists.
Had London at Finger Tips
| "Tho man who had the most accurate
| knowledge of the people of the London
streets and the quaint places Of th" great
metropolis and who therefore wr'tc of them
| with the most certainty. was Charles DICK
| cns In fact the average intelligent American
seems to nut London around Dickens. TIN"
Thames Mt night recalls Lizzie llcxam row
ing her father around on his shastly mission,
and London l'rds. brings Up the nn,,M meeting ny
while the lower river brings back the story OF
| the death Of Quilp. All these and hundreds Of
| other things are brought home to American
travellers through Dickens.
| "Charles Dickens has also strongly inhu-
enced the stage. The best actors. such as
Irving in England and Joseph Jefferson IN
| mis- country, have played the characters he
| created from tn" heroic to low 'omedy.
Many writer's of plays have felt his influence
and many Of the best playwrghts have
dramatized his books.
"Opcrns have been written around his
| works: Little DOrrt was one and DE Wolf
| Homer once portrayed lickwirk in Il conf,
on.ra. The history of the stage is incOm
niete unless one deals with the influence OF
dickens on both writer's Of plays nnd
actors. Virtually every one Of his books
has been used in the moving pictures, ant
they not only proved popular. hut were re-
pnrded by the men who put them on The
screen as the easiest and best kind Of ma
terial to utilize.
Influence on journalism
| chickens has also had an immense in
hucnre on writing for the newspaper press
lie was Il parliamentary reporter in 1884
| when great reforms We're pending in Englnn,
and men like Russell and others DOUBTLESS
had considerable influence upon him an,
mpon his work. But nearly every youn;
writer takes the Sketches by Boz ns hi
| first model Dickens was always kecnly in
terested in the newspaper press and had /
in mind on several occasions to start
paper for reform purposes, not 50 mucl
| politically as against some Of the grea
social abuses which were then Migrant
"It is doubtful, however. il any news
reforms which he ACCOMPLISHED single
handed through his books. 'Nirholu
Nickeby' put an end to the infamous York
shire schools. pirkwick Papers and 'Littl
DOrrit accom- l!shcd vast reforms of th
debtors prison through cXposurr of ,b
abuses prncticel there oliver Twist' di
the same for the parish work ousn~ Of Enc
land and material chances were made /
british legal procedure after IN" uubIicn
, ton of Bleak House with the famous cas-
| OF Iarndyce VS. larndTrr.
Chickens was among first writer's Of the his
torical novel and he has to HIS credit the tw
] Cities and 'Barnaby Rudse.' In the forme