Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-30
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRAcEVELL.

i Yet this diversity does not save his
| writings from peculiar quality which
turns many away from them. Why Is
this? Perhaps there are two reasons,
one the abundant prolixity of the man
himself, and the other the style and
manners OF his age.
| Dickens was, in truth, a peculiar
writer, with mannerisms so manifest
that many are repelled by them. The
chief of these is his rather redundant
style, the opposite of the direct French
manner. found in SO many Of the great
novelists of that nation.
Happy is the reader who can see the
good in every great writer. He Is un-
fortunate who Is turned against one Of
| the undoubted great because there Is
something uncongenial between the two
of them, writer and reader. Thus
many today profess a dislike for the
poems of Longfellow, declaring that by
| no means can they stomach his verse.
Yet they will fall into ecstasy over
Browning, as peculiar In his manner
isms as poor Longfellow ever thought OF
being in his own.
The true reader takes Dickens with
| his faults and his virtues, Browning
with hts faults and virtues, Longfellow
with his virtues and faults, happy in
being able to see the good in each one,
proud of his catholicity.
Let us return. therefore, to our con-
sideration of 1.-THE Loving Couple" OF
| which every one knows q specimen or
two. What II Dickens did "overdo it,
a bit? Dickens wrote so, and II YOU
want to get the good In him you have
| to accept him as he was. As one OF the
popular songs has 1t, IF You Want the
| Rainbow, You Must Have the RAIN"
| The Leavers are at home when the
! dialogue about music occurred, land
maybe only three or four friends are
present but, unaccustomed to reserve
upon this interesting point, they are
pretty much the same abroad" Dick
ems then launches into some typical
Dickensian description, showing the
great powwow made by the SUPER
f, loving Mrs Leaver when her darling
! Augustus fell out of boat, etc. He
| ends his sketch with the historic line:
| Very few Of the party missed the low
| ing couple: and the few who did heart
| ily congratulated each other in their
disappearance"
| In like vein he ends his considera-
| ton of 1.-The Egotistical Couple:
This would be well enough if Mr..
and Mrs. Sliverstone kept 1t to them
| selves, or even to themselves and a
| friend or two; but they do not. The
more hearers they have, the more ego
tistical they become, and the more
anxious they are to make believers IN
| their merits. Perhaps this is the worst
kind of egotism. 1t has not even the
poor excuse of being spontaneous, but
| is the result of deliberate system and
| malice aforethought. Mere empty
headed conceit excites our pity. but os-
tentatious hypocricy awakens our dig
| gust"
DESTINATIONS hypocrisy!
There the hand of the master sticks
! out. 1t was just the phrase we strove
1 to recall when writing about the lady
| who insists on holding her husbands
| hand in public. All such public paving
| is nothing more nor less than ostenta-
tious hypocrisy and Its inevitable result
is to disgust all beholders, with the
| exception Of those few who invariably
fall for such demonstrations.
Aren't they sweet?" such one de-
clares, falling like fish for a neatly
baited hook. Perhaps the lady who
| holds her husbands hand in public. or
| vino slobbers over him with dear" and
darling" once caught glance OF ad-
miration from one Of these easily
| pleased persons. But most OF her audi
ence--arld we have Dickens for support
are merely disguised by such osten-
| tatious hypocrisy.