NIAGARA AND MONTREAL.
1842.
Last Two Letters--Dickens vanquished--Obstacles
to Copyright--Two described--Value of Literary
Popularity--Substitute for Literature--The
Secretary described--His Paintings--The Lion
and ---- --Toryism of Toronto--Canadian
Attentions--Proposed Theatricals--Last
Letter--The Private Play--Stage Manager's
Report--The Lady Performers--Bill of the
Performance--A Touch of Crummles--HOME.
MY friend was better than his word, and two more letters reached me
before his return. The opening of the first was written from Niagara on
the 3d, and its close from Montreal on the 12th, of May; from which
latter city also, on the 26th of that month, the last of all was
written.
Much of the first of these letters had reference to the international
copyright agitation, and gave strong expression to the indignation
awakened in him (nor less in some of the best men of America) by the
adoption, at a public meeting in Boston itself, of a memorial against
any change of the law, in the course of which it was stated that, if
English authors were invested with any control over the republication of
their own books, it would be no longer possible for American editors to
alter and adapt them to the American taste. This deliberate declaration,
however, unsparing as Dickens's anger at it was, in effect vanquished
him. He saw the hopelessness of pursuing further any present effort to
bring about the change desired; and he took the determination not only
to drop any allusion to it in his proposed book, but to try what effect
might be produced, when he should again be in England, by a league of
English authors to suspend further intercourse with American publishers
while the law should remain as it is. On his return he made accordingly
a public appeal to this effect, stating his own intention for the future
to forego all profit derivable from the authorized transmission of early
proofs across the Atlantic; but his hopes in this particular also were
doomed to disappointment. I now leave the subject, quoting only from his
present letter the general remarks with which it is dismissed by
himself.
"NIAGARA FALLS,
"_Tuesday, Third May, 1842._
"I'll tell you what the two obstacles to the passing of an international
copyright law with England are: firstly, the national love of 'doing' a
man in any bargain or matter of business; secondly, the national vanity.
Both these characteristics prevail to an extent which no stranger can
possibly estimate.
"With regard to the first, I seriously believe that it is an essential
part of the pleasure derived from the perusal of a popular English book,
that the author gets nothing for it. It is so dar-nation 'cute--so
knowing in Jonathan to get his reading on those terms. He has the
Englishman so regularly on the hip that his eye twinkles with slyness,
cunning, and delight; and he chuckles over the humor of the page with an
appreciation of it quite inconsistent with, and apart from, its honest
purchase. The raven hasn't more joy in eating a stolen piece of meat,
than the American has in reading the English book which he gets for
nothing.
"With regard to the second, it reconciles that better and more elevated
class who are above this sort of satisfaction, with surprising ease. The
man's read in America! The Americans like him! They are glad to see him
when he comes here! They flock about him, and tell him that they are
grateful to him for spirits in sickness; for many hours of delight in
health; for a hundred fanciful associations which are constantly
interchanged between themselves and their wives and children at home! It
is nothing that all this takes place in countries where he is _paid_; it
is nothing that he has won fame for himself elsewhere, and profit too.
The Americans read him; the free, enlightened, independent Americans;
and what more _would_ he have? Here's reward enough for any man. The
national vanity swallows up all other countries on the face of the
earth, and leaves but this above the ocean. Now, mark what the real
value of this American reading is. Find me in the whole range of
literature one single solitary English book which becomes popular with
them before, by going through the ordeal at home and becoming popular
there, it has forced itself on their attention--and I am content that
the law should remain as it is, forever and a day. I must make one
exception. There _are_ some mawkish tales of fashionable life before
which crowds fall down as they were gilded calves, which have been
snugly enshrined in circulating libraries at home, from the date of
their publication.
"As to telling them they will have no literature of their own, the
universal answer (out of Boston) is, 'We don't want one. Why should we
pay for one when we can get it for nothing? Our people don't think of
poetry, sir. Dollars, banks, and cotton are _our_ books, sir.' And they
certainly are in one sense; for a lower average of general information
than exists in this country on all other topics, it would be very hard
to find. So much, at present, for international copyright."
The same letter kept the promise made in its predecessor that one or two
more sketches of character should be sent: "One of the most amusing
phrases in use all through the country, for its constant repetition, and
adaptation to every emergency, is 'Yes, Sir.' Let me give you a
specimen." (The specimen was the dialogue, in the _Notes_, of straw-hat
and brown-hat, during the stage-coach ride to Sandusky.) "I am not
joking, upon my word. This is exactly the dialogue. Nothing else
occurring to me at this moment, let me give you the secretary's
portrait. Shall I?
"He is of a sentimental turn--strongly sentimental; and tells Anne as
June approaches that he hopes 'we shall sometimes think of him' in our
own country. He wears a cloak, like Hamlet; and a very tall, big, limp,
dusty black hat, which he exchanges on long journeys for a cap like
Harlequin's. . . . He sings; and in some of our quarters, when his bedroom
has been near ours, we have heard him grunting bass notes through the
keyhole of his door, to attract our attention. His desire that I should
formally ask him to sing, and his devices to make me do so, are
irresistibly absurd. There was a piano in our room at Hartford (you
recollect our being there, early in February?)--and he asked me one
night, when we were alone, if 'Mrs. D.' played. 'Yes, Mr. Q.' 'Oh,
indeed, Sir! _I_ sing: so whenever you want _a little soothing_--' You
may imagine how hastily I left the room, on some false pretense, without
hearing more.
"He paints. . . . An enormous box of oil-colors is the main part of his
luggage: and with these he blazes away, in his own room, for hours
together. Anne got hold of some big-headed, pot-bellied sketches he made
of the passengers on board the canal-boat (including me in my fur coat),
the recollection of which brings the tears into my eyes at this minute.
He painted the Falls, at Niagara, superbly; and is supposed now to be
engaged on a full-length representation of me: waiters having reported
that chamber-maids have said that there is a picture in his room which
has a great deal of hair. One girl opined that it was 'the beginning of
the King's Arms;' but I am pretty sure that the Lion is myself. . . .
"Sometimes, but not often, he commences a conversation. That usually
occurs when we are walking the deck after dark; or when we are alone
together in a coach. It is his practice at such times to relate the most
notorious and patriarchal Joe Miller, as something that occurred in his
own family. When traveling by coach, he is particularly fond of
imitating cows and pigs; and nearly challenged a fellow-passenger the
other day, who had been moved by the display of this accomplishment
into telling him that he was 'a Perfect Calf.' He thinks it an
indispensable act of politeness and attention to inquire constantly
whether we're not sleepy, or, to use his own words, whether we don't
'suffer for sleep.' If we have taken a long nap of fourteen hours or so,
after a long journey, he is sure to meet me at the bedroom door when I
turn out in the morning, with this inquiry. But, apart from the
amusement he gives us, I could not by possibility have lighted on any
one who would have suited my purpose so well. I have raised his ten
dollars per month to twenty; and mean to make it up for six months."
The conclusion of this letter was dated from "Montreal, Thursday,
twelfth May," and was little more than an eager yearning for home: "This
will be a very short and stupid letter, my dear friend; for the post
leaves here much earlier than I expected, and all my grand designs for
being unusually brilliant fall to the ground. I will write you _one
line_ by the next Cunard boat,--reserving all else until our happy and
long long looked-for meeting.
"We have been to Toronto and Kingston; experiencing attentions at each
which I should have difficulty in describing. The wild and rabid toryism
of Toronto is, I speak seriously, _appalling_. English kindness is very
different from American. People send their horses and carriages for your
use, but they don't exact as payment the right of being always under
your nose. We had no less than _five_ carriages at Kingston waiting our
pleasure at one time; not to mention the commodore's barge and crew, and
a beautiful government steamer. We dined with Sir Charles Bagot last
Sunday. Lord Mulgrave was to have met us yesterday at Lachine; but, as
he was wind-bound in his yacht and couldn't get in, Sir Richard Jackson
sent his drag four-in-hand, with two other young fellows who are also
his aides, and in we came in grand style.
"The Theatricals (I think I told you[62] I had been invited to play with
the officers of the Coldstream Guards here) are _A Roland for an
Oliver_; _Two o'Clock in the Morning_; and either the _Young Widow_, or
_Deaf as a Post_. Ladies (unprofessional) are going to play, for the
first time. I wrote to Mitchell at New York for a wig for Mr.
Snobbington, which has arrived, and is brilliant. If they had done
_Love, Law, and Physick_, as at first proposed, I was already 'up' in
Flexible, having played it of old, before my authorship days; but if it
should be Splash in the _Young Widow_, you will have to do me the favor
to imagine me in a smart livery-coat, shiny black hat and cockade, white
knee-cords, white top-boots, blue stock, small whip, red cheeks, and
dark eyebrows. Conceive Topping's state of mind if I bring this dress
home and put it on unexpectedly! . . . God bless you, dear friend. I can
say nothing about the seventh, the day on which we sail. It is
impossible. Words cannot express what we feel, now that the time is so
near. . . ."
His last letter, dated from "Peasco's Hotel, Montreal, Canada,
twenty-sixth of May," described the private theatricals, and inclosed me
a bill of the play.
"This, like my last, will be a stupid letter, because both Kate and I
are thrown into such a state of excitement by the near approach of the
seventh of June that we can do nothing, and think of nothing.
"The play came off last night. The audience, between five and six
hundred strong, were invited as to a party; a regular table with
refreshments being spread in the lobby and saloon. We had the band of
the twenty-third (one of the finest in the service) in the orchestra,
the theatre was lighted with gas, the scenery was excellent, and the
properties were all brought from private houses. Sir Charles Bagot, Sir
Richard Jackson, and their staffs were present; and as the military
portion of the audience were all in full uniform, it was really a
splendid scene.
"We 'went' also splendidly; though with nothing very remarkable in the
acting way. We had for Sir Mark Chase a genuine odd fish, with plenty of
humor; but our Tristram Sappy was not up to the marvelous reputation he
has somehow or other acquired here. I am not however, let me tell you,
placarded as stage-manager for nothing. Everybody was told they would
have to submit to the most iron despotism; and didn't I come Macready
over them? Oh, no. By no means. Certainly not. The pains I have taken
with them, and the perspiration I have expended, during the last ten
days, exceed in amount anything you can imagine. I had regular plots of
the scenery made out, and lists of the properties wanted; and had them
nailed up by the prompter's chair. Every letter that was to be
delivered, was written; every piece of money that had to be given,
provided; and not a single thing lost sight of. I prompted, myself, when
I was not on; when I was, I made the regular prompter of the theatre my
deputy; and I never saw anything so perfectly touch and go, as the
first two pieces. The bedroom scene in the interlude was as well
furnished as Vestris had it; with a 'practicable' fireplace blazing away
like mad, and everything in a concatenation accordingly. I really do
believe that I was very funny: at least I know that I laughed heartily
at myself, and made the part a character, such as you and I know very
well: a mixture of T----, Harley, Yates, Keeley, and Jerry Sneak. It
went with a roar, all through; and, as I am closing this, they have told
me I was so well made up that Sir Charles Bagot, who sat in the
stage-box, had no idea who played Mr. Snobbington, until the piece was
over.
[Illustration: Private Theatricals.]
* * * * *
=COMMITTEE.=
* * * * *
Mrs. TORRENS.
W. C. ERMATINGER, Esq.
Mrs. PERRY.
Captain TORRENS.
THE EARL OF MULGRAVE.
* * * * *
STAGE MANAGER--MR. CHARLES DICKENS.
* * * * *
QUEEN'S THEATRE, MONTREAL
* * * * *
ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 25TH, 1842,
WILL BE PERFORMED,
=ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER.=
* * * * *
MRS. SELBORNE. [Handwritten: Mrs. Torrens]
MARIA DARLINGTON. [Handwritten: Miss Griffin]
MRS. FIXTURE. [Handwritten: Miss Ermatinger.]
MR. SELBORNE. [Handwritten: Lord Mulgrave.]
ALFRED HIGHFLYER. [Handwritten: Mr. Charles Dickens]
SIR MARK CHASE. [Handwritten: Honourable Mr. Methuen]
FIXTURE. [Handwritten: Captain Willoughby.]
GAMEKEEPER. [Handwritten: Captain Granville]
* * * * *
AFTER WHICH, AN INTERLUDE IN ONE SCENE, (FROM THE FRENCH,) CALLED
=Past Two o'Clock in the Morning.=
* * * * *
THE STRANGER. [Handwritten: Captain Granville]
MR. SNOBBINGTON. [Handwritten: Mr. Charles Dickens]
* * * * *
TO CONCLUDE WITH THE FARCE, IN ONE ACT, ENTITLED
=DEAF AS A POST.=
* * * * *
MRS. PLUMPLEY. [Handwritten: Mrs. Torrens]
AMY TEMPLETON. [Handwritten: Mrs. Charles Dickens!!!!!!!!]
SOPHY WALTON. [Handwritten: Mrs. Perry.]
SALLY MAGGS. [Handwritten: Miss Griffin]
CAPTAIN TEMPLETON. [Handwritten: Captain Torrens]
MR. WALTON. [Handwritten: Captain Willoughby.]
TRISTRAM SAPPY. [Handwritten: Doctor Griffin]
CRUPPER. [Handwritten: Lord Mulgrave]
GALLOP. [Handwritten: Mr. Charles Dickens.]
MONTREAL, May 24, 1842. GAZETTE OFFICE.
"But only think of Kate playing! and playing devilish well, I assure
you! All the ladies were capital, and we had no wait or hitch for an
instant. You may suppose this, when I tell you that we began at eight,
and had the curtain down at eleven. It is their custom here, to prevent
heart-burnings in a very heart-burning town, whenever they have played
in private, to repeat the performances in public. So, on Saturday
(substituting, of course, real actresses for the ladies), we repeat the
two first pieces to a paying audience, for the manager's benefit. . . .
"I send you a bill, to which I have appended a key.
"I have not told you half enough. But I promise you I shall make you
shake your sides about this play. Wasn't it worthy of Crummles that when
Lord Mulgrave and I went out to the door to receive the
Governor-general, the regular prompter followed us in agony with four
tall candlesticks with wax candles in them, and besought us with a
bleeding heart to carry two apiece, in accordance with all the
precedents? . . .
* * * * *
"I have hardly spoken of our letters, which reached us yesterday,
shortly before the play began. A hundred thousand thanks for your
delightful mainsail of that gallant little packet. I read it again and
again; and had it all over again at breakfast-time this morning. I heard
also, by the same ship, from Talfourd, Miss Coutts, Brougham, Rogers,
and others. A delicious letter from Mac too, as good as his painting, I
swear. Give my hearty love to him. . . . God bless you, my dear friend.
As the time draws nearer, we get FEVERED with anxiety for home. . . .
Kiss our darlings for us. We shall soon meet, please God, and be happier
and merrier than ever we were, in all our lives. . . . Oh,
home--home--home--home--home--home--HOME!!!!!!!!!!!"
=END OF VOL. I.=
FOOTNOTES:
[62] See _ante_, p. 303.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page viii, "recoltions" changed to "recollections" (Another
schoolfellow's recollections)
Page ix, extraneous page number removed Original text read:
Writing _Pickwick_, Nos. 14 127
and 15 127
Page 59, "t" changed to "it" (it as early as)
Page 117, "reisssue" changed to "reissue" (Scheme to reissue)
Page 224, "s" changed to "is" (there is little further)
Page 224, "hab" changed to "habit" (his invariable habit)
Page 242, "axing" changed to "taxing" (taxing ingenuity to)
Page 242, "f" chagned to "of" (of sheer insanity)
Page 286, word "I" inserted into text. (I have heard of)
To retain the integrity of the original text, varied hyphenations,
capitalizations, and, at times, spellings were retained.
For example:
Varied hyphenation and capitalization of Devonshire Terrace was
retained. Also fac-simile and facsimile. Varied spelling of
A'Beckett/A'Becket was retained.
*****
Transcriber's Note:
For the reader: Italic text is surrounded by _underscores_, bold text is
surrounded by =equal signs= and underlined text is surrounded by
~tildes~. Two breves above the letter e are indicated by [)e] in the
text.
THE LIFE
OF
[Illustration: Signature: Charles Dickens]
[Illustration]
THE LIFE
OF
CHARLES DICKENS
BY
JOHN FORSTER.
VOL. II.
1842-1852.
CORRECTIONS MADE IN THE LATER EDITIONS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
* * * * *
A NOTICE written under date of the 23rd December, 1871, appeared with
the Tenth Edition. "Such has been the rapidity of the demand for
successive impressions of this book, that I have found it impossible,
until now, to correct at pages 31, 87, and 97 three errors of statement
made in the former editions; and some few other mistakes, not in
themselves important, at pages 96, 101, and 102. I take the opportunity
of adding, that the mention at p. 83 is not an allusion to the
well-known 'Penny' and 'Saturday' magazines, but to weekly periodicals
of some years' earlier date resembling them in form. One of them, I have
since found from a later mention by Dickens himself, was presumably of a
less wholesome and instructive character. 'I used,' he says, 'when I was
at school, to take in the _Terrific Register_, making myself unspeakably
miserable, and frightening my very wits out of my head, for the small
charge of a penny weekly; which, considering that there was an
illustration to every number in which there was always a pool of blood,
and at least one body, was cheap.' An obliging correspondent writes to
me upon my reference to the Fox-under-the-hill, at p. 62: 'Will you
permit me to say, that the house, shut up and almost ruinous, is still
to be found at the bottom of a curious and most precipitous court, the
entrance of which is just past Salisbury-street. . . . It was once, I
think, the approach to the halfpenny boats. The house is now shut out
from the water-side by the Embankment.'" I proceed to state in detail
what the changes thus referred to were.
The passage about James Lamert, beginning at the thirteenth line of p.
31, now stands: "His chief ally and encourager in these displays was a
youth of some ability, much older than himself, named James Lamert,
stepson to his mother's sister and therefore a sort of cousin, who was
his great patron and friend in his childish days. Mary, the eldest
daughter of Charles Barrow, himself a lieutenant in the navy, had for
her first husband a commander in the navy called Allen; on whose death
by drowning at Rio Janeiro she had joined her sister, the navy-pay
clerk's wife, at Chatham; in which place she subsequently took for her
second husband Doctor Lamert, an army surgeon, whose son James, even
after he had been sent to Sandhurst for his education, continued still
to visit Chatham from time to time. He had a turn for private
theatricals; and as his father's quarters were in the ordnance-hospital
there, a great rambling place otherwise at that time almost uninhabited,
he had plenty of room in which to get up his entertainments." Two other
corrections were consequent on this change. At the 21st line of page 38,
for "the elder cousin" read "the cousin by marriage;" and at the 31st
line of p. 49, "cousin by his mother's side" should be "cousin by his
aunt's marriage."
At the 15th line of the 41st page, "his bachelor-uncle, fellow-clerk,"
&c. should be "the uncle who was at this time fellow-clerk," &c. At the
11th line of page 54, "Charles-court" should be "Clare-court." The
allusion to one of his favourite localities at the 23d line of page 62
should stand thus: "a little public-house by the water-side called the
Fox-under-the-hill, approached by an underground passage which we once
missed in looking for it together."
The passage at p. 87, having reference to an early friend who had been
with him, as I supposed, at his first school, should run thus: "In this
however I have since discovered my own mistake: the truth being that it
was this gentleman's connection, not with the Wellington-academy, but
with a school kept by Mr. Dawson in Hunter-street, Brunswick-square,
where the brothers of Dickens were subsequently placed, which led to
their early knowledge of each other. I fancy that they were together
also, for a short time, at Mr. Molloy's in New-square, Lincoln's-inn;
but, whether or not this was so, Dickens certainly had not quitted
school many months before his father had made sufficient interest with
an attorney of Gray's-inn, Mr. Edward Blackmore, to obtain him regular
employment in his office." There is subsequent allusion to the same
gentleman (at p. 182) as his "school-companion at Mr. Dawson's in
Henrietta-street," which ought to stand as "having known him when
himself a law-clerk in Lincoln's-inn."
At p. 96 I had stated that Mr. John Dickens reported for the _Morning
Chronicle_; and at p. 101 that Mr. Thomas Beard reported for the
_Morning Herald_; whereas Mr. Dickens, though in the gallery for other
papers, did not report for the _Chronicle_, and Mr. Beard did report for
that journal; and where (at p. 102) Dickens was spoken of as associated
with Mr. Beard in a reporting party which represented respectively the
_Chronicle_ and _Herald_, the passage ought simply to have described him
as "connected with a reporting party, being Lord John Russell's
Devonshire contest above-named, and his associate chief being Mr. Beard,
entrusted with command for the _Chronicle_ in this particular express."
At p. 97 I had made a mistake about his "first published piece of
writing," in too hastily assuming that he had himself forgotten what the
particular piece was. It struck an intelligent and kind correspondent as
very unlikely that Dickens should have fallen into error on such a
point; and, making personal search for himself (as I ought to have
done), discovered that what I supposed to be another piece was merely
the same under another title. The description of his first printed
sketch should therefore be "(Mr. Minns and his Cousin, as he afterwards
entitled it, but which appeared in the magazine as A Dinner at Poplar
Walk)." There is another mistake at p. 159, of "bandy-legged" instead of
"bulky-legged" and, at p. 177, of "fresh fields" for "fresh woods."
Those several corrections were made in the Tenth Edition. To the
Eleventh these words were prefixed (under date of the 23rd of January,
1872): "Since the above mentioned edition went to press, a published
letter has rendered necessary a brief additional note to the remarks
made at pp. 155-6." The remark occurs in my notice of the silly story
of Mr. Cruikshank having originated _Oliver Twist_, and, with the note
referred to, now stands in the form subjoined. "Whether all Sir
Benjamin's laurels however should fall to the person by whom the tale is
told,* or whether any part belongs to the authority alleged for it, is
unfortunately not quite clear. There would hardly have been a doubt, if
the fable had been confined to the other side of the Atlantic; but it
has been reproduced and widely circulated on this side also; and the
distinguished artist whom it calumniates by attributing the invention to
him has been left undefended from its slander. Dickens's letter spares
me the necessity of characterizing, by the only word which would have
been applicable to it, a tale of such incredible and monstrous absurdity
as that one of the masterpieces of its author's genius had been merely
an illustration of etchings by Mr. Cruikshank!" Note to the words
"person by whom the tale is told:" "*This question has been partly
solved, since my last edition, by Mr. Cruikshank's announcement in the
_Times_, that, though Dr. Mackenzie had 'confused some circumstances
with respect to Mr. Dickens looking over some drawings and sketches,'
the substance of his information as to who it was that originated
_Oliver Twist_, and all its characters, had been derived from Mr.
Cruikshank himself. The worst part of the foregoing fable, therefore,
has not Dr. Mackenzie for its author; and Mr. Cruikshank is to be
congratulated on the prudence of his rigid silence respecting it as long
as Mr. Dickens lived."
In the Twelfth Edition I mentioned, in the note at p. 149, a little work
of which all notice had been previously omitted; and the close of that
note now runs: "He had before written for them, without his name,
_Sunday under Three Heads_; and he added subsequently a volume of _Young
Couples_." At p. 157, "parish abuses" is corrected in the same edition
to "parish practices;" and at p. 173, "in his later works" to "in his
latest works."
I have received letters from several obliging correspondents, among them
three or four who were scholars at the Wellington-house Academy before
or after Dickens's time, and one who attended the school with him; but
such remark as they suggest will more properly accompany my third and
closing volume.
PALACE GATE HOUSE, KENSINGTON,
_29th of October, 1872._
ILLUSTRATIONS.
* * * * *
PAGE
Autograph of Charles Dickens _Fly leaf_
Charles Dickens, aet. 47. From the portrait painted for the
author in 1859 by W. P. Frith, R.A. Engraved by Robert
Graves, A.R.A. _Frontispiece_
Charles Dickens, his Wife, and her Sister. Drawn by Daniel
Maclise R.A. in 1842. Engraved by C. H. Jeens 48
Sketch of the Villa Bagnerello (Albaro), by Angus Fletcher 121
Drawing of the Palazzo Peschiere (Genoa), by Mr. Batson 141
At 58, Lincoln's-inn-fields, Monday the 2nd of December, 1844.
From a drawing by Daniel Maclise, R.A. Engraved by C.
H. Jeens 174
Rosemont, Lausanne. From a drawing by the Hon. Mrs. Watson 229
M. Barthelemy's card 325
Seventeen "fancies" for Mr. Dombey. Designed by H. K.
Browne 345
Twelve more similar fancies. From the design of the same artist 346
Charles Dickens to George Cruikshank. Facsimile of a letter
written in 1838, concerning the later illustrations to _Oliver
Twist_ 349-50
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I. 1842.
Pages 21-39.
AMERICAN NOTES. AET. 30.
PAGE
Return from America 21
Longfellow in England 22
At Broadstairs 23
Preparing _Notes_ 23
Fancy for opening of _Chuzzlewit_ 24
Attractions at Margate 25
Being, not always Believing 26
Burlesque of classic tragedy 26
A smart man and forged letter 26
A proposed dedication 27
Authorship and sea bathing 28
Easy-living rich and patient poor 28
Coming to the end 29
Rejected motto for _Notes_ 30
Home of the _Every Day Book_ 31
Scene at a funeral 32
An introductory chapter suppressed 33
Chapter first printed 33-37
Jeffrey's opinion of the _Notes_ 38
Later page anticipated 38
Experience of America in 1868 38
CHAPTER II. 1843.
Pages 40-62.
FIRST YEAR OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT. AET. 31.
A sunset at Land's-end 40
A holiday described by C. D. 41
The same described by Maclise 42
A landscape and a portrait 43
Names first given to _Chuzzlewit_ 44
Origin of the novel 45
Prologue to a play 45
On a tragedy by Browning 46
George Eliot's first book 47
Accompaniments of work 47
Miss Georgina Hogarth 48
Three portraits 49
A public benefactor 50
Controversy on _Notes_ 50
Original of Mrs. Gamp 51
What he will do with her 51
John Black 53
Macready and America 53
Apprehended disservice 54
Exertions for Elton family 55
Seaside life in ordinary 55
Public speeches 56
Ragged schools and results 57
Unitarianism 59
Return to Church of England 59
Language of his Will 59
_Christmas Carol_ 60
Birth of third son 61
Amusing letter 61
CHAPTER III. 1843-1844.
Pages 63-92.
CHUZZLEWIT DISAPPOINTMENTS AND CHRISTMAS CAROL. AET. 31-32.
Falling-off in _Chuzzlewit_ sale 63
Publishers and authors 64
Premature fears 65
Resolve to change his publishers 66
Proposal to his printers 66
Desire to travel again 67
Ways and means 68
Objections to the scheme 69
Confidence in himself 70
Want of confidence in others 70
Bent on his plan 71
Turning point of his career 72
Grounds for course taken 73
On _Martin Chuzzlewit_ 74
American portions 75
The book's special superiority 76
News from America 76
American consolations 77
Why no Pecksniffs in France 78
Why Tartuffes in England 78
A favourite scene of Thackeray's 79
Process of creation in a novel 80
Intended motto for story 81
Leading characters 82
A superb masterpiece 83
Triumph of humorous art 84
Publication of _Christmas Carol_ 84
Unrealized hopes 85
Results of _Carol_ sale 86
Renewed negotiations with printers 87
Agreement with Bradbury and Evans 88
Letters about the _Carol_ 89
Spirit of the book 90
Something better than literature 91
CHAPTER IV. 1844.
Pages 93-110.
YEAR OF DEPARTURE FOR ITALY. AET. 32.
Gore-house friends 93
Sensitive for his calling 94
A troublesome cheque 95
Education speeches 95
Sufferings from stage-adaptations 96
Wrongs from piracy 96
Proceedings in Chancery 97
A pirate's plea 97
Result of Chancery experience 99
Piracy preferred 99
Reliefs to work 100
The tempted and tempter 101
Favourite bit of humour 102
Criticized without humour 102
Taine on Dickens 102
Macready in New Orleans 103
Society in England 104
Writing in the _Chronicle_ 104
Conference with its new editor 104
Preparations for departure 105
In temporary quarters 106
Begging-letter case 106
The farewell dinner-party 107
"Evenings of a Working-man" 108
Greenwich dinner 109
J. M. W. Turner and Carlyle 110
CHAPTER V. 1844.
Pages 111-138.
IDLENESS AT ALBARO: VILLA BAGNERELLO. AET. 32.
The travel to Italy 111
A bit of character 112
French thrown away 112
The Albaro villa 113
First experiences 114
Cloudy weather 115
Sunsets and scenery 116
Address to Maclise 116
The Mediterranean 117
Colours of sky and sea 117
Warning to Maclise 118
Perishing frescoes 118
French Consul at Genoa 119
Rooms in villa described 120
Surrounding scenery 121
Church-ruin on the rocks 121
Angus Fletcher's sketch 121
Work in abeyance 122
Learning Italian 122
Domestic news 123
His English servants 123
English residents 124
Genoa the superb 125
Church splendours and tinsel 126
Theatres 126
Italian plays 127
Dumas' _Kean_ 127
Religious houses 128
Sunday promenade 128
Winter residence chosen 129
A lucky arrival 129
Dinner at French Consul's 130
Verses in C. D.'s honour 130
Others in Prince Joinville's 131
Rumours of war with England 131
A Marquis's reception 132
Flight and tumble 133
Quiet enjoyments 134
English visitors and news 135
Talk with Lord Robertson 135
A suggestion for Jerrold 136
Visit of Frederick Dickens 136
An inn on the Alps 136
Dangers of sea-bathing 137
A change beginning 138
CHAPTER VI. 1844.
Pages 139-162.
WORK IN GENOA: PALAZZO PESCHIERE. AET. 32.
Palace of the Fish-ponds 139
Rooms and frescoes 140
View over the city 141
Dancing and praying 142
Peschiere garden 142
Trying to write 143
A difficulty settled 143
Craving for streets 144
Design for his book 144
Governor's levee 144
Absence of the poet 145
Subject he is working at 145
C. D.'s politics 146
Choice of a hero 147
Master-passion 147
Religious sentiment 147
A dream 148
Dialogue in a vision 149
"What is the True religion?" 149
Fragments of reality in a vision 149
Trying regions of thought 150
Reverence for Doctor Arnold 150
First part of book finished 151
Anticipation of its close 151
Differences from published tale 152
First outline of the _Chimes_ 152-156
Liking for the subject 156
What the writing cost him 156
Realities of fictitious sorrow 157
Wild mountain weather 157
Banquet at the Whistle 158
Startling news 158
Coming to London 159
Secret of the visit 160
Eager to try effect of story 160
Plans a reading at my rooms 160
The tale finished 161
Proposed travel 161
Party for the Reading 162
CHAPTER VII. 1844.
Pages 163-178.
ITALIAN TRAVEL. AET. 32.
Cities and people 163
Venice 164
Rapture of enjoyment 165
Aboard the city 165
What he saw and felt 165
Solitary thoughts 166
At Lodi 166
About paintings and engravings 167
Titian and Tintoretto 168
Conventionalities 169
Monks and painters 169
The inns 170
Compensation for discomfort 170
Brave C of his _Pictures_ 171
Louis Roche of Avignon 171
Dinner at the Peschiere 172
Custom-house officers 173
At Milan and Strasburg 173
Passing the Simplon 174
In London 174
A Reading in Lincoln's-inn-fields 174
Persons present 175
Success of the visit 175
In Paris with Macready 176
Origin of our private play 176
A recognition at Marseilles 177
Friendly Americans 177
On board for Genoa 177
Information for travellers 178
CHAPTER VIII. 1845.
Pages 179-200.
LAST MONTHS IN ITALY. AET. 33.
Birthday gift for eldest son 179
Suspicious "Characters" 180
Jesuit interferences 180
Birth of 1845 180
Travel southward 181
Carrara and Pisa 181
A wild journey 182
Birds of prey 183
A beggar and his staff 183
"My lord" loses temper 184
And has the worst of it 184
At Rome 184
The Campagna 185
Bay of Naples 185
Filth of Naples and Fondi 186
The Lazzaroni 186
False picturesque 187
Sad English news 187
True friends in calamity 188
At Florence 188
Wayside memorials and Landor's villa 189
Death of Bobus Smith 190
At Lord Holland's 190
Lord Palmerston's brother 190
Again at the Peschiere 190
To publish or not? 191
Thoughts of home 192
American friends 192
Deaths among English residents 193
Scarlet breeches out of place 193
Angus Fletcher 193
Complaint of a meek footman 194
Recalling Lady Holland 194
A touch of Portsmouth 195
Plans for meeting 196
Last letter from Genoa 196
Closing excitements and troubles 196
Italians hard at work 197
Returning by Switzerland 197
Passage of the St. Gothard 198
Splendours of Swiss scenery 198
Dangers of it 199
What is left behind the Alps 199
A week in Flanders 200
CHAPTER IX. 1845-1846.
Pages 201-221.
AGAIN IN ENGLAND. AET. 33-34.
Old hopes revived 201
Notions for a periodical 201
Proposed prospectus 202
Chances for and against it 203
Swept away by larger venture 203
Christmas book of 1845 204
D'Orsay and the courier 204
Another passage of Autobiography 204
More of the story of early years 205
Wish to try the stage 205
Applies to manager of Covent Garden 205
Sister Fanny in the secret 206
Stage studies and rehearsings 206
Strange news for Macready 207
Requisites of author and actor 208
Play chosen for private performance 209
Fanny Kelly and her theatre 209
Every Man in his Humour 209
The company of actors 210
Enjoying a character 210
Troubles of management 210
First and second performances 211
Of the acting 211
C. D. as performer 212
C. D. as manager 212
Two human mysteries 213
The mysteries explained 213
Training for the stage 213
At Broadstairs 214
Ramsgate entertainments 214
Birth of fourth son 215
Second raven's death 215
Intended daily paper 215
Disturbing engagements 216
Old ways interrupted 216
My appeal against the enterprise 217
Reply and issue 217
Interruption and renewal 218
The beginning and the end 218
Forming new resolve 219
Back to old scenes 219
Editorship ceased 219
Going to Switzerland 220
A happy saying 221
Leaves England 221
CHAPTER X. 1846.
Pages 222-243.
A HOME IN SWITZERLAND. AET. 34.
On the Rhine 222
German readers of Dickens 223
Travelling Englishmen 223
A hoaxing-match 224
House-hunting 224
Tempted by a mansion 225
Chooses a cottage 225
Earliest impressions 226
Lausanne described 227
Views from his farm 228
Under his windows 228
A sketch of Rosemont 229
Design as to work 230
The English colony 231
Unaccommodating carriage 232
A death in the lake 232
Boatman's narrative 233
The Theatre 233
The Prison 234
The Blind Institution 235
Interesting cases 235-240
Beginning work 240
First slip of New Novel 241
Sortes Shandyanae 242
The Christmas tale 242
CHAPTER XI. 1846.
Pages 244-260.
SWISS PEOPLE AND SCENERY. AET. 34.
The mountains and lake 244
The people and their manners 245
A country fete 246
Family sketch 246
Rifle-shooting 247
A marriage on the farm 248
Gunpowder festivities 248
Bride and mother 248
First number of _Dombey_ 249
Christmas book 249
General idea for new story 250
Hints for illustration of it 250
Haldimands and Cerjats 251
Visit of Henry Hallam 251
Local news 252
Sight-seers from England 252
Trip to Chamounix 253
Mule-travelling 253
Mont Blanc range 254
Mer de Glace 255
Tete Noire pass 255
Help in an accident 256
English, French, and Prussian 256
Second number of _Dombey_ 257
Castle of Chillon described 257
Honour to New Constitution 258
Political celebration 258
Malcontents 259
Good conduct of the people 259
Protestant and Catholic cantons 260
A timely word on Ireland 260
CHAPTER XII. 1846.
Pages 261-276.
SKETCHES CHIEFLY PERSONAL. AET. 34.
Home politics 261
The Whigs and Peel 261
Belief in emigration schemes 262
Mark Lemon 263
An incident of character 263
Hood's _Tylney Hall_ 264
Trait of the Duke of Wellington 264
Mr. Watson of Rockingham 264
A recollection of reporting days 265
Returns to _Dombey_ 265
Two English travellers 266
Party among the hills 267
A Smollett and Fielding hero 268
Milksop youths 268
Ogre and Lambs 268
Sir Joseph and his family 269
Lord Vernon 270
Passion for rifle-shooting 270
A wonderful carriage 270
The Ladies Taylor 271
Proposed Reading of first _Dombey_ 272
A sketch from life 272
Two sisters and their books 272
Trip to Great St. Bernard 273
Ascent of the mountain 274
The Convent 274
Scene at the mountain top 274
Bodies found in the snow 275
The holy fathers 275
A tavern all but sign 276
The monk and _Pickwick_ 276
CHAPTER XIII. 1846.
Pages 277-294.
LITERARY LABOUR AT LAUSANNE. AET. 34.
A picture completed 277
Great present want 277
Daily life 278
Imaginative needs 278
Self-judgments 279
The Now and the Hereafter 279
Fancies for Christmas books 280
Second number of _Dombey_ 280
A personal revelation 281
Craving for streets 281
Food for fancy 282
Second _Dombey_ done 282
Curious wants of the mind 283
Success of the Reading 283
First thought of Public Readings 284
Two stories in hand 285
Unexpected difficulties 286
Work under sensitive conditions 286
Alarm for _Dombey_ 287
Doubts and misgivings 287
Change of scene to be tried 287
At Genoa 288
Disquietudes of authorship 288
Wanting counsel 289
At the worst 289
Report of Genoa 290
A new social experience 290
Feminine eccentricities 291
A ladies' dinner 291
Elephant-quellers 292
"Like a Manchester cotton mill" 292
Again at Rosemont 293
Visit of the Talfourds 293
Lodging his friends 294
Intentions and hope 294
CHAPTER XIV. 1846.
Pages 295-315.
REVOLUTION AT GENEVA. CHRISTMAS BOOK AND LAST DAYS IN SWITZERLAND. AET.
34.
An arrival of manuscript 295
A title 295
Large sale of _Dombey_ 296
Again at Geneva 296
Rising against the Jesuits 297
Back to Lausanne 297
The fight in Geneva 298
Rifle against cannon 299
True objection to Roman-Catholicism 299
Genevese "aristocracy" 299
A lesson 300
Traces left by revolution 300
Abettors of revolution 301
Where the shoe pinches 301
_Daily News'_ changes 302
My surrender of editorship 302
Thoughts for the future 303
Letters about _Battle of Life_ 303
Jeffrey's opinion 303
Sketch of story 304
A difficulty in plot 305
Old characteristics 305
His own comments 306
Reply to criticism 307
Stanfield illustrations 307
Doubts of third part 308
Strengthening the close 308
Objections invited 309
Tendency to blank verse 309
Grave mistake by Leech 310
How dealt with by C. D. 310
First impulse 311
Kindly afterthought 311
Lord Gobden and free trade 312
Needs while at work 312
Pleasures of autumn 313
Striking tents 314
Sadness of leave-taking 314
Travelling to Paris 314
At Paris 315
CHAPTER XV. 1846-1847.
Pages 316-333.
THREE MONTHS IN PARIS. AET. 34-35.
A greeting from Lord Brougham 316
French Sunday 317
A house taken 317
Absurdity of the abode 318
Its former tenant 319
Sister Fanny's illness 319
Opinion of Elliotson 320
The king of the barricades 320
Unhealthy symptoms 321
Incident in the streets 321
The Parisian population 322
Americans and French 322
Unsettlement of plans 323
Eldest son's education 323
A true friend 323
Christmas tale on the stage 323
An alarming neighbour 325
Startling blue-devils 326
Approach to cannibalism 326
In London 326
Cheap edition of works 326
Suppressed dedication 326
Return to Paris 326
Begging-letter writers 327
Friendly services 327
Imaginary dialogue 328
A Boulogne reception 328
Cautions to a traveller 329
Citizen Dickens 330
Sight-seeing 330
At theatres 330
Visits to famous Frenchmen 331
Evening with Victor Hugo 331
Adventure with a coachman 332
Bibliotheque Royale 333
Premonitory symptoms 333
In London 334
A party at Gore-house 334
Illness of eldest son 335
Snuff-shop readings 336
Old charwoman's compliment 336
CHAPTER XVI. 1846-1848.
Pages 337-367.
DOMBEY AND SON. AET. 34-36.
Drift of the tale 337
Why undervalued 338
Mistakes of critics 338
Adherence to first design 338
Plan for Paul and his sister 339
For Dombey and his daughter 339
Proposed course of the story 340
"The stock of the soup" 340
Walter Gay and his fate 341
Decided favourably 341
Six pages too much 342
Omissions objected to 342
New chapter written 343
Portions sacrificed 343
Anxiety for the face of his hero 344
A suggested type of city-gentleman 344
Artist-fancies for Mr. Dombey 345-6
Dickens and his illustrators 347
A silly story repeated 347
Why noticed again 348
Facsimile of letter to Cruikshank 349-50
Dickens's words at the time 349
Cruikshank's thirty-four years after 350
A masterpiece of Dickens's writing 351
Picture of him at work 352
An experience of Ben Jonson's 352
How objections are taken 352
Shall Paul's life be prolonged? 353
A Reading of the second number 353
A number to be added to Paul's life 354
Failure of an illustration 354
What it should have been 355
The Mrs. Pipchin of his childhood 355
First thought of his Autobiography 356
Opening his fourth number 356
At Doctor Blimber's 357
Paul's school life 357
Paul and Florence 357
Jeffrey's forecast of the tale 358
Beginning his fifth number 359
What he will do with it 359
A damper to the spirits 359
Close of Paul's life 360
Jeffrey on Paul's death 361
Thoughts for Edith 362
Florence and Little Nell 362
Judgments and comparisons 363
Edith's first destiny 363
Doubts suggested 364
An important change 364
Diogenes remembered 365
Other characters 365
Blimber establishment 366
Supposed originals 366
Surmises entirely wrong 367
CHAPTER XVII. 1847-1852.
Pages 368-402.
SPLENDID STROLLING. AET. 35-40.
Birth of fifth son 368
Death of Lieut. Sydney Dickens 368
Proposed benefit for Leigh Hunt 369
The plays and actors 370
The manager 370
Troubles at rehearsals 371
Pains rewarded 371
Leigh Hunt's account 372
Receipts and expenses 373
Lord Lytton's prologue 373
Appearance of Mrs. Gamp 374
Fancy for a jeu d'esprit 374
Mrs. Gamp at the play 375
Failure of artists 375
An unfinished fancy 375
Mrs. Gamp with the strollers 376
Alarm of Mrs. Harris 376
Leigh Hunt and Poole 377
Ticklish society 378
Mrs. Gamp's cabman 378
George Cruikshank 379
Mr. Wilson the barber 379
Wig experiences 380
Fatigues of a powder ball 380
Manager's moustache and whiskers 381
Leech, Lemon, and Jerrold 381-2
Mrs. Gamp's dislike of "Dougladge" 382
Costello, Stone, and Egg 383
"Only the engine" 384
Cruikshank's _Bottle_ 384
Profits of _Dombey_ 385
Time come for savings 385
Proposed edition of old novels 385
Another dropped design 386
The Praslin tragedy 386
Penalty for seeing before others 387
Street-music 387
Margate theatre and manager 387
As to Christmas book 388
Delay found necessary 389
A literary Kitely 389
Meetings at Leeds and Glasgow 390
Book-friends 391
Sheriff Alison 391
Hospitable welcome 391
Scott-monument 392
Purchase of Shakespeare's house 392
Scheme to benefit Knowles 393
Plays rehearsed 394
_Merry Wives_ chosen 394
Performances and result 394
At Knebworth-park 395
Guild of Literature and Art 396
Unfortunate omission 396
The farce that was to be written 396
The farce that was substituted 397
_Not so Bad as we Seem_ 397
Travelling theatre and scenes 398
Success of the comedy 398
An incident at Sunderland 399
Troubles of a manager 399
Acting under difficulties 400
Scenery overturned 401
Effects of fright 401
Mr. Wilkie Collins 402
CHAPTER XVIII. 1848-1851.
Pages 403-441.
SEASIDE HOLIDAYS. AET. 36-39.
Louis Philippe dethroned 403
French missive from C. D. 404
Aspirations of Citizen Dickens 404
At Broadstairs 405
By rail to China 405
The Junk 406
Mariners on deck and in cabin 406
Perplexing questions 406
A toy-shop on the seas 407
Type of finality 407
A contrast 408
Home questions 408
Temperance agitations 409
The temptations to gin-shop 409
Necessity of dealing with _them_ 409
Stages anterior to drunkenness 410
Cruikshank's satire 410
Realities of his pencil 411
Its one-sidedness 411
Dickens on Hogarth 412
Cause as well as effect 412
Exit of Gin-lane 412
Wisdom of the great painter 413
Late, but never too late 413
Dickens on designs by Leech 414
Originality of Leech 414
Superiority of his method 415
The requisites for it 415
Excuses for the rising generation 416
Intellectual juvenility 416
A dangerous youth 417
What Leech will be remembered for 417
Odd adventures 418
Pony-chaise accident 418
Parallel to Squeers 419
Strenuous idleness 419
French philosophy 420
Hint for Mr. Taine 420
The better for idleness 421
A favourite spot 421
At Brighton 421
With mad folks and doctors 422
A name for his new book 422
At Broadstairs 422
Troubles in his writing 423
A letter in character 423
At Bonchurch 425
The Rev. James White 425
Mirth and melancholy 425
Mrs. James White 426
First impressions of Undercliff 426
Talfourd made a judge 427
Dickens's affection for him 427
Church-school examination 428
Dinners and pic-nics 428
The comedian Regnier 429
When acting is genuine 429
Doubts as to health 429
Arrivals and departures 430
A startling revelation 431
Effects of Bonchurch climate 431
Utter prostration 431
Difficulties of existing there 432
Distrust of doctors 433
Other side of picture 433
What I observed at the time 434
From the _Copperfield_ MS. 434
Mr. Browne's sketch of Micawber 435
Accident to John Leech 435
Its consequences 435
Depressing influences 436
At Broadstairs 436
Railway travellers 437
The exhibition year 438
A _Copperfield_ banquet 438
C. D. on money values 439
His leisure reading 439
A correction for Carlyle 440
Good criticism 441
Thoughts of a new book 441
The old restlessness 441
Beginning on a Friday 441
CHAPTER XIX. 1848-1850.
Pages 442-456.
HAUNTED MAN AND HOUSEHOLD WORDS. AET. 36-40.
Maturing book for Christmas 442
Friendly plea for Mr. Macrone 442
Completion of Christmas story 443
Dropped motto 443
The "ghost" and the "bargain" 444
The Tetterby family 445
Teachings of the little tale 445
His own statement of its intention 446
Forgive that you may forget 446
_Copperfield_ sales 447
A letter from Russia 448
Translation into Russian 448
Sympathy of Siberia 448
The Periodical taking form 449
A design for it described 449
Original and selected matter 449
A Shadow for everywhere 450
Hopes of success 450
Doubts respecting it 451
Incompatibility of design 451
New design chosen 452
Assistant editor appointed 453
Titles proposed 453
Appearance of first number 454
Earliest contributors 454
Opinion of Mr. Sala 454
Child's dream of a star 455
A fancy derived from childhood 456
CHAPTER XX. 1848-1851.
Pages 457-494.
LAST YEARS IN DEVONSHIRE TERRACE. AET. 36-39.
Sentiment about places 457
Confidences 458
Personal revelations 458
Early memories 459
At his sister's sick-bed 459
Last thoughts 460
Sister's death 460
Book to be written in first person 461
Riding over Salisbury Plain 461
Visiting scene of a tragedy 462
First sees Yarmouth 462
Birth of sixth son 462
Notion for a character 463
Choosing a title 463
"Mag's Diversions" 464
"Copperfield" chosen 464
Varieties of it proposed 465
Title finally determined 466
Difficulties of opening 466
Rogers and Benedict 466
Wit of Fonblanque 467
Procter and Macready 467
The Sheridans 468
Lord Byron's Ada 469
Dinner to Halevy and Scribe 469
Brougham and "the _Punch_ people" 469
The Duke at Vauxhall 470
Carlyle and Thackeray 470
Judicious change of a "tag" 471
A fact for a biographer 471
Marryat's delight with children 472
Bulwer Lytton and Monckton Milnes 472
Lords Nugent and Dudley Stuart 472-3
Kemble, Harness, and Dyce 473
Mrs. Siddons and John Kemble 473
Comparison and good distinction 474
Mazzini and Edinburgh friends 474
Artist-acquaintance 475
Visitors at his house 475
Friends from America 476
M. Van de Weyer 476
Ambition to see into heaven 477
Literature and art in the city 477
Doubtful compliment 478
A hint for London citizens 478
Letter against public executions 479
American observer in England 479
Marvels of English manners 480
A letter from Rockingham 481
Private theatricals 481
Major Bentley and General Boxall 481-2
A family scene 482
Doing too much 483
Death of Francis Jeffrey 483
Progress of work 484
The child-wife 484
A run to Paris 484
Banker or proctor 485
Doubts as to Dora settled 486
Of Rogers and Landor 486
A third daughter born 487
At Great Malvern 487
Macready's farewell 488
Experience of a brother author 488
The Home at Shepherd's-bush 488
Father's illness 489
Death of John Dickens 489
Tribute by his son 490
Theatrical-fund dinner 490
Plea for small actors 491
Remembering the forgotten 491
Death of his little daughter 492
Difficult tasks in life 492
Dora's grave 493
Advocating sanitary reform 493
Lord Shaftesbury 494
Realities of his books to Dickens 494
THE LIFE
OF
CHARLES DICKENS.
CHAPTER I.
AMERICAN NOTES.
1842.
Return from America--Longfellow in
England--Thirty Years Ago--At
Broadstairs--Preparing _Notes_--Fancy for the
Opening of _Chuzzlewit_--Reading
Tennyson--Theatricals at Margate--A New
Protege--Proposed Dedication--Sea-bathing and
Authorship--Emigrants in Canada--Coming to the
End--Rejected Motto for _Notes_--Return to
London--Cheerless Visit--The Mingled
Yarn--Scene at a Funeral--The Suppressed
Introductory Chapter to the _Notes_, now first
printed--Jeffrey's Opinion of the
_Notes_--Dickens's Experience of America in
1868.
THE reality did not fall short of the anticipation of home. His return
was the occasion of unbounded enjoyment; and what he had planned before
sailing as the way we should meet, received literal fulfilment. By the
sound of his cheery voice I first knew that he was come; and from my
house we went together to Maclise, also "without a moment's warning." A
Greenwich dinner in which several friends (Talfourd, Milnes, Procter,
Maclise, Stanfield, Marryat, Barham, Hood, and Cruikshank among them)
took part, and other immediate greetings, followed; but the most special
celebration was reserved for autumn, when, by way of challenge to what
he had seen while abroad, a home-journey was arranged with Stanfield,
Maclise, and myself for his companions, into such of the most striking
scenes of a picturesque English county as the majority of us might not
before have visited: Cornwall being ultimately chosen.
Before our departure he was occupied by his preparation of the _American
Notes_; and to the same interval belongs the arrival in London of Mr.
Longfellow, who became his guest, and (for both of us I am privileged to
add) our attached friend. Longfellow's name was not then the pleasant
and familiar word it has since been in England; but he had already
written several of his most felicitous pieces, and he possessed all the
qualities of delightful companionship, the culture and the charm, which
have no higher type or example than the accomplished and genial
American. He reminded me, when lately again in England, of two
experiences out of many we had enjoyed together this quarter of a
century before. One of them was a day at Rochester, when, met by one of
those prohibitions which are the wonder of visitors and the shame of
Englishmen, we overleapt gates and barriers, and, setting at defiance
repeated threats of all the terrors of law coarsely expressed to us by
the custodian of the place, explored minutely the castle ruins. The
other was a night among those portions of the population which outrage
law and defy its terrors all the days of their lives, the tramps and
thieves of London; when, under guidance and protection of the most
trusted officers of the two great metropolitan prisons afforded to us by
Mr. Chesterton and Lieut. Tracey, we went over the worst haunts of the
most dangerous classes. Nor will it be unworthy of remark, in proof that
attention is not drawn vainly to such scenes, that, upon Dickens going
over them a dozen years later when he wrote a paper about them for his
_Household Words_, he found important changes effected whereby these
human dens, if not less dangerous, were become certainly more decent. On
the night of our earlier visit, Maclise, who accompanied us, was struck
with such sickness on entering the first of the Mint lodging-houses in
the borough, that he had to remain, for the time we were in them, under
guardianship of the police outside. Longfellow returned home by the
Great Western from Bristol on the 21st of October, enjoying as he passed
through Bath the hospitality of Landor; and at the end of the following
week we started on our Cornish travel.
But what before this had occupied Dickens in the writing way must now be
told. Not long after his reappearance amongst us, his house being still
in the occupation of Sir John Wilson, he went to Broadstairs, taking
with him the letters from which I have quoted so largely to help him in
preparing his _American Notes_; and one of his first announcements to me
(18th of July) shows not only this labour in progress, but the story he
was under engagement to begin in November working in his mind. "The
subjects at the beginning of the book are of that kind that I can't
_dash_ at them, and now and then they fret me in consequence. When I
come to Washington, I am all right. The solitary prison at Philadelphia
is a good subject, though; I forgot that for the moment. Have you seen
the Boston chapter yet? . . . I have never been in Cornwall either. A mine
certainly; and a letter for that purpose shall be got from Southwood
Smith. I have some notion of opening the new book in the lantern of a
lighthouse!" A letter a couple of months later (16th of Sept.) recurs to
that proposed opening of his story which after all he laid aside; and
shows how rapidly he was getting his _American Notes_ into shape. "At
the Isle of Thanet races yesterday I saw--oh! who shall say what an
immense amount of character in the way of inconceivable villainy and
blackguardism! I even got some new wrinkles in the way of showmen,
conjurors, pea-and-thimblers, and trampers generally. I think of opening
my new book on the coast of Cornwall, in some terribly dreary iron-bound
spot. I hope to have finished the American book before the end of next
month; and we will then together fly down into that desolate region."
Our friends having Academy engagements to detain them, we had to delay a
little; and I meanwhile turn back to his letters to observe his progress
with his _Notes_, and other employments or enjoyments of the interval.
They require no illustration that they will not themselves supply: but I
may remark that the then collected _Poems_ of Tennyson had become very
favourite reading with him; and that while in America Mr. Mitchell the
comedian had given him a small white shaggy terrier, who bore at first
the imposing name of Timber Doodle, and became a great domestic pet and
companion.
"I have been reading" (7th of August) "Tennyson all this morning on the
seashore. Among other trifling effects, the waters have dried up as they
did of old, and shown me all the mermen and mermaids, at the bottom of
the ocean; together with millions of queer creatures, half-fish and
half-fungus, looking down into all manner of coral caves and seaweed
conservatories; and staring in with their great dull eyes at every open
nook and loop-hole. Who else, too, could conjure up such a close to the
extraordinary and as Landor would say 'most wonderful' series of
pictures in the 'dream of fair women,' as--
"'Squadrons and squares of men in brazen plates,
Scaffolds, still sheets of water, divers woes,
Ranges of glimmering vaults with iron grates,
And hushed seraglios!'
"I am getting on pretty well, but it was so glittering and sunshiny
yesterday that I was forced to make holiday." Four days later: "I have
not written a word this blessed day. I got to New York yesterday, and
think it goes as it should . . . Little doggy improves rapidly, and now
jumps over my stick at the word of command. I have changed his name to
Snittle Timbery, as more sonorous and expressive. He unites with the
rest of the family in cordial regards and loves. _Nota Bene_. The
Margate theatre is open every evening, and the Four Patagonians (see
Goldsmith's _Essays_) are performing thrice a week at Ranelagh . . ."
A visit from me was at this time due, to which these were held out as
inducements; and there followed what it was supposed I could not resist,
a transformation into the broadest farce of a deep tragedy by a dear
friend of ours. "Now you really must come. Seeing only is believing,
very often isn't that, and even Being the thing falls a long way short
of believing it. Mrs. Nickleby herself once asked me, as you know, if I
really believed there ever was such a woman; but there'll be no more
belief, either in me or my descriptions, after what I have to tell of
our excellent friend's tragedy, if you don't come and have it played
again for yourself 'by particular desire.' We saw it last night, and oh!
if you had but been with us! Young Betty, doing what the mind of man
without my help never _can_ conceive, with his legs like padded
boot-trees wrapped up in faded yellow drawers, was the hero. The comic
man of the company enveloped in a white sheet, with his head tied with
red tape like a brief and greeted with yells of laughter whenever he
appeared, was the venerable priest. A poor toothless old idiot at whom
the very gallery roared with contempt when he was called a tyrant, was
the remorseless and aged Creon. And Ismene being arrayed in spangled
muslin trowsers very loose in the legs and very tight in the ankles,
such as Fatima would wear in _Blue Beard_, was at her appearance
immediately called upon for a song. After this, can you longer. . . ?"
With the opening of September I had renewed report of his book, and of
other matters. "The Philadelphia chapter I think very good, but I am
sorry to say it has not made as much in print as I hoped . . . In America
they have forged a letter with my signature, which they coolly declare
appeared in the _Chronicle_ with the copyright circular; and in which I
express myself in such terms as you may imagine, in reference to the
dinners and so forth. It has been widely distributed all over the
States; and the felon who invented it is a 'smart man' of course. You
are to understand that it is not done as a joke, and is scurrilously
reviewed. Mr. Park Benjamin begins a lucubration upon it with these
capitals, DICKENS IS A FOOL, AND A LIAR. . . . I have a new protege, in the
person of a wretched deaf and dumb boy whom I found upon the sands the
other day, half dead, and have got (for the present) into the union
infirmary at Minster. A most deplorable case."
On the 14th he told me: "I have pleased myself very much to-day in the
matter of Niagara. I have made the description very brief (as it should
be), but I fancy it is good. I am beginning to think over the
introductory chapter, and it has meanwhile occurred to me that I should
like, at the beginning of the volumes, to put what follows on a blank
page. _I dedicate this Book to those friends of mine in America, who,
loving their country, can bear the truth, when it is written good
humouredly and in a kind spirit._ What do you think? Do you see any
objection?"
My reply is to be inferred from what he sent back on the 20th. "I don't
quite see my way towards an expression in the dedication of any feeling
in reference to the American reception. Of course I have always intended
to glance at it, gratefully, in the end of the book; and it will have
its place in the introductory chapter, if we decide for that. Would it
do to put in, after 'friends in America,' _who giving me a welcome I
must ever gratefully and proudly remember, left my judgment free, and_
who, loving, &c. If so, so be it."
Before the end of the month he wrote: "For the last two or three days I
have been rather slack in point of work; not being in the vein. To-day I
had not written twenty lines before I rushed out (the weather being
gorgeous) to bathe. And when I have done that, it is all up with me in
the way of authorship until to-morrow. The little dog is in the highest
spirits; and jumps, as Mr. Kenwigs would say, perpetivally. I have had
letters by the Britannia from Felton, Prescott, Mr. Q, and others, all
very earnest and kind. I think you will like what I have written on the
poor emigrants and their ways as I literally and truly saw them on the
boat from Quebec to Montreal."
This was a passage, which, besides being in itself as attractive as any
in his writings, gives such perfect expression to a feeling that
underlies them all, that I subjoin it in a note.[63] On board this
Canadian steamboat he encountered crowds of poor emigrants and their
children; and such was their patient kindness and cheerful endurance, in
circumstances where the easy-living rich could hardly fail to be
monsters of impatience and selfishness, that it suggested to him a
reflection than which it was not possible to have written anything more
worthy of observation, or more absolutely true. Jeremy Taylor has the
same philosophy in his lesson on opportunities, but here it was
beautified by the example with all its fine touches. It made us read
Rich and Poor by new translation.
The printers were now hard at work, and in the last week of September he
wrote: "I send you proofs as far as Niagara . . . I am rather
holiday-making this week . . . taking principal part in a regatta here
yesterday, very pretty and gay indeed. We think of coming up in time for
Macready's opening, when perhaps you will give us a chop; and of course
you and Mac will dine with _us_ the next day? I shall leave nothing of
the book to do after coming home, please God, but the two chapters on
slavery and the people which I could manage easily in a week, if need
were . . . The policeman who supposed the Duke of Brunswick to be one of
the swell mob, ought instantly to be made an inspector. The suspicion
reflects the highest credit (I seriously think) on his penetration and
judgment." Three days later: "For the last two days we have had gales
blowing from the north-east, and seas rolling on us that drown the pier.
To-day it is tremendous. Such a sea was never known here at this season,
and it is running in at this moment in waves of twelve feet high. You
would hardly know the place. But we shall be punctual to your dinner
hour on Saturday. If the wind should hold in the same quarter, we may be
obliged to come up by land; and in that case I should start the caravan
at six in the morning. . . . What do you think of this for my
title--_American Notes for General Circulation_; and of this motto?
"In reply to a question from the Bench, the
Solicitor for the Bank observed, that this kind
of notes circulated the most extensively, in
those parts of the world where they were stolen
and forged. _Old Bailey Report._"
The motto was omitted, objection being made to it; and on the last day
of the month I had the last of his letters during this Broadstairs
visit. "Strange as it may appear to you" (25th of September), "the sea
is running so high that we have no choice but to return by land. No
steamer can come out of Ramsgate, and the Margate boat lay out all night
on Wednesday with all her passengers on board. You may be sure of us
therefore on Saturday at 5, for I have determined to leave here
to-morrow, as we could not otherwise manage it in time; and have engaged
an omnibus to bring the whole caravan by the overland route. . . . We
cannot open a window, or a door; legs are of no use on the terrace; and
the Margate boats can only take people aboard at Herne Bay!" He brought
with him all that remained to be done of his second volume except the
last two chapters, including that to which he has referred as
"introductory;" and on the following Wednesday (5th of October) he told
me that the first of these was done. "I want you very much to come and
dine to-day that we may repair to Drury-lane together; and let us say
half-past four, or there is no time to be comfortable. I am going out to
Tottenham this morning, on a cheerless mission I would willingly have
avoided. Hone, of the _Every Day Book_, is dying; and sent Cruikshank
yesterday to beg me to go and see him, as, having read no books but mine
of late, he wanted to see and shake hands with me before (as George
said) 'he went.' There is no help for it, of course; so to Tottenham I
repair, this morning. I worked all day, and till midnight; and finished
the slavery chapter yesterday."
The cheerless visit had its mournful sequel before the next month
closed, when he went with the same companion to poor Hone's funeral; and
one of his letters written at the time to Mr. Felton has so vividly
recalled to me the tragi-comedy of an incident of that day, as for long
after he used to describe it, and as I have heard the other principal
actor in it good-naturedly admit to be perfectly true, that two or three
sentences may be given here. The wonderful neighbourhood in this life of
ours, of serious and humorous things, constitutes in itself very much of
the genius of Dickens's writing; the laughter close to the pathos, but
never touching it with ridicule; and this small occurrence may be taken
in farther evidence of its reality.
"We went into a little parlour where the funeral party was, and God
knows it was miserable enough, for the widow and children were crying
bitterly in one corner, and the other mourners (mere people of ceremony,
who cared no more for the dead man than the hearse did) were talking
quite coolly and carelessly together in another; and the contrast was as
painful and distressing as anything I ever saw. There was an independent
clergyman present, with his bands on and a bible under his arm, who, as
soon as we were seated, addressed C thus, in a loud emphatic voice. 'Mr.
C, have you seen a paragraph respecting our departed friend, which has
gone the round of the morning papers?' 'Yes, sir,' says C, 'I have:'
looking very hard at me the while, for he had told me with some pride
coming down that it was his composition. 'Oh!' said the clergyman. 'Then
you will agree with me, Mr. C, that it is not only an insult to me, who
am the servant of the Almighty, but an insult to the Almighty, whose
servant I am.' 'How is that, sir?' says C. 'It is stated, Mr. C, in that
paragraph,' says the minister, 'that when Mr. Hone failed in business
as a bookseller, he was persuaded by _me_ to try the pulpit; which is
false, incorrect, unchristian, in a manner blasphemous, and in all
respects contemptible. Let us pray.' With which, and in the same breath,
I give you my word, he knelt down, as we all did, and began a very
miserable jumble of an extemporary prayer. I was really penetrated with
sorrow for the family" (he exerted himself zealously for them
afterwards, as the kind-hearted C also did), "but when C, upon his knees
and sobbing for the loss of an old friend, whispered me 'that if that
wasn't a clergyman, and it wasn't a funeral, he'd have punched his
head,' I felt as if nothing but convulsions could possibly relieve me."
On the 10th of October I heard from him that the chapter intended to be
introductory to the _Notes_ was written, and waiting our conference
whether or not it should be printed. We decided against it; on his part
so reluctantly, that I had to undertake for its publication when a more
fitting time should come. This in my judgment has arrived, and the
chapter first sees the light on this page. There is no danger at
present, as there would have been when it was written, that its proper
self-assertion should be mistaken for an apprehension of hostile
judgments which he was anxious to deprecate or avoid. He is out of reach
of all that now; and reveals to us here, as one whom fear or censure can
touch no more, his honest purpose in the use of satire even where his
humorous temptations were strongest. What he says will on other grounds
also be read with unusual interest, for it will be found to connect
itself impressively not with his first experiences only, but with his
second visit to America at the close of his life. He held always the
same high opinion of what was best in that country, and always the same
contempt for what was worst in it.
"INTRODUCTORY. AND NECESSARY TO BE READ.
"I have placed the foregoing title at the head
of this page, because I challenge and deny the
right of any person to pass judgment on this
book, or to arrive at any reasonable conclusion
in reference to it, without first being at the
trouble of becoming acquainted with its design
and purpose.
"It is not statistical. Figures of arithmetic
have already been heaped upon America's devoted
head, almost as lavishly as figures of speech
have been piled above Shakespeare's grave.
"It comprehends no small talk concerning
individuals, and no violation of the social
confidences of private life. The very prevalent
practice of kidnapping live ladies and
gentlemen, forcing them into cabinets, and
labelling and ticketing them whether they will
or no, for the gratification of the idle and
the curious, is not to my taste. Therefore I
have avoided it.
"It has not a grain of any political ingredient
in its whole composition.
"Neither does it contain, nor have I intended
that it should contain, any lengthened and
minute account of my personal reception in the
United States: not because I am, or ever was,
insensible to that spontaneous effusion of
affection and generosity of heart, in a most
affectionate and generous-hearted people; but
because I conceive that it would ill become me
to flourish matter necessarily involving so
much of my own praises, in the eyes of my
unhappy readers.
"This book is simply what it claims to be--a
record of the impressions I received from day
to day, during my hasty travels in America, and
sometimes (but not always) of the conclusions
to which they, and after-reflection on them,
have led me; a description of the country I
passed through; of the institutions I visited;
of the kind of people among whom I journeyed;
and of the manners and customs that came within
my observation. Very many works having just the
same scope and range, have been already
published, but I think that these two volumes
stand in need of no apology on that account.
The interest of such productions, if they have
any, lies in the varying impressions made by
the same novel things on different minds; and
not in new discoveries or extraordinary
adventures.
"I can scarcely be supposed to be ignorant of
the hazard I run in writing of America at all.
I know perfectly well that there is, in that
country, a numerous class of well-intentioned
persons prone to be dissatisfied with all
accounts of the Republic whose citizens they
are, which are not couched in terms of exalted
and extravagant praise. I know perfectly well
that there is in America, as in most other
places laid down in maps of the great world, a
numerous class of persons so tenderly and
delicately constituted, that they cannot bear
the truth in any form. And I do not need the
gift of prophecy to discern afar off, that they
who will be aptest to detect malice, ill will,
and all uncharitableness in these pages, and to
show, beyond any doubt, that they are
perfectly inconsistent with that grateful and
enduring recollection which I profess to
entertain of the welcome I found awaiting me
beyond the Atlantic--will be certain native
journalists, veracious and gentlemanly, who
were at great pains to prove to me, on all
occasions during my stay there, that the
aforesaid welcome was utterly worthless.
"But, venturing to dissent even from these high
authorities, I formed my own opinion of its
value in the outset, and retain it to this
hour; and in asserting (as I invariably did on
all public occasions) my liberty and freedom of
speech while I was among the Americans, and in
maintaining it at home, I believe that I best
show my sense of the high worth of that
welcome, and of the honourable singleness of
purpose with which it was extended to me. From
first to last I saw, in the friends who crowded
round me in America, old readers, over-grateful
and over-partial perhaps, to whom I had happily
been the means of furnishing pleasure and
entertainment; not a vulgar herd who would
flatter and cajole a stranger into turning with
closed eyes from all the blemishes of the
nation, and into chaunting its praises with the
discrimination of a street ballad-singer. From
first to last I saw, in those hospitable hands,
a home-made wreath of laurel; and not an iron
muzzle disguised beneath a flower or two.
"Therefore I take--and hold myself not only
justified in taking, but bound to take--the
plain course of saying what I think, and noting
what I saw; and as it is not my custom to exalt
what in my judgment are foibles and abuses at
home, so I have no intention of softening down,
or glozing over, those that I have observed
abroad.
"If this book should fall into the hands of any
sensitive American who cannot bear to be told
that the working of the institutions of his
country is far from perfect; that in spite of
the advantage she has over all other nations in
the elastic freshness and vigour of her youth,
she is far from being a model for the earth to
copy; and that even in those pictures of the
national manners with which he quarrels most,
there is still (after the lapse of several
years, each of which may be fairly supposed to
have had its stride in improvement) much that
is just and true at this hour; let him lay it
down, now, for I shall not please him. Of the
intelligent, reflecting, and educated among his
countrymen, I have no fear; for I have ample
reason to believe, after many delightful
conversations not easily to be forgotten, that
there are very few topics (if any) on which
their sentiments differ materially from mine.