The combined qualities of the realist and the idealist which Dickens
possessed to a remarkable degree, together with his naturally jovial
attitude toward life in general, seem to have given him a remarkably
happy feeling toward Christmas, though the privations and hardships of
his boyhood could have allowed him but little real experience with this
day of days.
Dickens gave his first formal expression to his Christmas thoughts in
his series of small books, the first of which was the famous "Christmas
Carol," the one perfect chrysolite. The success of the book was
immediate. Thackeray wrote of it: "Who can listen to objections
regarding such a book as this? It seems to me a national benefit, and to
every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness."
This volume was put forth in a very attractive manner, with
illustrations by John Leech, who was the first artist to make these
characters live, and his drawings were varied and spirited.
There followed upon this four others: "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the
Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man," with illustrations
on their first appearance by Doyle, Maclise, and others. The five are
known to-day as the "Christmas Books." Of them all the "Carol" is the
best known and loved, and "The Cricket on the Hearth," although third in
the series, is perhaps next in point of popularity, and is especially
familiar to Americans through Joseph Jefferson's characterisation of
Caleb Plummer.
Dickens seems to have put his whole self into these glowing little
stories. Whoever sees but a clever ghost story in the "Christmas Carol"
misses its chief charm and lesson, for there is a different meaning in
the movements of Scrooge and his attendant spirits. A new life is
brought to Scrooge when he, "running to his window, opened it and put
out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring cold;
cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sun-light; Heavenly sky;
sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious! Glorious!" All this
brightness has its attendant shadow, and deep from the childish heart
comes that true note of pathos, the ever memorable toast of Tiny Tim,
"God bless Us, Every One!" "The Cricket on the Hearth" strikes a
different note. Charmingly, poetically, the sweet chirping of the little
cricket is associated with human feelings and actions, and at the crisis
of the story decides the fate and fortune of the carrier and his wife.
Dickens's greatest gift was characterization, and no English writer,
save Shakespeare, has drawn so many and so varied characters. It would
be as absurd to interpret all of these as caricatures as to deny Dickens
his great and varied powers of creation. Dickens exaggerated many of his
comic and satirical characters, as was his right, for caricature and
satire are very closely related, while exaggeration is the very essence
of comedy. But there remains a host of characters marked by humour and
pathos. Yet the pictorial presentation of Dickens's characters has ever
tended toward the grotesque. The interpretations in this volume aim to
eliminate the grosser phases of the caricature in favour of the more
human. If the interpretations seem novel, if Scrooge be not as he has
been pictured, it is because a more human Scrooge was desired--a Scrooge
not wholly bad, a Scrooge of a better heart, a Scrooge to whom the
resurrection described in this story was possible. It has been the
illustrator's whole aim to make these people live in some form more
fully consistent with their types.
GEORGE ALFRED WILLIAMS.
_Chatham, N.J._