The Life of Charles Dickens

The Life of Charles Dickens

BY

Vol. III. 1852-1870

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I. 1850-1853.
Pages 21-50.
David Copperfield and Bleak House. Æt. 38-41.
	page
Interest of Copperfield	21
Real people in novels	22
Scott, Smollett, and Fielding	22
Complaint and atonement	23
Earlier and later methods	24
Boythorn and Skimpole	26
Yielding to temptation	27
Changes made in Skimpole	28
Relatives put into books	29
Scott and his father	29
Dickens and his father	30
No harm done	32
Micawber and Skimpole	32
Dickens and David	33
Dangers of autobiography	34
Design of David’s character	35
Why books continue	36
The storm and shipwreck	37
Goethe on the insane	38
The two heroines	39
Risks not worth running	40
Devonshire Terrace	41
Bleak House	43
Defects of the novel	44
Set-offs and successes	45
Value of critical judgments	46
The contact of extremes	47
Dean Ramsay on Jo	48
Town graves	49
One last friend	49
Truth of Gridley’s case	50
CHAPTER II. 1853-1855.
Pages 51-75.
Home Incidents and Hard Times. Æt. 41-43.
Titles proposed for Bleak House	52
Restlessness	52
Tavistock House	53
Last child born	54
A young stage aspirant	54
Deaths of friends	55
At Boulogne	55
Publishing agreements	56
At Birmingham	56
Self-changes	57
Employments in Boulogne	59
First reading in public	60
Argument against paid readings	61
Children’s theatricals	62
Mr. H. in Tom Thumb	62
Dickens in Fortunio	63
Titles for a new story	65
Difficulties of weekly parts	66
Mr. Ruskin on Hard Times	67
Truths enforced	68
Early experiences	69
Strike at Preston	69
Speaking at Drury Lane	70
Stanfield scenes	71
Tavistock House theatricals	71
Peter Cunningham	73
Incident of a November night	74
Degrees in misery	75
CHAPTER III. 1853.
Pages 76-95.
Switzerland and Italy Revisited. Æt. 41.
Swiss people	76
Narrow escape	77
Lausanne and Genoa	78
The Peschiere and its owner	79
On the way to Naples	80
A night on board ship	81
A Greek potentate	82
Going out to dinner	83
The old idle Frenchman	84
Changes and old friends	85
A “scattering” party	86
The puppets at Rome	87
Malaria and desolation	88
Plague-smitten places	89
Again in Venice	90
A painter among paintings	91
Liking for the Sardinians	92
Neapolitans in exile	93
Travelling police arrangements	94
Dickens and the Austrian	95
CHAPTER IV. 1853, 1854, and 1856.
Pages 96-120.
Three Summers at Boulogne. Æt. 41, 42, 44.
Visits to France	96
First summer residence (1853)	97
Villa des Moulineaux	98
Doll’s house and offices	99
Bon garçon of a landlord	100
Making the most of it	101
Among Putney market-gardeners	102
Shakespearian performance	103
Pictures at the pig-market	104
English friends	105
Change of villa (1854)	105
The Northern Camp	106
Visit of Prince Albert	107
Emperor, Prince, and Dickens	108
“Like boxing”	109
The Empress at a review	110
A French conjuror	110
Conjuring by Dickens	111
Making demons of cards	112
Conjuror’s compliment and vision	114
Old residence resumed (1856)	115
Last of the Camp	116
A household war	117
State of siege	118
Death of Gilbert A’Becket	119
Leaving for England	119
CHAPTER V. 1855, 1856.
Pages 121-153.
Residence in Paris. Æt. 43-44.
Actors and dramas	122
Frédéric Lemaitre	122
Last scene in Gambler’s Life	123
Apartment in Champs Elysées	124
French Translation of Dickens	125
Ary Scheffer and Daniel Manin	126
English friends	126
Acting at the Français	127
Dumas’ Orestes	129
Paradise Lost at the Ambigu	130
Profane nonsense	131
French As You Like It	132
Story of a French drama	133
A delightful “Tag”	134
Auber and Queen Victoria	134
Scribe and his wife	136
At Regnier’s	137
Viardot in Orphée	138
Meets Georges Sand	138
Banquet at Girardin’s	139
Second banquet	141
Bourse and its victims	142
Entry of troops from Crimea	143
Zouaves and their dog	144
Streets on New Year’s Day	145
English and French art	146
Emperor and Edwin Landseer	147
Sitting to Ary Scheffer	148
Scheffer as to the likeness	149
A duchess murdered	150
Truth is stranger than fiction	151
Singular scenes described	152
What became of the actors	153
CHAPTER VI. 1855-1857.
Pages 154-176.
Little Dorrit, and a Lazy Tour. Æt. 43-45.
Watts’s Rochester charity	155
Tablet to Dickens in Cathedral	155
Nobody’s Fault	155
How the Dorrit story grew	156
Number-Plan of Copperfield	157
Number-Plan of Dorrit	158
Circumlocution Office	159
Flora and Mr. F——	160
Weak and strong points	161
A scene of boy-trials	162
Reception of the novel	163
Christmas theatricals	164
Theatre-making	165
Rush for places	166
Douglas Jerrold’s death	168
Exertions and result	168
Seeing the serpents fed	169
Lazy Tour projected	170
Up Carrick Fell	170
Accident to Mr. Wilkie Collins	171
At Wigton and Allonby	172
The Yorkshire landlady	173
Doncaster in race week	174
A performance of Money	175
CHAPTER VII. 1857-1858.
Pages 177-201.
What Happened at This Time. Æt. 45-46.
Disappointments and distastes	177
What we seem and are	178
Compensations of Art	179
Misgivings	180
A defect and a merit	181
Reply to a remonstrance	182
Dangerous comfort	183
One happiness missed	184
Homily on life	185
Confidences	186
Rejoinder to a reply	187
What the world cannot give	189
An old project revived	189
Shakespeare on acting	191
Hospital for sick children	192
Charities of the very poor	192
Unsolved mysteries	194
Appeal for sick children	195
Reading for Child’s Hospital	195
Proposal for Paid readings	196
Question of the Plunge	198
Mr. Arthur Smith	199
Separation from Mrs. Dickens	200
What alone concerned the public	201
CHAPTER VIII. 1856-1870.
Pages 202-222.
Gadshill Place. Æt. 44-58.
First description of it	202
The porch	204
Negotiations for purchase	204
Becomes his home	205
Gadshill a century ago	206
Past owners and tenants	207
Sinking a well	209
Gradual additions	210
Gift from Mr. Fechter	211
Dickens’s writing-table	211
The châlet	213
Much coveted acquisition	214
Last improvement	215
Visits of friends	216
Dickens’s Dogs	218
A Fenian mastiff	218
Linda and Mrs. Bouncer	219
Favourite walks	220
The study and chair	222
CHAPTER IX. 1858-1859.
Pages 223-238.
First Paid Readings. Æt. 46-47.
Various managements	223
One day’s work	224
Impressions of Dublin	225
Irish audiences	226
Young Ireland and Old England	227
Railway ride to Belfast	229
Brought near his Fame	229
A knowing audience	231
Greeting in Manchester	231
Joined by his daughters	232
Strange life	233
Scotch audiences	234
When most successful in reading	235
At public meetings	236
Miss Marie Wilton as Pippo	237
Ed. Landseer on Frith’s portrait	238
CHAPTER X. 1859-1861.
Pages 239-254.
All The Year Round and the Uncommercial Traveller. Æt. 47-49.
Household Words discontinued	240
Earliest and latest publishers	240
Dickens and Mr. Bentley	241
In search of a title	242
A title found	243
Success of new periodical	244
Difference from the old	245
At Knebworth	246
Commercial Travellers’ Schools	247
A Traveller for human interests	248
Personal references in writing	249
Birds and low company	250
Bethnal-green fowls	251
An incident of Doughty Street	252
Offers from America	253
CHAPTER XI. 1861-1863.
Pages 255-274.
Second Series of Readings. Æt. 49-51.
Daughter Kate’s marriage	255
Charles Alston Collins	257
Sale of Tavistock House	257
Brother Alfred’s death	258
Metropolitan readings	258
Provincial circuit	259
New subjects for readings	260
Death of Mr. Arthur Smith	261
Death of Mr. Henry Austin	262
Readings at Brighton	263
At Canterbury and Dover	264
Alarming scene	265
Impromptu reading-hall	266
Scenes in Scotland	267
At Torquay	268
Death of C. C. Felton	269
Offers for Australia	270
Writing or Reading?	271
Home arguments	272
Religious Richardson’s Show	273
Exiled ex-potentate	274
CHAPTER XII. 1855-1865.
Pages 275-297.
Hints for Books Written and Unwritten. Æt. 43-53.
Book of MS. memoranda	275
Originals of characters	277
Fancies put into books	277
Notions for Little Dorrit	278
Suggestions for other books	279
Hints for last completed book	280
Fancies never used	281
Ideas not worked out	282
A touching fancy	284
Domestic subjects	284
Characters of women	285
Other female groups	286
Uncle Sam	288
Sketches of selfishness	288
Striking thoughts	290
Subjects not accomplished	290
Characters laid aside	291
Available names	293
Titles for books	293
Names for girls and boys	295
An undistinguished crowd	296
Mr. Brobity’s snuff-box	297
CHAPTER XIII. 1864-1867.
Pages 298-324.
Third Series of Readings. Æt. 52-55.
Death of Thackeray	298
Mother’s death	300
Death of second son	300
Interest in Mr. Fechter	301
Notes on theatres	302
Sorrowful new year	303
C. W. Dilke’s death	303
Staplehurst accident	305
Illness and suffering	305
Enters on new readings	306
Last meeting with Mrs. Carlyle	308
Mrs. Carlyle’s death	309
Offer for more readings	309
Grave warnings	311
In Scotland	312
Exertion and its result	313
Self-deception	314
An old malady	314
Scene at Tynemouth	316
In Dublin with the Fenians	317
Yielding to temptation	318
Pressure from America	319
At bay at last	320
Warning unheeded	321
Discussion useless	322
The case in a nutshell	323
Decision to go	324
CHAPTER XIV. 1836-1870.
Pages 325-386.
Dickens as a Novelist. Æt. 24-58.
See before you oversee	326
M. Taine’s criticism	326
What is overlooked in it	327
A popularity explained	328
National excuses for Dickens	330
Comparison with Balzac	330
Anticipatory reply to M. Taine	332
A critic in the Fortnightly Review	333
Blame and praise to be reconciled	333
A plea for objectors	334
“Hallucinative” imagination	335
Vain critical warnings	336
The critic and the criticised	336
An opinion on the Micawbers	338
Hallucinative phenomena	338
Scott writing Bride of Lammermoor	339
Claim to be fairly judged	340
Dickens’s leading quality	341
Dangers of Humour	342
His earlier books	343
Mastery of dialogue	344
Character-drawing	345
Realities of fiction	346
Fielding and Dickens	347
Touching of extremes	347
Why the creations of fiction live	349
Enjoyment of his own humour	350
Unpublished note of Lord Lytton	350
Exaggerations of humour	351
Temptations of all great humourists	352
A word for fanciful descriptions	353
Tale of Two Cities	355
Difficulties and success	355
Specialty of treatment	356
Reply to objections	357
Care with which Dickens worked	358
An American critic	359
Great Expectations	360
Pip and Magwitch	361
Another boy-child for hero	362
Unlikeness in likeness	363
Vivid descriptive writing	364
Masterly drawing of character	365
A day on the Thames	366
Homely and shrewd satire	367
Incident changed for Lytton	368
As originally written	369
Christmas Sketches	370
Our Mutual Friend	370
Writing numbers in advance	373
Working slowly	374
Death of John Leech	375
A fatal anniversary	376
Effects on himself and his novel	376
A tale by Edmond About	378
First and Last	378
Doctor Marigold	379
Minor stories	380
“Something from Above”	381
Purity of Dickens’s writings	382
Substitute for an alleged deficiency	382
True province of humour	383
Horace Greeley and Longfellow	384
Letters from an American	385
Companions for solitude	386
CHAPTER XV. 1867.
Pages 387-406.
America Revisited. November and December, 1867. Æt. 55.
Warmth of the greeting	388
Same cause as in 1842	388
Old and new friends	389
Changes since 1842	390
First Boston reading	391
Scene at New York sales	393
First New York reading	393
An action against Dickens	394
A fire at his hotel	395
Local and general politics	397
Railway arrangements	398
Police of New York	398
Mistletoe from England	399
As to newspapers	400
Nothing lasts long	401
Cities chosen for readings	401
Scene of a murder visited	402
A dinner at the murderer’s	403
Illness and abstinence	404
Miseries of American travel	405
Startling prospect	406
CHAPTER XVI. 1868.
Pages 407-443.
America Revisited. January to April, 1868. Æt. 56.
Speculators and public	408
An Englishman’s disadvantage	408
“Freedom and independence”	408
Mountain-sneezers and eye-openers	409
The work and the gain	410
A scene at Brooklyn	411
At Philadelphia	412
“Looking up the judge”	413
Improved social ways	414
Result of thirty-four readings	415
Shadow to the sunshine	416
Readings in a church	417
Change of plan	417
Baltimore women	418
Success in Philadelphia	419
Objections to coloured people	420
With Sumner at Washington	421
President Lincoln’s dream	423
Interview with President Johnson	423
Washington audiences	424
A comical dog	425
Incident before a reading	426
The child and the doll	427
North-west tour	428
Political excitement	429
Struggle for tickets	430
American female beauty	432
Sherry to “slop round” with	432
Final impression of Niagara	433
Letter to Mr. Ouvry	434
“Getting along” through water	435
Again attacked by lameness	437
Illness and exertion	437
Seeing prevents believing	439
All but used up	439
Last Boston readings	440
New York farewells	441
The receipts throughout	441
Promise at public dinner	442
The Adieu	443
CHAPTER XVII. 1868-1870.
Pages 444-460.
Last Readings. Æt. 56-58.
Health improved	444
What the readings did and undid	445
Expenses and gains in America	446
Noticeable changes in him	447
Oliver Twist reading proposed	448
Objections to it	449
Death of Frederick Dickens	450
Macready at Oliver Twist reading	451
Another attack of illness	452
A doctors’ difference	454
At Emerson Tennent’s funeral	454
The illness at Preston	455
Brought to London	456
Sir Thomas Watson consulted	456
His note of the case	457
Guarded sanction to other readings	458
Close of career as public reader	460
CHAPTER XVIII. 1869-1870.
Pages 461-477.
Last Book. Æt. 57-58.
The agreement for Edwin Drood	461
First fancy for it	462
Story as planned in his mind	463
What to be its course and end	463
Merits of the fragment	464
Comparison of early and late MSS	466
Discovery of an unpublished scene	467
Last page of Drood in fac-simile	468
Page of Oliver Twist in fac-simile	469
Delightful specimen of Dickens	470
Unpublished scene for Drood	470-476
CHAPTER XIX. 1836-1870.
Pages 478-526.
Personal Characteristics. Æt. 24-58.
Dickens not a bookish man	479
Books and their critics	479
Design of present book stated	480
Dickens made to tell his own story	480
Charge of personal obtrusiveness	481
Lord Russell on Dickens’s letters	481
Shallower judgments	481
Absence of self-conceit in Dickens	482
Letter to youngest son	483
As to religion and prayer	485
Letter to a clergyman in 1856	485
Letter to a layman in 1870	486
Objection to posthumous honours	487
As to patronage of literature	488
Vanity of human wishes	488
As to writers and publishers	489
Editorship of his weekly serials	490
Work for his contributors	491
Editorial troubles and pleasures	493
Letter to an author	493
Help to younger novelists	495
Adelaide Procter’s poetry	495
Effect of periodical writing	496
Proposed satirical papers	497
Political opinions	498
Not the man for Finsbury	499
The Liverpool dinner in 1869	500
Reply to Lord Houghton	501
Tribute to Lord Russell	501
People governing and governed	502
Alleged offers from her Majesty	503
Silly Rigmarole	504
The Queen sees him act (1857)	505
Desires to hear him read (1858)	506
Interview at the Palace (1870)	507
What passed at the interview	507
Dickens’s grateful impression	508
A hope at the close of life	509
Games in Gadshill meadow	510
Home enjoyments	512
Habits of life everywhere	513
Family dependence on him	514
Carlyle’s opinion of Dickens	514
Street walks and London haunts	515
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day	517
The first attack of lameness	518
Effect upon his dogs	518
Why right things to be done	519
Silent heroisms	519
At social meetings	520
Delight in “assumption”	520
Humouring a joke	522
Unlucky hits	522
Ghost stories	524
Predominant feeling of his life	525
Sermon of the Master of Balliol	525
CHAPTER XX. 1869-1870.
Pages 527-545.
The End. Æt. 57-58.
Last summer and autumn	527
Showing London to a visitor	528
His son Henry’s scholarship	529
Twelve more readings	530
Medical attendance at them	531
Excitement incident to them	532
The Farewell	533
Last public appearances	535
At Royal Academy dinner	535
Eulogy of Daniel Maclise	536
Return of illness	537
Our last meeting	538
A noteworthy incident	538
Last letter received from him	539
Final days at Gadshill	539
Wednesday the 8th of June	540
Last piece of writing	540
The 8th and 9th of June	541
The general grief	542
The burial	544
Unbidden mourners	544
The grave	544
——————
APPENDIX.
I. The Writings of Charles Dickens	547
II. The Will of Charles Dickens	561
III. Corrections made in the Later Editions of the Second Volume of this Work	566
INDEX	571