THE LATE CHARLES DICKENS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 37, 27 July 1870, Page 7

THE LATE CHARLES DICKENS.

Amongst the items of telegraphic news from England will ho found the amumneement of the death of a man whose name is us familiar to the inhabitants of New Zealand as “ household words.” The author who depicted the eccentricities of a Weller, the sorrows of Little Nell, the blighted condition of a hlwivoller, the aspirations ot a Guppy, the death’of'.Paul Dombey, the ’umbleiicss of a Hoop, and the resignation of a Micawber, is no more. Charles Dickens, whose name for years ami years has been so familiar to all of us, is dead—dead, like William Makepeace Thackeray, just as he was commencing to add another to the long list of his works. Fifty-eight years ago, at Landport, .Portsmouth, Charles Dickens was born. His father was a cleric in the Navy Pay-office, and upon retiring on a pension, obtained an engagement to report debates in Parliament, and eventually became attached to the Chronicle . It is not known where Charles Dickens acquired his education, but as a young man we find him as a reporter on an ultraLiberal paper, the True Sun. From the staff of the True Sun he passed to the Morning Chronicle as a reporter, and his reports were distinguished by clearness, vigour, and extreme exactness. The office of reporter was too narrow for the mind of the future novelist, and he wrote a few tales and sketches that appeared in a magazine of the day. Ho next wrote the “ Sketches by Boz ” in the evening edition of the Morning Chronicle, under the title of “ Sketches of English Life and Character.” They at once attracted much notice, and were reprinted in 183G and 183 < in two volumes, illustrated by Mr G. Oruikshank, and published by Mr Marone. About the same time he wrote a comic opera, entitled “ The Village Coquettes." The merits of the “Sketches by Boz” caught the attention of one of the firm of Chapman & Hall, who proposed that Mr Dickens, then twenty-five or twenty-six years old, should write, in monthly numbers. a sporting novel to illustrate certain sketches by Seymour. The offer was accepted—and “ Pickwick ’’ was the result. Mr Seymour’s death by his own hand changed the character of the novel, leaving Dickens free to follow up his own ideas. Hablot Brown, then a young artist, who had, at seventeen years of age, gained a prize for a capital etching of John Gilpin, supplied the place of Seymour. “ Nicholas Nickleby ” was the next production, which appeared in shilling numbers uniform with “ Pickwick.” Dickens next edited Bentley's Miscellany, and in February, 1837, appeared the first instalment of “ Oliver Twist,” illustrated by Cruikshank. In 1840, he attempted a periodical paper, intended to bring him more often in contact with his many readers. After two or three little tales, he abandoned his purpose, and plunged into the longer tide of the “ Old Curiosity Shop,” which, when finished, was followed by “ Barnaby Rudge,” a tale illustrative of the Gordon Riots. About the same time appeared Mr Dickens’s “ Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi,” the celebrated clown. In the year 1842 Mr Dickens visited America, and on his return published his “American Notes,” which were received in the country they described with a storm of disapproval. In 1843 he turned his trip to the Now World to account to himself by writing “ Martin Chuzzlewit,” The year 1843 saw the first of his Christmas books, viz., the “ Christmas Carol,” and which was followed by “The Chimes," in 1845 ; “ The Cricket on the Hearth," 1846; “The Battle of Life,” 1847; and “The Haunted Man, or the Ghost's Bargain,” iu 1848. In 1845 Mr Dickens started the Daily News, a weekly newspaper, which appeared.on the 21st of January of that year, price 2|d ; but tho affair was a partial failure. Silent for some time after “ Martin Chuzzlowitt” had been completed, Dickons next, in 1847-48, published “ Dombey and Sou,” which was followed by “ David Copperliekl, ” in 1849-50. “ Bleak House” made its appearance in 1853, and “ Little Dorrit” iu 1856. “A Tale of Two Cities,” “The Uncommercial Traveller,” and “ Great Expectations,” wore reprinted from All the 1 ear Round. In 1850, Mr Dickens started Household Words, a cheap literary miscellany, and, owing to a dispute between him and his publishers, brought it to a conclusion in 1859. Ho then established All the Year Round, which ho conducted until a few years ago, arid which is now edited by his son. In May, 1864, the first number of “Our Mutual Friend” appeared. Iu 1868, Mr Dickens proceeded to America, and, making his peace with the enlightened citizens, gave readings, by which he realised about £40,000. On his return to England, ho continued his readings to crowded audiences at 85t. James’-hall. In tho beginning of the present year, he bid a pathetic farewell to his hearers, stating that ho would not ceaso his relations with the public ; and in April, 1870, appeared the first number, containing five chapters, of “ The Mystery of Edwin Drood. iho work bears evidence ot great promise, but Fate willed that it never should be completed; and, as iu the case of “Denis Duval,” there'will only ho a fragment left to the world of tho author’s last work. Two sons of the late Mr C. Dickens arc at present iu Australia, being engaged in pas-, toral pursuits,—Melbourne Telegraph ...