An Evening with Charles Dickens

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 91, 7 February 1889, Page 3

An Evening with Charles Dickens

• THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. Of all the hooks written by the late Mr Charles Dickens as " Christmas Stories," the " Christmas Carol" is ou all hands considered to be the most popular. "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," all have their charms, but the " Carol" it is, which seems to have engrained itself fn the love of all admirers of Dickens, and appears to have become, as it were, " never-fading" in the minds of those who appreciate the morale of Dickens' writings. The idea of " the Carol" first occurred to Dickens at Manchester about October 1843, whither he had gone to preside at the opening of " Manchester's great Atheneum." where also, Forster tells us, Cobden and Disraeli "assisted." It was the. week after his return from Manchester, or about the 12th October, 1843. that Dickens commenced the writing, and the story was fiaished before the end of the following month (November). Forster in his " life of Dickens" says, "it was the work of such odd moments of leisure as were left him out of the time taken up by two numbers of Chuzzlewit," and, continuing his account of this strange imaginative story, he adds "I can testify to the accuracy of what befell him in the composition, with what a strange mystery it seized him for itself, how he wept over it, and laughed and wept again, and excited himself to an extraordinary degree, and how he walked thinking of it, fifteen or twenty miles about the black streets of Londop| on many a night after all sober folks had goce to bed." And then, referring to the speculations of his personal friends, usual at this time, when about to produce a new Christmas story, as to what the new story would be like, Dickens, on the conclusion of "the Carol" remarks to his friend Mr Felton, " Forster is out again" (that is wrong again in his calculations) " and if he don't go in again after the manner in which we have been keeping Christmas, he must be very strong iudeed ; such diuings, such dancings, such conjurings, such blind-man's-buffings, sucli kissingsout of old years and kissings-in of new ones never took place in these parts before." The Carol was published a few days before Christmas day 1843 and was " hailed on every side with enthusiastic greeting." There was not anybody that did not seem interested in the message of the "Christmas Carol ;" it told the selfish man to rid himself of his selfishness, the just man to make himself generous, and the good natured man to enlarge his goodnature; its cheery voice and hope carried pleasand warning alike to all, that if the duties of Christmas were wanting, no good could come of its outward observances, that it must shine upon the .Tjolft hearth and warm it., and into the sorrowful heart and comfort it ; that it must be kindness, benevolence, charity, mercy and forbearance, or its plum pudding would turn to bile and its roast beef be indegestible. Some years later, when Dicken's app&afced before fh.e public as a reader, the <( Carol" still held more than its own in the hearts of the people, it was one of, if not the most popular of all his writings selected by Dickens for reading purposes in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, wherever he read it it was received with the most enthusiastic greeting, and both Forster and Dolby tell us of the extraordinary scenes which occurred at the readiugs given by Dickens in his tours through these countries. At Edinburgh, for instance, Forster records (using Dickens' own words) for " the Carol, in spite of the advertisements in the morning that the tickets were gone, the people had to be got in through such a crowd as rendered it a work of the utmost difficulty to keep an alley in the room ; they were seated about me on the platform, put into the doorway of the waiting room, squeezed into every conceivable place and a multitude turned away once ! more;" The Carol was "the most uniform in its effects upon his audi* ences; the quickness, variety and completeness of his assumption of character having greatest scope in this (and a few others), so much then for the popularity of the work. A short epitome of the story itself will appear on Saturday next. Visitors to Palmerston are respectfully iavited to inspect the- display of new goods just received and now opened out at The Bon Marohe*. Embracing what is admittedly the largest stock between Wellington and Wauganui, of mantles, millinery, straw goods, dust cloaks, sun shades, cotton and stuff dress materials, and fancy and general drapery of every descriptioa.' The firm being direct importers are in a position to give their patrons equal .value to anything obtain* able in the colony, they invite inspection and comparison of their season's imports quite independently of any purchases being made. C. M. Ross & Co., the Bon Marohd*. Palmerston North. — Ad vt.