Dickens as a Reader.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 120, 25 April 1885, Page 4

Dickens as a Reader.

In his work on " Charles Dickens 1 as I Knew him, 11 Mr George Dolby, J who accompanied the great novelist j on four of his reading tours says : — j When produced m St James' 1 Hall on Tuesday evening, Jan. 5, 1869, the effect of the" Sikes and Nancy !1 reading was all that Mr Dickens had anticipated, from an artistic point of view, he had no reason to be disappointed ; but m the vigour < and the earnestness with which it was delivered it was painfully appar- J ent to his most intimate friends, and those who knew his state of health the best, that a too-frequent repetition of it would seriously and permanently affect his constitution. The terrible force with which the actual perpetration of this most foul murder was described was of such a kind as to render Mr Dickens utter- ! ly prostrate for some moments after j its delivery, and it was not until he \ had vanished from the platform that | the public had sufficiently recovered their sense of composure to appve- : ciate tbe circumstance that all the horrors to which they had been listening were but a story and not a reality. The reception accorded to this reading by the Press was such as to create a demand for it m future readings m London and the Provinces, a fact which caused him to continue working away at it to make it as perfect for representation as were all the other readings. The horrible perfection which he brought it, and its novelty, acted as a charm to him and made him the more determined to go on with it come what might, and all remonstrance to the contrary was unheeded by him, notwithstanding m his own mind he knew with what danger to his constitution he was beset, and that by continuing with this additional labour he was running risks against which he was cautioned by his medical advisers and friends. It was curious to note the different effects of the different readings. The ordinary state of Mr Dickens' pulse was 72. " David Copperfield,, brought it up to 96 ; "Dr Marigold, 11 99 ; the first night of the "Murder" (during the last readings), it was 1 1 2, and the second 118;" Nicholas 11 Nickleby" brought it to 112 i and^Dombey 11 to 114. On one occasion it sose to 154. At the last reading of all, when he went on the platform for the " Christmas Carol, his pulse marked 108, and at the conclusion of the reading it had risen to 110. He himself was astounded at the high state of his pulse after the last " Copperfield " reading, and explained it by the emotion he felt m parting (for the last time) with the reading which he liked better almost than any of the others, and which had done so much to popularise the whole series. Although his pulse frequently ran as high during many other readings, the after effects were not so serious as when he left the platform on the termination of the " murder" reading. On these occasions he would have to be supported to his retiringroom and laid on a sofa for fully ten minutes before he could speak a rational or consecutive sentence. Mr Dickens kept no particular account of money he netted from the reading under the management of Messrs Arthur Smith and Headland, but he always computed it at about £ 1 2,000. Out of the 242 read ings given under my management (which included the three engagements of Messrs Chappell and Co) he cleared nearly .£33,000.