Show In u I 9 fr J 8 1 1 L By LOUISE M M. M COMSTOCK J I A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens gave luIe the world a favorite Christmas story It has hns been rend nail and reread ut lit U this time each year until old ohl Scrooge amt Tiny TillY Tim are cherished friends and the author all all- thor Ihor himself I. I Is so 0 clo closely ely Identified with Ith the Ilif spirit of ChrIstmas that we quite sympathize s wll with h the DIP lit Itt tie tle l boy oy who It Is said naked asked when told of ot Ills his death It If Mr Dickens Is load dead then Is Santa Claus going to die too toot too Dickens' Dickens place as a literary artl artist t Is III seldom Mom disputed nut Hut on Churles hurles lIlt Dickens the man the modern has recently turned his penetrating pent pene spotlight with astonishing results Two new books on un in the life lite of or the author lOr Charles Dickens a Biography From Ironi New ew Sources 1 by V Straus published Iv hy the tile Cos- Cos os Book HOlik corporation and ThU Side Idol Idolatry atry a atry-a a Novel Hated on the Ute of Charles Dickens Dick ens by C. C C. C R. R published bythe hy by hythe hythe the Merrill company rev reveal pal en I disconcerting g smudges on the whitewashed Idol the Dl Dickens kens legend has hns given glnn us The Christmas Carol It seems for nil all Its It'S sermon selfish greed and Tiny Tims Tim's I Ina hu in oil bless us every one was primarily bM because the author needed money I tin hn- in- in and badly hully Martin thurzle vII hosed bused on his first trip trill to America had h enjoyed III Id so sim sima a o vats IIII compared Irl to 10 earlier hooks bunks as nil to III bring to toa toa toa a bend head long pending pen d I rip iii with willi Chapman iu 10 Hull lull Important among the huK houses with whom hud had first rn rod rill then III I Under Ihl this cloud nud the IIII author j journeyed urn feed ed to 10 1 Manchester to assist at III d a dedica dedication a atin tIn tion HP Ile returned In Improved spirits loud kind nubile nub nuts lie ile applause still ringing In hIs ears curs ned ard hi his hiI head full of nt a 0 new story Its In Inspiration ho hI told his hili wife wIre Kate 1111 was the crippled son nn of or his sister sll-Ier funny Fanny II whom he tad Lull just visited It was to 0 he sort Nurl of nt a II fairy tale contrasting the selfish canting II anon nit hypos hypocritical rich who lin dont don't understand the spirit of ot Christmas with the humble happy poor pour who do It warto was war to contain all 1111 his philosophy and he such a In the Ihl I eke eje for emit alit and humbug lie III set tn to work with that remarkable energy that thaI characterized all 1111 Lila his efforts At the tilt end of ot often often ten 1111 days he rend read the half finished story to 10 ute I and rth lIol her hr sister and a n member member mem mem- ber hN of or the Dickens household Its I thrilling 1 l Ithe the Georgina exclaimed reports Mr Ur It will do more go d to 10 the world than ban nil ail the sermons ever er preached And Ani Charles modestly answered Just what I think What's more It'll do the Inimitable more good than Ihan all the sermons preached It'll sell like ilkI lint hot cakes I 1 IIII Sell Seil III tike like hot hol cakes It did dill The first firt edition appeared ap up- geared a n few days dllY before Christmas 1843 and n lOO copies w were re sold at nl five shilling each within a afew few tew hours of or publication banes Churles hurll Mr Straus tells us was as overjoyed ed kept Christmas uproar uproar- l I uly editions sold over copies giving Dickens In his own words wools a 8 mo most prodigious pro pro- prodigious success the greatest I think I have hale over ver overachieved achieved ed The little hook Straus continues endeared him hint to thousands of ot new nw renders readers and put Iut him on a new sort sorl of or pedestal The affectionate aRec- aRec ti regard In which he hI had been held 1111 changed to III something even ln warmer Thackeray was expressing expressing ex IX pressing I the he general opinion when he wrote rIt rItho ho Who eau can lI listen hn to 10 objections thins regarding such a book us its Ih this It teems to 10 me a n national nul ht benefit and ami tn to every try man r r woman who rends reads It a II per Ier personal kindness Th Thoi Tha last two persons I 1 heard speak Ilik of li it were women neither knew the other or the author and both said hv M way of ot Gail bless him I 1 Its success was natural Ille the good show show- soul ain he hI was wass Dickens had quite quill outdone himself In giving his public what It wanted an extra Iura good smack In the e eye e for tor cant and With what satisfaction he III must have set sll Its 1111 kaleidoscopic scenes that vivacious procession ol of guests arriving at RI the I 11 shall ball the tableau of ot the Spirit of Christians Christmas resent Present the brief t. t drama of ot the Ihl Christmas la dinner Here was the successful author In his greatest role giving his readers gor gorgeous II f entertainment playIng play play- In III hog Ing upon their heartstrings heartstrings and and hoping for tor large pro profits I There Is 18 probably more of or Dickens own childhood child hood than of ot Fanny's sick hk son In hi Tiny Tim rim He lie had been a bright sensitive little chop chap subject to frequent spasms of ot sickness that Ihal confined him to hooks books and dreams 8 for amuse o ment 1111 Ills III tUI father lr afterwards afterward to so accurately portrayed portrayed por por- In Mr Macaw her seems to tn have hare been a II charming st scoundrel so sn utterly u unable to cope op 01 with the practical al business s of III ii living lag 1111 that he hI often disappeared when hilts hills were overdue leaving leafing Mrs Dickens as nil futile as all Mrs Irs Ir Ihy and her numerous children to III rap fare the music When all nit nita w went cut 1111 si well ell I 1 1 there lucre wit was s proper Ir a I t t r s schooling I n II 1 g. g e endless t i I s. s v fascinating theatricals theatrical In the Ihl Dickens noose mid and petty IP triumphs when his fit father ii lifted HI ft ed 11 him onto ate the dining room rIU table to 10 perform for admiring guests When n all 1111 did not go well 11 the Ihl gel schooling I Flopped there here ails nas instant constant terror of r poverty an i ithe the Minnie of f wing his father In det debtors debtors' tors' tors prison and owl there II was II a II though h brief 11 ex ex- p a ft when 1 hen he to 10 the IIII In In- ill trl tS u Ci Courtesy sy Cbs nopo Jf Soak Book Corpora O fr L. hit i i I I j l AVI AVIi i to I come by II labels on blacking bottles In a cousins cousin's factory a period so painful to him that John Juhn L Forster his Lila faithful friend I advisor and was the till only person not excepting bin bis wife wIre to whom he be ever lr mentioned It Later there was a 0 dull period as clerk ID tn a law office a more lively period as liS newspaper r reporter re- re porter when the young man mau chased news b conch coach from front one end of ot l' l England to the other ann ami took tOIk down Il parliamentary speeches writing on his knee then the famous sketches by lIy Boz then Pickwick and fame rume when wl he was not yet et t tv IIII MM tite old hi runt Irom self centered ambitious young loung manhood Dickens Oh slipped easily Into the therole therole role nIlI of r public Idol He Ile wet set up Uti ah an extravagant household entertained lavishly alwn always 8 with that Joy In rollicking middle middle-class middle class good god cheer so marked In the 1111 Carol He lie directed and ROIl acted In the most talked talked-of amateur theatricals of ut the day and edited papers made mode speeches traveled and 1101 produced ed books with whit unbelievable energy The role of ot public Idol Mol Is la always a 0 trying one une However lr much money Dickens Dickens' hooks brought ht he hI always needed more mitre III Ills Improvident father and nd brothers constantly Imposed I on his hll gener gener- Ills own children he hf spoke of lit as liS the Ihl largest largest larg larg- est family known with whit the lea lend t 1 disposition to todo to todo todo do anything any for themselves He lie was seldom free trPe trout from the of ot his childhood and su success suc UI 11 cess Bess 11 brought him hiru only Increasing restlessness nt s and dissatisfaction At AI length there was WI a II much talked of ut st lion from Kate Kale She had lived with him hint twentythree twenty twenty- three years had borne him Mm ten children but hat she fine was now Il dismissed sl left only her eldest son Soil 11 MO pounds Income lint and the gracious privilege e of ot seeIng seeing see see- Ing her children when and where she wished 1 The household passed pasted Into the more welcome welt-nine care corp of lit Georginn It It was sins nil nit Dit kens dens plea that they had hod lived unhappily together for ninny many ye ye tro that their differences were temperamental Kate was Mr Ir String tells IllIs u II ns a 8 complacently good natured Dl woman whom hum constant motherhood had rendered III and lint unlovely Certainly she wa a no nn orate mate for the energetic and clever Dickens nut Hut she phI had put pUI up 1111 with hIs bis ravines s over O the death oth of ot tier her caster Mary who willi died In III his arms and whose 8 o s he hI mourned publicly and privately private private- ly 17 all out of or proportion to In the Ihl relationship of nt in sister She hud bud et even IlIn n borne hornE 1 with II h him hiru when already al I. I ng middle a nt ire he hI loud had tried to 10 revive a II youthful II till romance with Maria ll herself married fat rill forty and not I M co n fair Though h he had not seen Marln since his early Infatuation lion tion h he wrote her letters II a II meeting In his 11 1 own n home found win what damage time had hod d her fr and retreated with frith no par 1111 particular grace Kate Irate had hUI endured the Ihl trip to 10 toA A merlin America fit III his wish li bad watched 1111 him hll nut till lize 1171 conversation lII at III dinner parties knew ht III his Ir it Irresponsibility responsibility In to business dealings how tot public approval went to tn his Ills head and criticism 1 mode made him hint a n rc rest ilci s tyrant apt 1111 to In caricature Its lis author mercilessly In hl his hi hooks honks Moreover tr and perhaps herein lu lay luj Kates Kate's fault slip she made no Idol of her husband II Here ere according to Mr Jr Rob nob erts Is her final Judgment of or him I 1 am weary Charles Churles of ot hearing you prate of or cant and hum hum- hug and hypocrisy Is there a meaner cant than your empty catchwords Youre You're the ite you jou OU who boast hOllst your contempt for tor money and on lire Ilk faith with every elery publisher I Yo Yo-j Yo who preach charity and pillory your parents and friends In your jour books bonks I You who rant duty ani faithfulness and desert me for a painted actress Of or this painted actress Mr Straus has little littleto to I say be beyond that flint her name nume was 1 Ellen lIen that she was somewhat well known and the first named beneficiary In Dickens Dickens' will which whir left letl her hr 1000 pounds She Is undoubtedly the young joung lady lally for whom I 1 have great regard Dickens Dickens Dick DIrk ens mentions In III the Impetuous and ridiculous defense defense de de- of the separation which be he later wrote tc ti appease his wondering public Mr Bechhofer- Bechhofer has hns much to say of or her Dickens had tad first liMIt seen her In Atalanta a dismal little perRon person per per- son Ron whose voice did not carry corry to the boxes There had been a B trip behind scenes an on encounter a B tearful confession that It II was the shame of or appearing In tights that was spoiling spoiling spoil spoil- ing her debut performance words word of ri r consolation Rn and an Immediate Immediate Immediate- Infatuation People People Peo Peo- pIe had hod talked Kate had bad complained and the thelong lon tons long contemplated separation was thereby Kate irate lItt however er was apparently alone In her doubt of ot I Dickens Dickens' sincerity Others accepted A Christmas Carol as he Intended they should and ond Its sales mounted But Dickens needed money and In that re respect the Carol disappointed him Much 1 had been spent on binding and printing on color lolor plates and woodcuts and five shillings 8 was vas as i M It notably low price His Ills profits all told fell rIll short of ot 1500 What a wonderful thing It ItIs itis Is IB he wrote Forster that such a success should occasion one such Intolerable anxiety and onel disappointment disappointment dis appointment 1 I In his chagrin Dickens made mOIe now his first and last Int attempt to protect himself against the common common com eom mon piracies of or his books No Xo sooner had hind the Carol appeared than a childrens children's weekly called Parleys Parley's Illuminated Library carried almost t the entire book reprinted with a short Introduction In January Jannary 1844 Dickens applied for an nn Injunction injunction InJunction tion to restrain Its sales The pi pirates he was able ohle to write soon after are lire beaten fiat flat They are bruised bloody batt battered t IId smashed squelched hod and utterly undone Rill nut his hIli triumph was lived Ih The pirates were wre let III off with a mere rebuke re re- hake buke they Immediately pleaded bankruptcy 10 st that Dickens had to 10 pay court costs casts s 's and they thereafter calmly resumed their practices DI Dick DIk Dickens Dickens k ens did not Interfere again It Is better he ht I wrote to suffer a great grIll I wrong than to 10 have hale i recourse to the greater wron wrong of ot the Ihl law hut But A Christmas Carol was yet jet It to 10 make money for Its author It II served as liS for his hIli public readings of which h h he hI gave n e dur during ing the last 15 years of his bis life kens first experienced what whal Straus Stratus calls culls the Ilip rather tan Reruns delight of appearing alone on a 8 public nubile platform at Christmas 1813 when he rend read the Carol urill at Rt two benefit performances When hII hen InI In lit I ISIS s h he commented commenced his public readings he hI add added ed Ill to his hi program ro selections from The Cricket Ph k Dombey and Son un Martin wit and later and David lII h Copper field His ills success was unprecedented d. d II Here ere at nt hi last II he seemed to have found himself Here I he was wn the author living for tilt his public the Ihl lives he hal had created he was the actor alone on the till 11 stage I n I acting parts fit of f his own creation try livery town 10 In England clamored for far him He lie made triumphant tours of or Ireland and Scotland He Ile traveled once more morl to III America giving his lI rend lead tags Ins before perfectly astounding audiences and often making over r 1000 1100 a week I It Is 18 probable that the Ihl III strain raIn of ot ron constant traveling tray trav cling eling of lit emotional delivery tOI together her with recurrences re re- current es of lit Ids hie old malady caused ll his hi death derith There Is no lin doubt that thal he tie was a very sick man mun throughout hi his lIlI tour that flint that thaI the five 11 months mouths cost t I him hint his health even while I It earned him nearly pounds There was some Improvement Im Im- provement on Ids his to 10 England but hul when willI the Ihl fatal filIal readings 4 recommenced Dickens became seriously l with sis and was wan n forced to 10 accept a II doctors doctor's verdict of t complete te rest restOn I On Ott March h 1 11 1 5 I lilt ISTO 0 he hf gave 1 his Na lust last rending reading at lit old St tt t. t lanes James hail London The 1111 occasion wa lU way i I Ids his t triumph He Ilc rend the till and the 1111 he Iii trial ii I tram from Pickwick k amid n iten I chests cheers He- He died iiI a II |