The New York Herald Newspaper, March 9, 1874, Page 4

4 Island, to the great benefit of the real estate in- | terests there. THE SAME CONDITIO! ALTHOUGH NOT, PERHAPS, IN THE SAME DEGKEE EXIST TO-DAY, and can only be changed by rapid transit, With our newly-annexed territory rapid transit is to us to-day what the great continental railroad was to | the nation—a necessity. Already, in anticipation | of a further failure in the Legis!ature this year, or | RAPID TRANSIT. Thoughts for the People on the Great | Need of New York. . <—_namel some other abortive scheme of which | we have already had so many, we hear | i rIN . | of preparations for extensive offerings of | SOME STRIKING STATISTICS. | Jersey and Long Island property in the hope of making a fresh diversion of capital in | : | stimulating improvements in, and the growth of How Quick Transit Will Affect the | these seccions. We are not sosilly as to regard that + with the eXisting jealousy experienced by some Value of Real Estate. | of our real estate owners here, for the growth of | these sections 13, after all, metropolitan growth; —— oe ee | but we need our capital nearer home just now, RENTS THIS YEAR. (ana, in viow othe improvements required m the | pede newly annexed district, snould aim to keep it here | for the settlement of that district, | be done by rapid transit, Views of a Westchester County Resident on | - AN IMPORTANT REAL ESTATE OPERATION, A ters Affectins | and one likely to have au important bearing upon This and Other Matiers s values not only in the immediate neighborhood but Values in the New Wards, upon the entire realty of the city, is a recent This can only | $525,000 purchase on the part of Commodore Van- derbilt, on the west side of the city, between Six- tieth and Sixty-rourth streets and Eleventh avenne and the Hudsoa River, Lt has also an important reference to the solution of the rapid transit ques- tion—first In regard to the Commodore's interest in that matter, and, secondly, as to trade results likely to flow therefrom. The record of the pur- chase, as contained in the official transfers, is as 1ollows:— _ All the lands commencing ata line 20) feet west of Eleventh avenue, extending irom sixtieth to Sixty-first stroet running thence west to new bulkhead line of Hud- The one great problem having the largest rela- tion to the future prosperity of New York elty, as the great commercial city of the New World and the future rival of the chief commercial city of the Old World, ia how to obtain rapid transit, We have reached that stage in our growth, owing to the configuration of the island upon which the city is built, that without rapid transit we Must tne . | son River, stand still; while, as if to offset = bagi rojteventh avenue, south west corner Sixty-second street, cumstan' and stimulate - vest on Sixty-third street to east side of lands of Tgp ereemesance sn dgaration prowiagesa.| eee and Hudson iver ftaliroag Company, deavor, this very configuratlo Pp sence soumieey along said lands until the same inter- larger enjoyment of the benefit of rapid Pree tides jevenih avenue, thence north on traasit, at a less outlay, than any other city ogi and of the New you Central and | Sh ccpigapats ‘ ison Kiver Railroad Company, west side, thence ex- having the same population, ‘Thus, instead | tonging trom Sixty-Arst 10 Sixtysecond Steet, extend. of being obliged to construct a network of rall, ing west t0 Hudson River ferret alae rights). a | m one cen ? | _ Eleventh avenue, west side, extending irom Sixty-sec- | roads radiating trom one centre to all points of the | ond to sixty-third street, extending west to lands of New compass and then requiring an extended connec, | tion at their outer termini almost equal to all the rest of the work, we only need TWO PARALLEL, OB NEARLY PARALLEL, LINES through the length of the city from the Battery to Yonkers on the east and west sides, respectively, and we have not only rapid communication en- tirely around the city, but to and with all its York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company. Commencing at land of New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, west side, 26.11 feet north of Sixty-second street, runs north alony said lands two south side of Sixty-third street, extending thence west on | Sixty-third street to Hudson River, extending thence | south along river to a point street, extending thence e i to place of beginning (with Water rights), John Paine and William T. Blodgett to Wiliam Lalor; October 30, 1873, $487,5) Same property. William Lalor to William H. Vander- bilt; February 20, $487,500. 5 feet north of Sixty-second Eleventh avenue, West side, extending from Sixty- | THE STORY CONNECTED WITH THIS OPERATION ‘o-day Will be found to illustrate this idea, | to-day will be sonn - that this property was originally purciased publis prominent points of business or interest. | third tosixty-toursh street, extending west to, Hudaon | . ‘ he kiver, With water rights (eXcepUng irom strip of land of In this respect the configuration of our | Niw'yOrk Central and ‘iudeon River. Hattroud Gone city is of advantage to us im utilizing Dany). Joba Paine to William Lalor, October 2), 1573, | ail the benefits of rapid transit at the paine property. William Lalor to William H. Vander- | the smallest initial outlay, The map which we | bilt, February 20, $127,500. | | both in its topographical outline of the clty proper | from Blodgett and others by Dutcher, Alton vnd in the data there presented. We propose, | & Moore for use as a& cattle yard, in Lowever, to supplement this with some further the expectation that the ground on the deductions arawn from statistics, In 1868, when the int ace of Central Park was first beginning upon real estate Vaiues at the upper end of the island, the following calculation was made as to the iuture GROWTH OF THE CITY, based upon the experience of the past, crease of population had been as follows:— Populition. Bate of Increase. 166,089 9 ‘The in- 83 per cent 22 per cent per cent 16 per cent 31 per cent 29 per cent 2 per cent 23 per cent In 1865 there were below Eighty-sixth street 25,261 vacent lots of the usval size, 25x100, and east side of the city, then and now occupied ior such purposes, would be taker up by the In- dustrial Exhibition Company. Upon the failure of the latter to obtain the aid of the city in forward- ing their project the plan ofa removal of the cattle yard to this point was also abandoned, and the Commodore took the contract of purchase oif butcher, Alton & Moore’s hands and acquired title himself, It will be observed that “water rights’? obtains # special mention in the record of the transfer. It is stated that the object of the Commodore in making this purchase is with a view to meet the pressing need of New York, as expressed through the sub-committee of the Committee on Cheap Transportation appointed at the Cooper Institute meeting last fall, !or increased terminal facilities. Itis to be the complement of his double track. He intends the erection of grain elevators, and, there being deep water in front, faily provide here tor the direct transier of grain from the cars to the ship, thus cheapening very inatertally the cost of transshipment and taking & large step forward to preserve New York in its com- merce against the rivalry of Boston, Montreal and ovner cities, He is further stated to be in negotia- tion for another very important property in tne same neighborhood, of which, if consummated, the official record of transfers wili in due time give notice. ihe inference of this ts, first, that we may almost distmiss expectation of aid from the Commodore in obtaming rapid transit, as here is a suiliciently extensive financial scheme to fully occupy even 87,244 between Eighty-sixth aud 155th streets. If we take twenty-five as the average number of per- sons occupying each house in the residence portion of the city, there will be room for an additional population of 631,500 below Eighty-sixth street, Bane ear octane: SEAT oTemOne fies and of 931,100 in area between Highty-sixta promised of our terminal facilities will not onty give additionai financial strength and encourage- ment to any scheme of rapid transit agreed upon but render that agreement the more necessary by + and 165th streets. At this rate the population in 1880 will fill up the island far beyond Eighty-sixth street. Let us see how this provision has been gtili surther increasing needs, | 5 loowing table will help us in THE QUESTION OF RENTS | eo he x also enters largely into any discussion of the matter ol rapid transit. Nor can our people hope | for much if any relief in that direction this year, except at the sacrifice of accommodation and com- | jort. As it 1s in all other departments of business so is it here. The fatal weakness, or incom- oi the Secretary of the Treasury—who, CHANGE OF POPULATION DURING THE INTERVAL BE- TWEEN 1850 aND 1870. 7 1g he would ne’er consent, con- | sented; who opposed the issue of any portion Of the $44,000,000 reserve at the | consultation that was held at the Filth Totals Moz | Avenue Hotel of a Sunday in the first week Seventh... 4.319 Of the panic when the President came from Long Kighth 4,413 Branch to New York to see the bankers and the Tenth Secretary came from Washington to meet him; at Eleventh a time When a comparatively small amount would Thirteenth... have tided over the crisis, the same Secretary be- Peete ing afterwarus compelied to issue $26,000,000—op- — a ——= < erates here as elsewhere to unsettle values. Totals. oe 4 331,904 873,747 | LANDLORDS MAY BE SAID, THEREFORE, TO BE HOLD- ING OFF in the uncertainty of what the result of the finan- cial debate ia Congress may be. This interrupts dealings in real estate, of course, as weil. The rent market is thas subjected to two influences, One the infation of the currency, which is thus far un Jait accompli, urging owners to ask higher rents. ‘fhe other, the inabiity of the people to pay higher rents, at all events, next year, owing to the recent | panic and the stagnation that has followed from | the action of the Secretary and the inaction of | Congress, With the possibility of contraction sug- | gesting that lower rents might pay, inducing hesitation where the offers do not come up to their | The northern movement of our people is here ap- parent, the growth of the uptown wards up to the Eighteenth ward being nearly 100,000 in the de- cade between 1550 and 1870, but less than 40,000 between 1560 and 1870, while in the same period the lower wards, numbering irom the First to the Sixth, the population fell of im the decade be- tween 1850 and 1860 12,000, and between 1860 and 1870 14,000, The discrepancy between the growth of the Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eieventh, Thir- teenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth wards be- + n “ demands. The result, if no change be made in the tween 1860 and 1870 and between 1850 and 1360 18 financial situation, simple arithmetical calcu- explained in the large population of the Nineteenth lation, viz., the increase in the rental of small house? or houses suited to two families, with a plication of the latver offering, and a further in rents of hign priced houses let only to Single families. Houses suitable for boarders will be subject, a8 always, to local influences. A communication which we print beiow contains some furtner thought upon questions relating to | Tapid transit. Coming irom one whose own in- tere ved im the subject he discusses it has the value oO! being reflective. and Twenty-second, without referring to those omitted jurther down, which was in 1570:— Nincteenth.. Twenty-second.. 6,090 TAT Or & total Of...ccereereerrereeree * for the two further uptown wards. population of the city of New Y the ceusus of 1870, was 942,292. total , according to The number of fainilies, 175,500; the number of dweiling houses, The HOW TO ™ NEMATION PROFITADLE. 64,029, and of tenement houses, 20,000; that is, houses containing three or more families, with a —8 total population of 500,000. Just siop and con- | To tur EpiTor or THE HERALD:— sider it, | Itishoped that a proper mode ef taxatton will MORE THAN ONE-HALF THE POPULATION OF TNE CITY | be made here under the new order of things, with OF NEW YORK LIVING IN TENEMENT HOUSES. | @ view to encourage migration to these parts, and this without taking into account the houses | There are a number of extensive Jandowners that are occupied by two famili Can there be within the limits of these new wards, who will no bt of the necessity of rapid transit upon | doubt object to any increase of their land tax, ivit? or can there be any question of its | under the plea that they are farm lands, Now, paying if it be only properly managed? The sta- | this might be very well for land unavatlable for tistics c ined on the map still turtner illustrate | building purposes; but if the rule is to apply to all this in relerence to the crowded condition of the | lunds here not cut up into building plots it will lower part of the city, as exhibited by the ratio of | tend seriously to prevent the large increase of | inhabitants to the square feet of territory, while | population we havea right to expect. There are we have & mugnificent territory north of | thousands of tine building lots within ten minutes’ us, recently avnexed, only requiring rapid | walk of Hariem Sridge to be had at moderate transit to throw it open to our teeming ! cost. Then just take a drive up the Southern | industrial classes. According to the same esti- | Boulevard, along the line of the new Portchester mate from whieh we have already quoted, the | Rauroad There you wili find, within easy driving number of births in the year is placed at 35,000, | distance from the City Hall, and of deaths 26,976. The mortality is largely | SOME OF THE FINEST VILLA SITES among iniants, growing out of the unwholesome | that lay out of doors, rolling lands, overlooking condition of tenement house life—a circumstance | the Sound, affording most beautiful views not to that ought to stimulate our legislators, if they give | be surpassed anywhere, The gentlemen who own heed at all to the good of their country, } these Jarge tracts have them well enclosed, and to give us rapid transit in some form or | will not like to be disturbed in the quiet enjoyment other, that the germ of future greatness | of their choice estates. They are perfectly willing m American manhood and womanhood, | that men of moderate means shall locate in the vicinity, on less desirable jands, and so increase in value that of their more wealthy neighbors. For may not be smothered or strangled in its incipient years for the need of pure air. These are figures that speak for themselves, and we have only to | example, a man of sinall means will purchase one add that an average of 17,000 immigrants land here | or two lots of the cheaper sort and pay tax so per month, or 200,000 per year, to show the press much per lot, while the rich man over the way will ing importance of something being done in the | pay tax by the acre; at the same time every lot in Way of rapid transit to give us more breathing the acre will command as much, if not more. To room. The past growth of the city is Ulustrated by | test the question you have only to make an oifer to the railroud system, which grew out of and | the rich man for his land at the same rate, He helped it. will shrug his shoulders and say it 18 worth more THE FAST SIDE MAD THE START, per lot Jor the reason that it is better land (which because Of the easier grades there offered and the | is true im most cases). Then why should he not pay less obstacies to be met with in the character of | tax atthe same rate? I expect soon to find a the land for laying out streets and avenues. But | large portion of these grounds now idle let out to as that growth extended it took color from the in- | small German gardeners, Who will cultivate them creasing cifficulties of communication, and as- | to make it appear plausible in the eye of author- sumed largely the character of a business growth, | ity, the same ag has been done in otuer wards of where the dweller would find nis occupation | the city to evade the tax. to his hand. Im the meantime the west side, | THIS EXCUSE OF FARM LANDS lacking the same advantages of easy | {4 all humbug; they will stick and hold on as long transit, however slow, passed into the hands of as possible, while their poorer neighbors (though = who cor ‘ord to Wait some time for are- | Jess able) struggle to pay @ larger proportion of urn apo vir investments, and that larger | the taxes, Our jordly landowner swells with pride | class, Who did not gravitate naturally to the east | to think how every year adds to the value of his | Side, &S their Hatures did not harmonize with the | property, continually improved by the untiring character Of the local development more strongly | efforts of tne middle ciasé to maintain tnetr fami- smpressed each day, and to whom the west side | lies in homes of their own, for which this locality Was accessible, migrated to Jersey and Long | 1s so well suited. Now all this should be changed | and day, with a large fo | works, and that its erecuon would commence 4 suonld be directed. without delay, and proper means should be at once set in operavion for laying out in blocks and ave- nues this beautiful district, if our old and re spected Kip Van Winkles here object a little geutle force, used with discretion by the Park Commissioners, Will set matters right. Twenty or thirty large estate owners (who produce little or nothing in the way of improvements) should not be allowed to obstruct city progress, They must give way to thousands of the industrious classes, who will flock here so soon as the opportunity 1s afforded them, all going to swell the tax receipts, | and so make annexation profitable by keeping this class of wealth at home, We shoald then have Speculators building here (though sometimes questionable), who have added largely to the city proper. It is for the Building Department to judge the kind of buildings required, FRAME HOUSES AT A MODERATE COST should not be objected to when flied in with brick, as they are almost a: safe from fire as if all brick, and can be made much more ornamental at moder- | ate cost, to meet the requirements of those who need them, The Department of Buildings (though highly proper) should use much discretion in deal- ing with applications for building here, as if too | exacting they will defeat the object sought by all- nexation, Neat frame cottages, when occupied by | their owners, are much legs lable to take fire than your large city mansions, containing hot air {ur- | naces—a continual source of danger. There are thousands of respectable mechanics, clerks and others inthe city, who nave $1,500 to $2,000 in bank, Those with families ona low average pay $300 per year rental, for four or five rooms in a& | house with other families, often on a dirty, crowded street. Wit the money im bank they might buy a lot out this way for cash, and by bor- rowing $2,000 or 2,500, could build them @ handsome cottage, where they might live comiortably at less expense. The interest on the loan, with taxes added, would not exceed the rent paid for small apart- ments in the city, while here they would save in doctor’s bilis, in Medicine and in foregoing many useless luxuries @ miserable city life induces tuem to indulge in. Here, with green flelds, pure air, aye and the snows of winter, all would tend to in- spire them with new life, Tied it with $50, and here 1am. To own a jot of land is the great unpetus to independence and good citizenship. In laying out this new district care snould be taken that all work isdone by contract not by day’s work, under the direction of honest men, if such can be {ound (a hard thing to do here), or We shall be swamped by tne hungry hoard who are now laying pians for all sorts of fat jobs under the plea that the property owners wants them; at the same said property owners are totally ignorant of their little game until caught in the mesies. Any man who advocates doing public work by the day (only where absolutely ne- cessary) I set down as @ knave or a fool. 1 could say much on this subject, but it is unnecessary. If any intelligent person wishes to know let him visit the public works up town and be satisfied as I am. that for every $1,000 expended on day’s work $600 would bea good rice by con- tract, There is still a large amount o! doing in eerey: Geuet’s district, and the end is not yet. One o! the gees impediments in the way of building here is the present tax on mortgages. Any amouat ol money in large or small sums could be Obtained were it not for this unjust law. WHEN YOU APPLY TO A BANK LAWYER OB A BROKER FOR A LOAN they will demand ten per cent bonus, call expenses. These peopie have matters so fixed with certain oMicials in most all moneyed in- stitutions and divide the spoils with them. Want to borrow $3,000 you make @ mortgage to some dummy who 18 supposed to sell the same, leas $300 its face. In this way they evade the iaw of usury. Nor does the trouble stop here. The ava- rice of our money brokers is such that in most cases they will only take @ mortgage for a year or ten, and then you must come down with another | bonus or pay up the mortgage. Thus, while the law only entitles them to seven per cent, in nine Out Of ten cases they extort ten to fifteen. I know gome good churcamen who do this. They will tell you money, like any other commodity, is gov- erned by supply amd demand, and tor this reason they hoard as much as possible to increase the de- mand. Ido not suppose to repeal the tax would change the spirit of these Shylocks; but I am sat- isfied that were it done 30 MUCH MORE MONEY WOULD SEEK INVESTMENT in improved real estate because their occupation would be gone toa great extent, A friend of mine Was offered $40,000 to loan on batldings here if We would guarantee six per cent clear of the tax. could not be done honestly, ao the maney went else where. In most cases the State has been swindicd out of the tax by offsetting the same with assumed indebtedness (for the time beimg) and other well known devices. Repeal the tax on mortgages and an immense amount oO! money now lying idle in | banks which pays no tax would seek building loans, All business connected therewith wouid improve, work would be given many idle hands and the State would reap a larger income irom these improvements than it does now on mortgages. I perceive that the Commissioners are about to make a ngid eXaction of the tax on incomes from mortgages here. I repeat, there are many who evade the tax on the piea of its unjustness. Three- fourths of the property holders here have mort- gages on their premises. They are in most cases comparatively poor but industrious people, and many of them, to my knowiedge, being out of busi- hess, find it dificult to meet ordinary expenses, Should a general demand be made upon them to pay their mortgages (which this tax extortion will ead to) at the pene time, in very many cases the property would go into the hands of the Sherim, A MORE UNJUST AND OPPRESSIVE TAX could not be imposed upon a deserving class, as, though not a direct one, the result is all the same. it makes the poor poorer and the rich richer in every sense of the word. It is un-American, and I hope, My. Editor, you will lend your valuable aia to bring about its repeal during the session oi the present Legislature. If the rural districts want such a law let them have it, but exempt the city of New York. Now, as to the mode of getting here, not much can be said that has not been repeated over and over again. We have six splendid steam- boats, periect models in their way jor speed and comfort. Tuose, together with three lines of rail- Ways, prove, a8 you are aware, quite inadequate for present’travel, $0 we cannot expect people to come here until we have better means alfordea jor their transportation. So much has been said about quick transit that 1 don’t wonder twat people are disgusted when they hear of new charter being granted for a road to run underground, over tops of houses, through blocks, or some other impossible route, All the charters for quick transit seem to be obtained for the express purpose of tumougging the people. The fact is, the powers that be do not want quick transit, So taey get up | ALL SORTS OF SCHEMES IN ORDER TO SATISFY PUL- LIC CLAMOR, well knowing it toe impossible to execute them. Ayear ago 1 was at a meeting of the Twelfth Ward Citizens and Taxpayers’ Association. When the subject Of rapid transit was discussed a committee Was appointed to wait upon the projectors of the Gilbert Klevated Railway. They were assured that two or three immense works were running night e of men preparing the forthwith, Our committee were delighted (inno- cent souls), and [ lave no doubt that if the same committee would cali upon them today they would have the sume report to make, There are so many simple and effectual means ot quick transit available, on which im- mense revenues could be realized, it only remains for the city or State to adopt the most practical plan and grant the rignt under certain proper restrictions (not made impossible to com- ply with) to induce hundreds of capitalists to invest therein, Why, $2,000,000 would build it— not underground, not over hiousetops, not through Broadway nor around tue isiand (ail impossible plans tor immediate use), but through the present great outle(—hird avenue. What plan is more simple than an elevated road from Chatham square vo Harlem bridge over the present tracks? There is no necessity of going further down town—no turnouts, nO cuts to make. {t would be almost & straight line to Hariem. The only place of much crowding is the two or three blocks below Canal street, and that is mostly sidewalk travel, noth- ing to be compared with Greenwich street, where the oue-leg road is meeting with so much Lavor, A SIMPLE PLAN would be a road over the present tracks say twenty Jeet wide, not irom curb to curb, a8 some of the impossible plans are made, Set up neat columns of iron, with heavy girders running along the same, Across these lay heavy iron besms close enough to carry solid brick arches, in this way making 4 firm roadbed jor two tracks, with a suit- able jeuce on either side to act asascreen for horses. The advantages of this simple pian are its cheapness and ie rapidity of tus execution, One year should see s( done, It would stop the present crowding o! the cars by taking all the through pas- and, by Stopping once a mile, many others, drice from Chatham square to Harlem Bridg in twenty minutes. A twenty-loov road could be made solid and substantial in every way, and, by reason of its being narrow, there would be jess contraction and expansion of the tron work. ‘This rouve would be far more desirable for present use than any other can be tor years to come, There would be objections, of course. These we should have in any case, The strongest objections would come [roi those Who could not make money out of it or have an interest in other roads, SOME LITTLE INCO: IENCE MUST BE PUT UP WITH in any case to m This route would cause icss disturbance than any other proposed, It need not necessarily be un- sightly, but could be made very ornamental, and When erected would not present half the objec- tious which no doubt will be Whe tue city 18 expending millions mentation, tn this way increas.ng the value of real estate far beyond the Ineans oj Ordinary business | men to sustain, it gives ao attention to the serious Joss ineurréd by the constant exodus of @ class 80 | necessary to its existence. Ihe vast expense of tne city government should be borne ky 2,000,000 ‘nm pis’e of 1,000,000, and to this end, with the new teraroy annexed, the efforts of our jaw makers Asareader of your paper! 8°75 look to it for intelligence and candor on mMAti ors Ol public welfare. Siould my crude tdeas be deemed worthy of a place in your columns it will afford much pleasure to THOMAS OVERINGTON, A citizen of the Twenty-third ward, Twenty-five years ago | | oWn personal experiences, but, of course un- NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1874.—TRIPLE SHEET. CHARLES DICKENS. Edmund Yates on Forster’s Life of the Great Novelist. SOME UNPUBLISHED LETTERS. as Lonpon, Feb. 19, 1874, It may be briefly stated at the outset that this is @ most melancholy book, and that one rises from | its perusal with a feeling of profound pity for the | subject of the biographer. It is the old story of the | great comic actor, Rich, who, suffering under an | access of melancholia, was advised by the physician | whom he consulted, and to whom he was unknown, | to go to the theatre and “see that funny dog, | Rich,” as the best cure for low spirits, From the | pages of Mr. Forster’s Jast volume we find tnat while Dickens im his concluding series of readings | was evoking the laughter of thousands and was | reaping enormous rewards, he was suffering sharp vodily torture, which ended in his premature | death. Throughout other portions of the book also there isa morbid and harrowing strain, to which we shail allude in Its proper place, premising | that, while Mr, Forster's book will form the ground- | work of this notice, tbe present writer, with whom Dickens for the last filteen years of his life main- tained a close and unbroken intimacy, will bring his own reminiscences, extracts from letters, &c., to aid as iljustrations to that portion of the story. This third volume, then, opens in the year 1850, when Dickens, living in Devonshire terrace, was at work on “David Copperfield,’ perhaps, on the whole, the best and most thoroughly popular of all bis works. In it, too, he, almost for the first time, began not merely to draw largely upon his Special Personal Notice of the Career of “Boz.” der fictitious names, sketched the portraits of certain llving personages of his ac- quaintance. Mrs. Seymour Hill, “a grotesque little oddity,” a female dwarf, who gained her living by corn cutting, protested strongly against being brought before the public as Miss | day’s work | | The former is & mere trascible fellow, to whom | if you | | | Bo objection could be taken, but Skimpole | This they | | Mowcher, and in consequence Dickens had to | make some alterations in his work. The author's | | father, too, unquestionably stood for Mr. Micaw- | ber, Mr. Forster going somewhat out of his way to explain that in this instance no filial disrespect | was intended, Grosser instances were the pre- | sentment of Walter Savage Landor as Boythorn | and Leigh Hunt as Skimpolein “Bleak House.’’ was so much like Leigh Hunt, alike in | his fascinating foibles as in his monetary obligations, that some of Hunt’s friends naturally took objection to it, and though Dickens made the | best apology in his power to Hunt, and after Hunt’s death published a more elaborate defence, there is no doubt that Leigh Hunt will be regarded as the prototype of Harold Skimpole 8o long as the book lasts. At the end of 1851 he took up his resi- dence at Tavistock House, and there commenced nis new novel, “Bleak House,’ which was finished in Boulogne, in August, 1853, With the last-men- tioned place he was delighted, returning toit in two subsequent summers, and writing an admir- able description of it 1n Household Words, under the title of “Our French Watering Place.” From } | ceeding, all ne could wring from his friend was an | Smith had given a copy of it with like intention to the great public necessity. | | Boulogne, at the end of the summer of 1853, he started on an Italian tour, accompanied by Wilkie | Collins and Augustus Egg, the painter; but by | Christmas he was back in London and hard at work on his new story, “Hard Times.” As this tale was to be published in Household Words, he | felt, for the first time, what he described as “the difficulties of space.” | More than once mentioned to the present writer, | bound himself down to write a short story which should be comprised in a certain number of weeks; but he revolted against the restriction, and never repeated the experiment. His social life about this time was pleasant enough. His first public reading, for a charity, took place at Birmingham | with great success, and in the winter of 1854 commenced the private amateur theatricals at Tavistock House, in which the principal character | in Mr. Collins’ two dramas of “The Lignthouse” and | “The Frozen Deep” were acted with wonderful | success by Dickens. In October, 1855, he went to | Paris and there commenced his novel “Little Dorrit.” | Dickens’ life in Paris was a very pleasant one. | He resided near the Avenue des Champs Elys¢es, | amused himself at the theatre, made the acquaint+ | ance of Scheffer, Regnier, Scribe, Emilie de | Girardin, George Sand and other celebrities, and | saw many of his old English iriends, who | came over to the French Exhibition of 1853. | He sat to Ary Scheffer for the portrait which ig hnow in the National Portrait Gallery, and returned from Paris at the end of April, being engaged at | this time on “Little Dorrit,’ which was pubiished | the following spring, and on certain work for House- | | hold Words, notably “Ihe Lazy Tour of Two Idle | Apprentices,” the record of a jaunt which he had made with Mr. Wilkie Collins. About this time Douglas Jerrold’s death occurred, and was an especial grief to Dickens, They had been firm friends for many years, during which they had only had one difference, at the reconciliation of which the | present writer was present. Dickens, who was a member of the Garrick Club, was entertaining some friends In the strangers’ room, while Jerrold, | aga stranger, was dining with another member. | Asit happened the tables were contiguous, and | after a little while Jerrold suddenly wheeled round his chair to the other table and cried, “I can’t | Usten tu your voice as a stranger any longer. | For God’s sake shake hands!” Dickens in- stantly complied, and the old intimacy was as firm as ever. Jerrold He had, as he has | | ences were occasioued by circumstances deeply af- leit his family in | want, which, coming to Dickens’ knowledge, he | thus writes to Mr. Forster:—‘1 propose that there | | should be a night at the theatre, when the actors | shall play the ‘Rent Day’ and ‘Black-Eyed Susan;? another night elsewhere, with a lecture from ‘Thackeray; a day reading by me, a night reading by me; @ lecture by Russell, and @ subscription performance of ‘The Frozen Deep,’ as at Tavistock House. My confident hope is that we shall get close upon £2,000.” On the day of Jerrold’s funeral Dickens, Arthur Smith (of whom further mention will be made) and the present writer dined to- | gether, when Dickens drew up a short programme ofthe intended performances, which, at_ his re- | quest, the present writer placed in the hanas of each of the editors of the London daily newspapers | that evening. The resuit fully justified the antict- pation, the sum of £2,000 being invested ultimately for the benefit of Jerrold's unmarried daughter, | who still receives the interest from Mr. Forster, the sole surviving trustee. | The next chapter, called “iVhat Happened at | This Time,” contains, or is supposed to contain, a | description of that portion of Dickens’ life the most difficult to be dealt with by his biographer, the most eagerly looked for by the public. In the | opening sentence of the chapter Mr. Forster tells us that an unsettled feeling, greatly In excess of | what was usual with him, and which had been | growing upon Dickens since his first visit to Boulogne, had now become habitual, and that he | had failed to find in his home the satisfactions which home should have supptied. He had not the consolations o/ society ; ‘it did not suit him, and he Set no store by it.” “No man was better Mtted to | adorn any circle he entered, but beyond that of friends and equals he would rarely pa: He would | take as much pains to keep out of the houses of | the great as others take to get into them.” Every | word of this is exact truth, as isthe further re- | mark, “To say he was nota gentleman would be | ag true as to say he was nota writer; but if usy | One should assert his occasional preference for | what was even beneath his level over that which was above it, this would be diMcult of disproof.” He girded at the social mequalities which beset English life, which Mr. Forster calls “a defect of temperament” accountable for in equal measure by his early trials and his early suc- cesses. Inthe earlier days he had been able to } And @ panacea for this restlessness and desire for change in hiswork. ‘Up to the date of the comple- tion of “Copperfield” he had felt limself to be in Possession of an all sufficient resource. He had his own creations always by his side. They were living, speaking companions. With them only he was everywhere thoroughly identified. He laughed and wept with them, was as much elated by their fun as cast down by their grief, and brought to the consideration of them a belief in their reality ‘48 well as in the influences they were meant to eX- ercise, which in every circumstance sustained him.” But during the composition of “Little Dor- rit” his creative genius, if it did not actually give way, was at least fora time overciouded; he re- sorted, for the first time, to the practice of putting down written memoranda of suggestions of character and incidents, and his restlessness became more pronounced than ever. “His old pursuits were too often laid astae for other excite- ments and occupations; ne joined a public politi- cal agitation, set on foot by administrative re- formers; he got up various quasi public private theatricals, in which he took the leading place.” When Mr. Forster remonstrated with him he re- plied, ‘Too late to say, Put the curb on and don't rush at hills; the wrong man to say itto. I have now no belief but in action, Jam becoming inca- pable of rest. Iam quite confident I should rust, break and die ifI spared myself, Much better to die doing." While he complains that his friend 1s not so tol- erantas he might be of “the wayward and un- settled feeling which is part of the tenure on which one holds an imaginative life,” he docs not seek to screen himself from the blame which will follow the act. “f claim no tmmunity from blame. There is plenty of fault on my side, I dare say, in the way of a thousand uncertainties, caprices and difficul- tles of disposition; but only one thing will alter all that, and that is the end, which alters every- thing.’ He was dead set upon carrying this sep- aration into effect, refused to listen to anything like remonstrance or to take any middle course, and carried it into effect then and there. Hence- forward he and his wife lived apart; ‘the eldest son went with his mother, Dickens at once giving effect to her expressed wish in this respect, and the other children remained with himse}f, their in- tercourse with Mrs, Dickens being left entirely to themselves.’ And then followed the self-inflicted coup which dislodged Dickens from his pedestal and overshadowed the rest of his life. So far the separation had been a purely private matter, and, though the general public had, of course, some inkling of it, it would have caused @ three days’ talk and then been forgotten, nad not Dickens, in the over-excited and Irrational trame of mind in which he then was, chosen to take the public into his confidence and lay bare the secrets of his domestic life. He prepared a statement of his case for publication in Household Words, and although Mr, Forster strenuously opposed this pro- offer to Suppress it, “if, upon reierence to the opinion of a certain distinguished man still living, that opinion should prove to be in agreement witn mine.” The present writer has Dickens’ own authority for saying that that distinguished man was Mr. J. T. Delane, then and now editor of the London Ttmes, His opinion coincided with Dickens’, and the statement appeared in House- hola Words, whence it was widely copied through- out the country. It was speedily followed by another statement, which Dickens always called “the violated letter,’? a paper subscribed by his name which got into print without his sanction, It had been addressed and given to Mr. Arthur Smith as an authority for cor- rection of false rumors and scandals, and Mr. the London correspondent of the New York Tribune, by whom it was sent to his journal and there published. What this second statement was Mr. Forster does not say, but it 1s probable that it had some reference to a document, a copy of Which was sent at the time by Dickens to the present writer, with the following letter:— TAVISTOCK House, TAVISTOCK SQUARE, Lonpox, W. ©., Mouday Evening, May 1, 1858, My Dear . —You will rexdily believe that I shall never make an ungenerous use of the paper of which I send you a copy on the other side, though 1 believe nothing will ever reconcile me to the two who have signed it. butas 1 know Mrs, F——’s ears to have been abused I think it simply just that she should see it. If you think so too (but not other- wise) show it to her with my kind regard. Ever Jaitatuily, Ou CHARLES DICKENS. The ‘copy on the other side” ran thus:— It having been stated to us that in reference to the differences which have resulted 1n the separa- tion of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dickens, certain statements have been circulated, that such differ- lecting the moral character o! Mr. Dickens and com- promising the reputation of athers, we solemnly declare that we now disbelieve such statements. We know that they aro not believed by Mrs. Dickens and we pieage ourselves on all occasions te contradict them as entirely desutate of founda- tion. This paper is signed by two female members of Mrs. Dickens’ tamily. There is no doubt that so soon as the statement was printed in Household Words an extraordinary Tevulsion of popular feeling took place against Dickens. He who had been looked upon as the in- carnation of every domestic virtue now stood before the world as breaking up his home and casting off his wife, avowedly for no fault of her own, but for the mere capricious gratification of his own morbid fancy, Violent articles were written about him in the newspapers, and the fol- lowing epigram, not given by Mr. Forster, was Jargely circulated :— With tongue and pen no more may Dickens fudge, In vain for truth and charity he pleads; The worid aroused, the author now we'll judge, aor LA his Household Words, but household leeds! His acquaintance was split into two sets, one of which sided with Mrs, Dickens, and among the friendships which Dickens lost at that time were those with Miss Burdett Coutts, his partners in Household Words and publishers, Messrs. Bradpury & Evans, and his old and intimate ally, Mr. Mark Lemon, He bore up bravely against these troubles, but that the pain of them entered into his soul the following cxtiact from a letter of his to the pres- ent writer, dated June 28, 1858, will show :— If you could know how much I have felt within this last month, and what a sense of wrong has been upon me, and what a strain and struggle [ have lived under, you would see that my heart is 80 jagged and rent and outofshape that it does aaa day leave me hand enough to suape these words, Under these circumstances it was lucky that he found a new excitement in commencing his public readings. These originated in his giving a gratu- itous reading for the benefit of the Sick Childrens’ Hospital, and when the London public had once Seen and heard him they raved vo see bim again, he being in no way coy. The first series began with sixteen nights at St. Martin’s Hall and a pro- vincial tour of eighty-seven readings, beginning at Clifton and cnuding at Brighton, and taking in Ireland and Scotland, as well as the principal English cities. The subjects of his readings were the “Carol,” the “Chimes,” the trial in “Pick- wick,” “Paul Dombey,” “Boots at the Holly Tree Inn,” the “Poor Traveller” and “Mrs. Gamp.’? Everywhere he records himself to have been re- ceived With the “greatest personal affection and | respect,” and the pecuniary results were most satisfactory. His manager was Mr. Arthur Smith, | brother of Albert Smith, whose Mont Blane enter- | tainment at the Egyptian Hall he also managed. Here is an extract irom a@ letter to the present | writer about that time, dated “Royal Hotel, Plymouth, 4th August, 1858 :"— We had a most noble night at Exeter last night, and turned Mumbers away. Arthur is something between a Home Secretary and a furniture dealer in Rathbone piace. He is either always corre- Spouding in the genteelest manner or dragging Tout seats about without bis coats, And again in a letter dated from the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, 21st of August, he says:— A wonderful house here last night, and the largest in mouey we have ever nad, including St. Martin's Hall, There were 2.300 people and guineas, The yery books were all sold out early in the evening, and Arthur, bathed in checks, took headers into tickets, floated on billows of passes, dived under weirs ‘of shijlings, staggered home faint with gold and sliver, Out of the proceeds of.these readings he pala for the new house, Gad’shill place, in which the remainder of his lite was tor the most part passed | and where he died. About this time, too, in con- sequence of the quarrel siready alluded to be- tween Dickens and Messrs. Bradbury & Evans, the publication of Household Words was alscon- tinued and Allthe Year Round established, About thia time, too, Dickens’ portrait, a9 he appeared in middie 1ife, was painted by Mr, Frith, R. A., and exhibited at the Royal Academy, “I wish,” said Edwin Landseer, as he stood before it, “that ne looked less eager and busy, and not so much oat of himself or beyond himself, I should like to catch him asleep and quict now and then,” The next six or seven years of bis life were com- paratively unimportant to tke public. In them his literary labors consisted in his starting his new bantling, All the Year Round, with the “Tale of Two Cities,” perhaps the most wholly perfect of all bis works; and to the same periodical he contributed the admirable “Great Expectations.” He reverted to his old form of serial publication between green leaves, with “Our Mutual Friend,” which appeared in the years 1864’65, and in the interval, besides many short papers, he wrote a consecutive series, the “Uncommercial Traveller,” which contains some of the brightest bits of his humorous observa- tion, During this time, too, he gave a second and third series of public readings in Grea Britain, which were highly remunerative, but the labor attendant on which had some effect on his con- stitution, bringing about an attack tn the foot, now believed to be suppressed gout, which troubled him to the last, Also in this interval several of hia intimate triends—notably Egg, Leech and Thack- eray—were carried off, and on the 9th of June, 1865, Dickens himself was in a terrific railway ac cident at Staplehurst, which, though doing him ne actual injury at the time, was undoubtedly a great shock to his nervous system and told upon bia future life. Towards the close of the year 1867 he decided op paying a second visit to America, and giving a series of readings there. Some ilttle time before he wrote, “I begin to feel myself drawn towards America as Darnay, in the ‘Tale of Two Cities,’ was attracted to Paris.” And again, “Every mail brings me proposals, and the number of Americans at St. James’ Hall has been surprising. A certain Mr. Grau, who took Ristori out, and is highly re- sponsible, wrote to me by the last mail (for the second time) saying that it I would give hima word of encouragement he would come over imme diately and arrange on the boldest terms for any number I chose, and wouid deposit a large sum at Coutts’, Mr, Fields writes to me on behalf of a com- mittee of private gentiemen at Boston, who wished for the credit of getting me out, who desired to hear the reading ana did not want profit, and would put down as a guarantee £10,000, also to be banked here. Every American speculator who comes to London repairs straight to Dolby with similar pro- posals.’? The result of all this was that he sent Mr. Dolby (who had been his manager since the death of Mr. Arthur Smith) as his pioneer to Amer. ica, to see how the land lay; and that on receiving his report Dickens decided to give a series of read- ings in America, not as the nominee of any specue lator, but on his own account. Amagnificent fare- well banquet, over which Lord Lytton presided, was given to him on the 2d of November, at St James’ Hall, and on the 9th a few intimate friends, including Mr. Wills, Mr. Wilkie Collins and the present writer, who had accompanied him to Liv- erpool on the precdding day, took farewell of him on the deck of the Cuba and watched the gallant vessel steam slowly away, bearing him to Boston. The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Mr. For- ster’s book are entirely devoted to the narration of the incidents of Dickens? second visit to America, and are chtefly told in his own language, and ag you have no doubt reprinted most of the im- portant points 1 will not repeat them here. The homeward voyage did Dickens a great deal of good, and within a few months of his returu he commenced the final series of readings, which had long previously been agreed upon between him and the Messrs. Chappell. In them he had the usual success, and there is nothing special to re- cord about them, save that his determination ta read in public the episode of the “Murder of Nancy” from “Oliver Twist’? was the cause ofa painful correspondence between him and Mr. Forster, who say: “It is impossible for me to ad- mit that the effect to be produced was legitimate, or such as it was desirable to associate with the recollections of his readings,” Dickens’ foot began to trouble him again, and as his work progressed he became so ill that it was considered necessary to consult Sir Thomas Watson, the cleverest living English physician, who writes subsequently to Mr. Forster:—The state thus described showed plainly that Charles Dickens had been on the brink of an attack of paralysis of his left side, and possibly of apoplexy. It was no doubt the re- suit of extreme hurry, overwork and excitement incidental to his readings.” By Sir Thomas Wat- son’s advice the readings were suspended for some weeks, then renewed in the country, and finally concluded at St. James’ Hall on the 15th of March, 1870, when the last words of his little speech were, “From these garish lights I vauish now for ever- more, with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful, affeo tionate farewell.” Little more remains to be added. He continued at Gadshill, occupying himsel! with his new book, “Edwin Drood,” and, though those intimate with him saw considerable change in his face, & dimunition of his animal spirits and of his physical activity, no one had any idea that the end was so near. On the 9th of the following June he was suddenly struck down by an attack of apparently mingled paralysis | ana apoplexy such as Sir ‘thomas Watson had foreseen, and never spoke again. Five days after he was buried in Westminster Abbey. We have thus run through the principal portion of Mr. Forster’s book, the ouly passages untouched | by us veing a chapter in which Mr. Forster gives his own criticism in detail on Dickens’ principar works and another called ‘Personal Character- istics,” which has been separately treated by us. Mr. Forster has discharged his duty modestly, af- fectionately and well, He has been more ont- spoken than was generally expected; but the death of his hero was Of too recent a date to enable him to tell the whole truth concerning the last years of that strange, troubled life. Mr. Fors ter’s biography is the book for our generationy perhaps to the next some future writer will give @ work which, based upon it, will tell the tale aa it is now impossible to be told. . EDMUND YATES. ‘The Stain Upon His Fame. (From the St. Louis Republican, March 1.] There never had been, and is not until this day, 80 far as we are aware. the slightest breath of scandal concerning Mrs. Dickens, She has borne the reputation of a true wile and a fond mother, and never allowed the reputation of her husband to tempt her into a search alter individual noto- ety. Neither prosperity nor adversity has caused her to lose her seli-respect, and the caimness with which she has endured the supremest mortifica- tion which can overtake an honorable and high, spirited woman proves her to be the possessor of some o1 the noblest qualities that adorn the sex. Dickens himself was unable to present any substantial reavons for his course. In lus private letters, written at the period when the affair was in process of consummation, he alleges incompat- Ability of temper, lack of mutual sympathy, difer- ence of tastes and other things of the same indef- nite sort, He accused her of nothing, and never even hinted that she had committed any act which, in the eyes of the law or of public opinion, would authorize a divorce. Yet on these trite gen- based his right to abandon the bride See catty, the mother of his children, the lady who for twenty-five years had worn his name. From the day of the separation to the day of his death they never mei. It 18 said that she Was not allowed to be present at the funeral, and tt ts cere tain that the only releronce to her in his will was guch a one a8 no thoroughbred gentleman would, under the circumstances, have been guilty of. Li ing, he insulted her—dying, be stamped upon her. COURSING IN ENGLAND. The Waterloo Cup. The great Waterloo meeting took place on the 18th, 19th and 20th of February, There were sixty-lour subscribers at £25 each; the winner to receive £500; secoud, £200; two dogs, £50 each; four dogs, £30 cach; eiht dogs, £20 each; sixteen doxs, £10’ each; the Waterloo Gop and Waterloo Plate, £360 vach; total, £1,000, The toilowing are the winners : Mr. C. Morgan's r. d. Magnano won. tr. Nasey'us. (Mr. Martelli’s) &. d. Surprise ran up. Purse..Mr. R. Jardine’s r. w. b. Muriel. He. Be Jardine’s tv Oe i Sardine’s t aivided . P . Piate.:Captain Bitte na (Mr, E. Gibson's) bd. w. b. pe Mr Weide Meuse na, Qir, B Jardinewm w. be White Slave ran uo.