offered his services, but without avail, and Mr. Hablot Browne was engaged. The first number of Pickwick had not appeared when Sketches by Boz, illustrated by Cruikshank, were published. The book attracted considerable attention, and was doubtless a means of promoting the sale of the serial. It was not long, however, before the success of the latter became decided and brilliant.

In April of this year Dickens married; and at the close of the parliamentary session he gave up reporting in order to devote himself entirely to literature. Publishers now contended with each other for his writings. In August he agreed with Mr. Bentley to edit a monthly magazine, which started in the following January, and in this periodical appeared Oliver Twist. Thus the first half of this latter story appeared while the last half of Pickwick was being published; and no sooner was Pickwick concluded than Dickens made arrangements with Chapman and Hall to bring out Nicholas Nickleby in monthly numbers. His mental labour was thus incessant; and he used to find rest by indulging in bodily exertion of equal severity. Sometimes he would take long walks of seven or eight miles; at other times he would start for "a fifteen mile ride out, ditto in, and a lunch on the road." Richmond and Twickenham, Windsor, Greenwich, and Hampstead, were favourite places of resort; and often would he call at Jack Straw's Castle, on Hampstead Heath, for "a red-hot chop," and a glass of good wine.

Nicholas Nickleby was completed in October 1839, and Dickens had already made arrangements about a successor. He proposed to his publishers that they should issue a weekly illustrated paper, price threepence, and that it should contain some continuous story, with occasional essays, satirical papers, sketches of travel, and other interesting matter. The idea was eagerly accepted, and the result was the publication of Master Humphrey's Clock. In the fourth number appeared the first chapter of the Old Curiosity Shop, which was at first intended for a short tale of a few chapters; but the subject grew

upon the author, and he determined to throw everything else aside, devoting himself to the one story only; it still, however, came out under the title of The Clock. When this story was finished, Barnaby Rudge was published in the same way; but Dickens felt the inconvenience of bringing out weekly instalments, so that, when this story was completed at the close of 1841, The Clock was discontinued.

In the meantime, Dickens had been entertained at a public dinner in Edinburgh, where his health was proposed in glowing terms by Professor Wilson. He took an opportunity at this time to make a journey through the Highlands, where he was much impressed by the grandeur of the scenery. In the following year he and his wife visited America, where he made a tour through the States, which not only supplied him with materials for a book which he afterwards published, but also furnished him with some of the scenes in Martin Chuzzlewit.

Dickens returned from America in the summer of 1842. He had recorded his impressions of the country pretty fully in his letters during his stay in the United States; and he now set about their publication under the title of American Notes for General Circulation. The Notes were fairly and truthfully written, but they gave great offence to the American public at the time, as the author did not scruple to point out the defects of their political and social condition. In the following year Martin Chuzzlewit appeared, the first number of which came out in January; and the displeasure with which the people of America had received the Notes was not lessened on reading the American scenes which occur in that powerful novel. While Martin Chuzzlewit was

coming out in monthly parts, Dickens found time to write the Christmas Carol, the first of those charming Christmas stories with which he has delighted so many thousands of readers.

Dickens was passionately fond of travel; for by this means he found that his experience was enlarged, and he

received new ideas for his books. In 1844, therefore, he set out with his family to Italy, where he spent about twelve months. His Christmas story this year was the Chimes; and in a letter to his friend and biographer, Mr. Forster, he says: "This book has made me white in a foreign land. My cheeks, which were beginning to fill out, have sunk again; my eyes have grown immensely large; my hair is very lank; and the head inside the hair

is hot and giddy. Read the scene at the end of the third part twice. I wouldn't write it twice for something." It is wonderful how Dickens felt what he wrote. The characters of his own creation became to him living realities; and he entered into their joys and sorrows as really as if they had been those of his personal friends.

On his return to England he assisted in starting the "Daily News," and for a fortnight or three weeks acted as editor; but he found it impossible to continue the arduous task without interfering with more congenial work. His letters descriptive of his Italian travel appeared in this paper under the title of Pictures from Italy. The glimpse of Swiss scenery which he caught in his homeward journey from Italy made him long to visit that country; and accordingly, in the summer of 1846, he started for Lausanne, and, during his residence there, wrote Dombey and Son and the Battle of Life. The revolution which broke out in Geneva shortened his visit to Switzerland; and on his way home he spent three months in Paris. Though Dickens enjoyed the experiences of foreign travel, and felt strengthened by it both in mind and body, it was attended by one drawback-he missed the streets of London. A walk through a London crowd, especially in the night time, had a curious effect upon him; it put new energy into him after he had been working unusually hard. Like Antæus he gained strength by contact with his native earth. Speaking about this "craving for the streets," after a prolonged absence from London, he says, "It seems as if they supplied something to my brain, which it cannot bear, when busy, to lose. For a week or a fortnight I can write

prodigiously in a retired place (as at Broadstairs), and a day in London sets me up again and starts me. But the toil and labour of writing, day after day, without that magic lantern, is immense!"

Dickens displayed considerable ability as an actor, and, indeed, when a young man, had some thoughts of going on the stage. In 1845, on his return from Italy, he and his friend, John Forster, got up a company, and gave an amateur performance of Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour." The success which attended this attempt induced them to renew their efforts on subsequent occa sions on behalf of friends, or of charitable objects. In 1847, Jonson's comedy was performed at Manchester and Liverpool; and, after all expenses were paid, a sum of four hundred pounds was left, which was handed over to Leigh Hunt. Among the artists and writers engaged on this occasion were John Leech, George Cruikshank, Douglas Jerrold, and Mark Lemon. In the following year the "Merry Wives of Windsor" was performed for the benefit of Sheridan Knowles, Lemon taking the part of Falstaff, and Dickens, Justice Shallow. It was then determined by the performers to set on foot a "Guild of Literature and Art," for the benefit of poor artists and writers. Sir Edward (afterwards Lord) Lytton wrote a comedy for the occasion, entitled "Not so Bad as we Seem." This was first performed at Devonshire House before the Queen and Prince Albert. Then followed several representations in the Hanover Square Rooms; and during the years 1851 and 1852 the play was acted with great success at Derby, Sunderland, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Manchester.

In the meantime, Dickens was busy with David Copperfield, which he tells us was his "favourite child ;" and we have seen that it contains a considerable portion of his own personal history. At a banquet given by Justice Talfourd to celebrate the success of this novel there were present, besides Dickens, Forster, and the liberal host, Thackeray, Tennyson, Douglas Jerrold, Mark Lemon, and Hablot Browne, the artist who so ably illustrated

Dickens' books. About this time Dickens again took up the idea of editing a weekly magazine. This project was more successful than Master Humphrey's Clock, and resulted in Household Words, the first number of which appeared on Saturday, 30th March 1850. The second number opens with a beautiful sketch, the "Child's Dream of a Star," which was composed in the train during a night journey to Brighton. Household Words continued to appear weekly until the 28th of May 1859, when, owing to a misunderstanding with the publishers, it was stopped; and its place was taken by All the Year Round, which went on uninterruptedly until the editor's death.

Dickens may be said to have achieved his greatest success as a novelist in David Copperfield. The stories which subsequently appeared-Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend-were none of them unworthy of his great powers, but they want that exuberance of humour, that nice discrimination of character, that freshness and vigour of writing, which mark his earlier efforts. Still, Edwin Drood exhibits some of Dickens' best characteristics, and though only a fragment, was full of promise. Hard Times came out in "Household Words " in 1854; and when published in a complete form, was dedicated to Mr. Carlyle. The Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations appeared in "All the Year Round." The other stories were published in monthly numbers. Besides these works Dickens contributed to "Household Words" a Child's History of England, and a portion of the Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, the other portion being written by Mr. Wilkie Collins. To "All the Year Round" he also contributed the Uncommercial Traveller. Besides this he had always a share in those Christmas stories which were a feature in both serials, and which were annually expected with intense interest.

We have already had occasion to notice Dickens' fondness for travel. The spring of 1853 was spent in Switzerland and Italy; the summer of that and the following year he passed at Boulogne. He also visited Paris about