MR CHARLES READE AT HOME.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6876, 14 March 1883, Page 6

MR CHARLES READE AT HOME.

(Hr*.) Mr Outlet Retie so vigorously defend* himself in print, and ia is every respect ft man of such distinct individuality, that we Uet care many of oar reader* will bs grateful to us if, with the assistance of a clever sketch in a recent number of the (ientUmeiCe Muga* tint, we endeavour to picture the popular novelist and dramatist in hie own home. The author of the sketch we have alluded to appear* to have an almost unbounded admiration for Mr Charles Beads, and some of hi* opponents will, perhaps, declare, that be goes to cztravagantiengthe m hishero worship. But • that is a point which we need not discut*. . We prefer to quote from the series of pictures I Mr tynd ha* placed about disposal, and first -her# isthe author of M It's Never Xoo late to > Mend" *t works— w In an old-fashioned j wooden chair, inch as one occasionally finds I ia the parlour of a village ion or country ' bouse where the modern upholsterer has not I been permitted to substitute hie gtmcracks for the substantia! chattels of our ancestors—in the centre of a spacious apartment, hall i drawing-room, half library, surrounded by a { heterogeneous collection of ormolu, rare old ! cabinet*, modem paintings, and white aod 1 gold chair*, that looked a* if they belonged to some imperial residence—is seated as ace a

specimen of tut KoflU»h»*« a* on* may expert to find m thl* fast and degenerate mm. He is tall and proportfonably stout. In tha spring of bit life he must have bad tb# imiw of aa Apollo. Hie hsed show* to gnat aa amoua* of brain capacity that a prartieal »B»I«»W» jM<W»f ***«» it* form and domelike promiae»e<t, would t»» •atMtd that the owner (although his eame end feme might be unknown to Mm) was undewed with extraordinary mental po»«». Add to this ii»|M»rfooidwM«rl|jtoH a pleasant face fringed with ft tfuerable beard, and you hate the portrait of a mea whom to know it to love. A* the door, of hi* strange apartment is opened and ft caller announced, this flue old Knglish gentlemen lays down hi* pen, pushes arid* an enormous pile of papers, Hies with oaurtly dignity, and, assuming * sweet smile that would set at ease tl»© most nervous Mil** that ever at* bread-aud-butter, point* to the softest, chair he possesses, mume* bio own bard seat, and patiently Hitcus tobii vtiitor's tale, be it «t butine**, pleasure, or woe" After this sketch of t he man himself the writer describes Mr Char!«• Keade'e method of working, for no author oo earth ii tsor* systematic. Some writers pretend to a •art of inspiration which enable* them to pro* due* novels, poems, or dramas with very little labour and forethought. Mr Oharlea Beade make* uo pretence of the tort* for it is pretence and nothing else. With all the brilliant talent ho possesses, Mr Charles Hoado woald he the U«t man to mako-b«H*?« in that tuanotr. Ho knowa full well that nothina good can bo produced without »olid; caroful, honwt work, and he makea m »eoret of the paitu ho haa Ukto to render hie worh eoropletc and valuable. Kxtraoti from all eorte of odd pabUeatiou*. newipapere, pamphlet*, r«porU, poem»—in fact, whatevor publieatioo he can get hold of that throws a new, true, and vitid upon, human charaoter is valued aud etored up by Mir Charles lUado, either in proof of the acouraoy of work already done, or clio at material for future labour*. Heace hii etudy i» flllod with the etrangoit ohroniclee of virtue and crime. Record* of heroitm in men and women, anecdote* of a whinwicftl or humouroue kind, reeorde of peril and adventure in every clime, fcheie are the material*, the actual solid and tubetantial foundation, ou which he builds up what the world c&IU fiction and romanoe, but which the author oan prove, if need be, are more real than thoie imagine who read them. Here are report* of lunatie a»ylum» and eonipiraoie* in which the chief actor* were official tyrant* and wicked relative* ? hu*« baud* who have coneigned wive* to life'loug captivity j wive* who bavo oonnired with authority to get rid of troublesome bu»bandt, not becauw they were mad, but because they knew too much for their jjnilty partner* i heir* and heiretie* shut up to make room for those who thought they had a better right to their property} and account* of vtll&inou* de«d« praotued upon poor ! creature* whose mind* were really deranged i i how their bone* were broken and their live* beaten out of them by ruffianly keeper*. In this collection are the oonfewion* of escaped nun*, revolting itorie* of immorality in »li» gious luttitutios*, and many account* of cruelties practised upon defenceless children in ao-eaUed Orphan Home*. On another *helf are book* containing report* of trade out* r*fea and strikes, headed, " The Dirty Oligarchy," several volume* of mining report*, detail* of colliery ei plosions, outrage* at tea, and any quantity of official blue-books! On the floor of the library ararow* of giant folio*, containing thousands of woodcuta, labelled "PietUrftTheatri" and "Pietura Novell*." A number of yearly volume* of LloydU Weekly tfewtpaptr, the Graphic, the Police 2ims t * English and American, all carefully indexed under Mr Reade's favourite heading*, and the most striking paragraphs marked with red or blue pencil. Every volume i« indexed and classified, and, in addition to the indices pasted in each folio, there are three quarto vellum-covered volumes, containing copies of the Floriligeal Indices, *» that when the author wiahe* to Cad a subject he U not obliged to drag about the heavy annual volumes or the giant folios; he can find what he wquireo in the portable quarto, or Index and Indicea. In addition to thi* large collection of facte, there are about four hundred volume* of " I* Biblioth&que Dramaltqus " —containing not fewer than four thousand French play*—and a few standard works of reference. A* Mr Beale once remarked to a friend, ""Bits is »library of note book*." In aitn&U room adjoining the library are kept the M 39, music, and sketches of scenes of the author 1 * drama*. When Mr Beade write* a play be doe* hi* work in a mo*t systematic manner. Hi* original manuscript m handed, to hi* secretary, to make a careful copy. Ihi* is revised by the author, and a fresh copy is made, with instruction* for prompter and stage-manager. Then the author has as interview with a first-cks* artist, and a »et of sketches ore made, lhsse drawings are sent to the wood engraver or lithographer, for large potter* or window card*. Appropriate musio is written by a competent musician, and several complete sets of the score arraaged. If the play is not printed three or four prompt copies are made by the secretary, and the actors' parts are tdl written in a legible band. When the piece i* accepted every* thing i* in readiness as far a* the author is oooctrDcd. Duplicate* of MBB, band parts, model*, and sketches of scenes are alwaya kept in reserve, so that the piece can be played iu eavcr&l places at the same time. A few reoT.ent3 in Mr Beade'* sanctum are (sufficient to give one an idea of hi* mind and system of working. He writes fiction, but ho goe* to one great inexhaustible fountain for hie plot* and character*. When ho wants a subject for a novel or a play he draw* upon human nature. In the curious collection contained in those clumsy looking guard boob he can find fast* stranger than any j fiction that was ever conceived by the mind of man. Hi* models are not wild creations of the imagination, but real men and women, j who have lived, acted, and spoken as ho has represented them in hi* powerfully written works. Take hi* " Never Too Lata to Mend" bj an example. Fastidious critics have ob- ' jeeted to the prison scenes, and have &cwae& i Mr Beade of gros* exaggeration j but the truth i* that worse crime* than the author j wsj capable of conceiving have been oom- ! mitted in those places where the light of | justice rarely if ever penetrate*. Tbo horror* of the dark cell and the cruelty of that modern j wheel of Sisyphus—the crank—are no ideal creation*. All that Mr Beade so powerfully i and graphically describes in "Sever Too Lato to Meed " he tried himself. He literally put himself in the convict's place. He did his turn on the treadmill, he turned the crank, and submitted to incarceration in the dark cell, where the blackness was so dense that it appeared tangible, and where, the author tim, "be would have become ft hopeless lunatie if be had beee left one-tenth of the time allotted to prisoner* who have b*en I found guilty ot the »»lal erime ot tpsuMng s word to » fellow captive." In the novel" Put ! Youreelf in bis Place," many imagined that I Mr B*ade had conjured up tome of the i incidents from hi* own brain, but, on I tha contrary, what he describe* in that won. derfolly oJever and exciting tale actually happened. The outrage in the manufacturing districts, which had to little interest for the pubib in the bald recital of ft police report ia a country Journal, •tirred the very heart of the reader when narrated with the force aud dramatic talent Mr Charles lit«ada brought to hear upon the subject, far he is before all thing* a student of humanity as it is. He doe* not build up fanciful men and women. He shows us the living personage* we brush againtt a* we walk through the street* of the crowded city, or lounging in the •hade of a country lane, or pushing of a fishing boat into the surf of a stormy coast. Begarding his pugnacity, most of our reader* are aware that Mr Charles Beads can bold hi* own pretty stiffly against any antagonist, but there is nothing mean iu his method of attack or defense, He hits straight out, and his blows tell, but none can he more generous even to a foe. A few voars ego he was at* tacked by two person* who belonged to the literary profession. Mr Beade'* pugnacity asserted itself, and he wrote some scathing letters in reply. A regular paper war wa« the result, which, while it lasted, was very painful to all concerned. Mr Beade had right as well a* might on his side. He silenced his opponents, and received the congratulations of the majority of the leading men of bis pro*

fMiioa. It wm dearly » ea»« of trade malioa i! *ad KnutUH autbon ow« Mr M«a4e a d«U of grfttitada for bit ohampioo*bi, of tkeif rig bit a«d I>U pluoky »«ntm«ut of a tkUfully planatd altempt to damage ftrepaUUftn a* an oritinal writ or. Borne Urn* afier th» q«arr*l~aad a ««rrlble ro-« it wa*™hii prin* eipal oppotiant. died, tht> wife of that gftntlsman was not UJt in eola«nt eSreumit«no*«. Bhe was a lady of «totttSd«rabl« lttararjr attain* menu, but for tome unknown e*«« **• any thing but iucws*ful. WbU* «b« wa» brat«ly •truigUnt againit powrtf ft *lr*iJjt*r paid * tiiit to the villaga where the reiidtd, and left in ber temporary sb»si«ee a p*rct#! oontafnittg a bandtome mm of tnon«y. Tho lady bad torn* dMßoulty in dii<M»(»ri»g hit but wheu the did find out- when *he learnt by accident thaf ilia man the bad tried to injure had heaped coal* of Are upon her bead—her feeling* mti only be understood by thoee who hftvo had eimiiaresperieac**. Whon Mr fieado can do any good by advice or with money no man is more ready, none ma w kinder or raoro lympathetio. Hie genetoefty {••omatimes abnted, of courts. On hie library ehelvee are pilot of MB9. and Setters from per* •one ae mart as the proverbial March hare, An inmate of 0 »e of our pablio aoykme hae been petitioning Mr Boade for yeare, and imploring him to investl* gate hie case. At ilrit it wae difficult to detect the eligbteit ilgni of madneet in hie competition, but when he found that the gatte did not immediately open for him he covered quires of fooltoap with lamentations in vene! Then hit inianity wat no longer doubted. Nor wae hie doggrel rhyme the only oon« tinoing proof of his dinangod intellect. In another jeremiad he staled that be wae the victim of a vile conspiracy, the two leading p*rtic» in which were hie own lintor and an eminent physician. Tbo aoouialion wae eo prepotterout that it could only hare emanated from a di«ea*«d mind. Tho doctor whose reputation wae isssailed ii a dintinguuhed member of the fioyal College of Physioiant, and wae formerly profeuor of the practice of medieine. If Mr Beado ioterettod hitneelf about all tho applications ho reoeirea from lunatics he would find little tiuio for anything else. It is a well-known faot that sorao maoiaec are able to oonveree for hour* without exhibiting tho least signs of insanity, neyertheleie those individuals would be very likely to put an end to themselves or other* if they wore set free. Mr Beade must first bo satisfied that hu data are reliable before he commence* action i when ho is con* vinced that an act of injustice has been committed he grudges neither time nor money in support of a good cause or in defence of the oppressed. Wo might quote many an instance of bis thoughtful kindness, but none who are acquainted with him will need suoh details. Our object in quoting these facte is to prove to those who only know Mr Obarlee Bead* through his books and plays, tbat" bo ta e, man take him for all in all" such as we do not often meet with in English literature. He it a writer of singular truthfulness, power, and originality. We seem to lire and mord t to act, and feel with the characters in tbe scenes ho sets before us. and his vigorous and idiomatic English helps to preserve some of tho finest qualities of our Anglo-Saxon speech.