THE REV. CHARLES CLARK'S LECTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8386, 14 October 1890, Page 5

THE REV. CHARLES CLARK'S LECTURE.

CHARLES DICKENS.

After an absence of 10 years the Rov. Charles Clark, whose popularity and reputation have survived the time which has elapsed since he laub delighted an Auckland audience with his brilliant lectures, was greeted last night on his reappearance at the Opera House by a crowded audience and rounds of applause as he entered on the stage and bowed his acknowledgements. Time has doalb very gently with the talented lecturer in the matter of personal appearance. He is robust and fresh in feature, erect in attitude, and of splendid stage appoarance, and the audience could nob fail to acknowledge that the fine vigour of his elocutionary powers are enhanced by his experience and made more effective. The opening lecture Charles Dickens could not have been better selected for a display of the great discrimination of the lecturer, nob so much perhaps in the elegant and natural manner in which he almost presented the ideal of the character immediately under review as in the admirable judgment with which ho selected the phases of character with a view to displaying the peculiar power with which this great author dealt with the amusing, the humourous, the pathetic, and even the tragical phases of life. In opening, Mr. Clark said his object was to sink his own personality, and to present to them that of the groat author who for 34 years had been so widely read and so deeply loved. The lecturer referred to the leading beacon of Dickens' genius which was comprised in the phrase " All men are brothers." The essence of his genius was sympathy, love, and wit. Those were the dominant spirits of all his works. When Pickwick first began to appear the enthusiasm with which it was followed was within the memory of many now living, and although to some it may not be equal to some of his later works, its gaiety, keenness, and naturalness, still fascinated themselves as it did their fathers. Beginning with this work as an illustration of his subject, the lecturer recited the humourous shooting party, in which are introduced the whole of the leading characters—Wardle, Winkle, Tupman, Weller, and last, but r.ot least, the great Pickwick himself, wheeled in a barrow to follow the sport. In this incident Mr. Clark finds scope for depicting tho character of each of those, and in doing so infused such natural humour and gaiety of spirits into them as to set the house in roars ; for Mr. Clark possesses tho attribute of elocution which enables him without effort to impersonate to the life the voice of the person whom ho presents to the audience. Of course in this part of the lecture Sam Weller figures largely and well. The lecturer then proceeds to point out that the exhuberant fun shown by the author in his first works might perhaps lead to the impression that his genius lay in that direction solely ; but his later works showed that ho possessed pathos, power, and sympathy with human nature ; and to illustrate this he selected " The Tale of Cities," pointing out that the fictional faculties of the author were better calculated to display what was the provocation which led to the French revolution and the course it pursued than any mere historical account could do. There was no nobler picture in the world than that of Sydney Carton in his last moments. The lecturer, in graphic, eloquent, and telling language, pictured this hero of Dickens', taken from the gutter. A dissolute English barrister, loving only one person in the world, who was I married to a French exi'". he sacrii (iced his life to save , for the sake of his wife. The Description of the march to the guillotine in the tumbrils with tho hand of the strange child who confided in him, was told with dramatic force, and the execution scene, hurriedly I passed over, as? it is by the author, was scarcely concluded when an outburst of applause showed how intensely interested the audience were in the lurid word-picture held before their view, and when in a glowing peroration he pointed out how the power of love was superior to all others, the applause was renewed. He pointed out that the same lesson of love though under a different aspect pervaded David Copperfleld. This work Dickens loved best of his works , and no doubt many agreed with his opinion, for beneath this masterpiece, under a veil of fiction, they got a glimpse of the master's life. Mr. Clark referred to the various characters, and illustrated them by a few words entirely descriptive of their peculiarities. His illustrations were highly humorous, and nothing could exceed tho exquisite natural comedy or humour with which he described the dinner party which introduces Copperfield, Mr. and Mis. Macaw ber, and Mr. Traddles. It needed little more than to shut the eyes to imagine that strangely-assorted party over the spoiled dinner. Mrs, G'rupps the laundress is also a favourite, for Mr. Clark took special pains to bring her forward, and the risible faculties of the audience were kept at high tension during the time the lecturer dwelt on this work. Mr. Clark said that many wondered why Dickens had so often found his heroes in low and even in vulgar life, but in a lecture in America he explained it. He said his aim was to contribute to the cheerful side of life. lie believed that virtue looked as well in rags as in purple. As illustrative of the noble and fine feeling found in the lower classes, Mr. Clark brought forward tho character of Dr. Marigold, the Cheap Jack. Heelicited roars of laughterin hisdescriptive wooing, line manly feeling in his reference to his wife's temper, his helpless grief wherf he saw his wifo beat their little daughter and no pen more eloquent than that of the great master himself could describe the pathetic scene in which while endeavouring to keep the course audience to whom he sold his wares in humour, he stole opportunities to kiss and soothe the child who clung round his neck, and died in his arms. The purchase from Minis of the deaf and dumb child who was ill-treated, the great affection which sprung up between them, his humourous description of how lie taught her, hi 3 parting witli her at the asylum to have her taught, his self sacrifice when she married, and his intense joy when she returned from China after live years with a little girl the picture of her who had died in his anns, were painted -so effectively that the audience felt the pathos, the true nobility, the self-denial of the man, and feltgrateful to the master hand who could delineate such a noble character in the humblest role of life, and to the splendid elocutionist who was able so graphically to bring before the audience in life-like form the very ideals themselves. There were many wet eyes during this portion of tho lecture, and the storm of applause which followed showed how deeply the audience were interested. Mr. Clark iu conclusion said that to Dickens was granted without question the kingship of his genius during his lifetime, and it was proclaimed 22 years ago by Bulwer Lybton. Before leaving England he (Mr. Clark) visited Westminster Abbey and saw there a fresh wreath on Dickens' tomb. He finished by reciting Tennyson's noble poem on Dickens, and retired from the stage amidst rounds of applause. To-night the Rev. Mr. Clark will deliver his famous lecturo on Westminster Abbey —Shrine, Throne, Sepulchre—and during the lecture he will recite Henry V.'s address to the soldiers, " Once more into the breach, dear friends." i