DICKENS'S CHARACTERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20586, 8 December 1928, Page 5

DICKENS'S CHARACTERS.

A BRIEF FOR URIAH HEEP,

_ "As I drew my chair up to the tabic in my favourite cafe I noticed that the little old man was eyeing me very v « ( £ rites a contributor to the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle). I had observed him also for some time, for his was anything but a commonplace personality. I laid aside my pocket » Copperfield' m the hope that my leisure hour woulc be profitably filled up by a literary talk with him. I was not disappointed, for with a sniff of almost contempt he glanced at my book and began:—" Sir, I hope, you will pardon my seeming impudence in thus addressing you a stranger, but the sight of that boot you were reading sets my teeth on edge. I feel sure you aro one of those Dickens I seem fated to meet whomever I go. and I therefore take the liberty of supposing that you hold the conventional idea of Dickens and his creations." I assured the old gentleman of my appreciation for all Dickens's lifelike character'studies. " Have you studied your ' Copperfield'?" my companion snapped at me. "Do you support the theory that Uriah Hoep was a malignant creature, and do you claim that he is a sample of the genius of his creator?" " Certainly," I replied briefly, "he was, undoubtedly, a loathsome person." "I thought as much," counfered my friend. "Now please bear with me for a few moments and I will endeavour to show you that your ideas arc in need of a little readjustment. You probably hate Hecp because his eyes were rodrimmed and his hands were cold and clammy. •• Pray let me remind you that sore eyes'and cold hands are no bar to gentleness of character, and many people have suffered from that irritable form of eye disease, as the records ( of our hospitals can easily prove. You may detest him because he sneaked, on Dr Strong's young wife, believing • ber to be unfaithful, but logically you must detest Mr Wickfield as well as David, for they also believed in Annie's wrong-doing, but had not Heep's moral courage, and did not dare to warn the elderly husband. They preferred to act the coward's part. I suppose you loathed him because he aspired to the hand of Agnes Wickfield, that almost perfect woman, but surely ho might lift his eyes to one who attracted him with as much right as the shortsighted David who never thought of Agnes till the last page oT the book. " Heep betrayed his employer's confidence you say? What sort of au employer was he that forced the management of his business on the 'umblc clerk so that he could indulge his own selfish craving for spirituous liquors to his heart's content? Did not your b->5, genial, and optimistic Mr Micawber also prepare a dossier to work the ultimate ruin of his employer, Heep? You scorn him for his humility, forgetting that lie had been taught in a school where the first lesson was:— God bless the Squire, and his relations And keep us all in our proper stations. " Mr Creakle attains the dignity of a gaoler, and Dickens shows us two interesting penitents, of whom Uriah is one. What scorn is expressed b., the virtuous reader because oui much-maligned young man tries tr shorten his sentence through good conduct. We art; almost induced to believe that it would bo considered more manly for him to be unruly and violent. We could certainly wreak our indignation on him with more justice if he were." Drinking up the remainder of the contents of his glass, the little old man stalked defiantly away as though Charles Dickens had been guilty of a deliberate personal insult to himself-"