CHARLES DICKENS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 699, 19 August 1870, Page 4

CHARLES DICKENS.

The following account of the burial of the great novelist is from tfie Times of June 17 : — The wish of the people of England has prevailed, and Charles Dickens rests in the Abbey Church of St. Peter at Westminster. Our readers will learn with surprise and satisfaction that the funeral of the great novelist was celebrated at an early hour on Tuesday morning in Poets-corner, with as much privacy as could have been secured for it in any little village church in Kent, or even in Wales or Cornwall. A grave had been dug during the night, and we believe that we are right in asserting that, besides the Dean and Canons, hardly a member of the Cathedral body on Monday evening was aware of the intended arrangement. It appears that some days ago the Dean sent a communication to the family of Mr Dickens to the effect that, if it was desired by themselves or by the public that he should be buried in the Abbey, he would do all in his power to facilitate the arrangements; and also that on Monday, suggesting that the Abbey was the fitting resting-place for such a man, he repeated the offer in terms more distinct. Most fortunately, it was found, upon opening Mr Dickens's will, that although his instructions were explicit in forbidding all pomp and show, and all that " mockery of woe " which undertakers are at such pains to provide, he had named no place of burial ; and therefore his executors felt that it was open to them to concur with the national wish, if they could only insure secrecy as to place and time. This was arranged satisfactorily on Monday, and at an early hour on Tuesday morning the body was conveyed, almost before any one was stirring, in a hearse from G-ads-hill to one of the railway stations of the London, Chatham, and Dover line, whence it was forwarded to London by a Bpecial train, which reached the Charingcross station punctually at 9 o'clock. In a few minutes more the hearse, which was plainness itself, was on its way down Whitehall to the Abbey, followed by the mourning coaches, and we believe that not a single person of the many scores who must have met the gloomy cavalcade as it slowly paced along was aware that that hearse was conveying to its last resting-place all that was mortal of Charles Dickens. A few minutes before half-past 9 the hearse and mourning coacbea — the latter three in number— entered Deansyard, and the body was carried through the cloisters to the door of the nave, where it was met by the Dean, the two Canons in residence, Canon Jennings and Canon Nepean, and three of the Minor Canons. The choir were not present, and indeed, for the most part, were unaware that a grave had been opened in the Abbey and that the sounds of the Burial Service were about to be heard there once more, more than half a year having passed by since the last funeral— that of" Mr Peabody. The service was most impressively read by the Dean, all but the Lesson, which was read by the Senior Canon. There was no anthem, no chanted psalm, no hymn, not even an intoned response or " Amen ;■' but the organ was played at intervals during the^mournful" cerempny» The earth was cast into the grave by the Clerk of the Works ; the service ended, the mourners — 14- in number, r wjth. perhaps as many more strkngers who accidentally chanced to be present — gathered round 'the grave to take a last look at -the coffin which held the great novelist's remains, and to place wraths' bf ityrqfwiefys^n^ other flo weW upon the coffin-lid, and the service was at an end. The coffin was of plain but solid oak, atid'it bore the plain and simple in^ Bcription — •' Charles ; Dickens, born February 7, 1812$ died June 9, 1870. His gravej which is only between five and. six ieet;deen, is situated about a yard, ora yard and. /a half, from the southern wall of Ppet's-corner ; tbi spot ywas Selected by the Opean from among ■•the- few vacant/ spaces . in that transept; :imd- our readers will hear' with interest, that all of Charles Dickens that is mortal lies at the feet; of Handeland at the head of Sheridan, with liichard Cumberland resting on his right hand" and Macaiilay on his left. His grave is near the foot of

Addison's statue; and Thackeray's bust looks calmly down upon the grave of his old friend \ Dr Johnson and Garrick lie within a few yards of him ; and the busts of Shakespere, Milton, and a host of other worthies, each of them the glory of English literature in their day, are but a little further off. It will be felt, no doubt, by all thoughtful persons that although the executors of Charles Dickens may have disappointed the public by keeping the time and place of his funeral to the last so strict a secret, they have done the one thing which would have been alike acceptable to the departed, and which has satisfied the wishes of the country at large. Mr Dickens's two daughters, his sister-in-law (Miss Hogarth), Charles Dickens, Mr Wilkie Collins, and Mr John Forster, were among those who followed his remains to the tomb. The grave, by direction of the Dean, was left open as long as the Abbey was open on Tuesday ; and, as the news spread about London, many visitors went to Poet's Corner during the afternoon to take a last sad look at the coffin of Charles Dickens ; but it was understood that the grave would be closed during the course of the evening. We believe that it is the intention of the Dean to preach a funeral sermon upon the career and character of the great writer whose ashes have been laid in the Abbey on Sunday next. In the first mourning coach were Mr Charles Dickens, jun., Mr Harry Dickens, MiBB Dickens, and Mrs Charles Collins. In the second coach, Miss Hogarth, Mrs Austin (Mr Dickens' sister), Mrs Charles Dickens, jun., and Mr John Forster. In the third coach, Mr Frank Beard, Mr Charles Collins, Mr Ouvry, Mr Wilkie Collins, and Mr Edmund Dickens. At 1 o'clock the bell of Rochester Cathedral was tolled for the deceased. A vault had been prepared in St. Mary's Chapel, -Rochester Cathedral — a beautiful' chapel near the entrance to the choir, restored a few years sinee — for the interment of the deceased, and a vault was rapidly constructed. On Tuesday a number ot men were engaged in filling up the vault with earth, and restoring the pavement, while the bell was tolling for the funeral. .., The Athbnceum has the following :-4 Mr^pharles. Kent has kindly consented to our printing what ia in all probability the last letter that Mr Dickens wrote. On Thursday; when Mr Kent went to keep the appointment, Mr Dickens was lying unconscious and was within a very few: hours of his death. The "opal enjoyments" refer >io the tints of'the sky..— Gad!s-hill. place, Higham-byVKdctießter, "Wednesday, June 8, 1870- My dear Kent,— • To-morroW'is a very bad day f 'for me to make a call, as, in addition to my usual office business, I'have a mass of accounts tcsettle. Bui I hope I may be ready -for you at 3 o'clock. If I qan't be, why then I shan't be. ' You must really" get' rid of these opal enjoyments. tpp overpowering, -*-' Those violent* delights have violent ends.' I think it wae a father of your Church who made the' Wise" remark to a, young gentleman vvho got up;early,j (or stayed., out., late!) at Verona? Eve* affectionately, Chables Dick- 7 i&ss.- To 1 Charles • Kent, Esq:'' $he* pictures and 'other' object's ' J qf jarf, iwhich belonged to Mr Dickens, .are to be sold by auction by -Messrs iChrisfcie aid: : Manson. His library he has;left tip his eldest Eton. His maqu'acripta &nd, papers, are ajTprese'jnt in the hands of his executors,. Mr Forster and Miss Hogarth. ••>' All- the-¥ear Round" has teen left to his eldest Bon by Mr Dickens in a codicil appended to his Will only a. week, before. bis d«eth.,; Mr Ci Dickens,- jun., has. -for somet ime b^enr acting' "editor of the journal^ and in a,,graeeftilly-#ritteri"addree8 r , which appears in'tfee la'sfc number, be declares his resolution to conduct the • journal in' the same spirit- in which his father conducted 'it, nn'd" aided by the' coniributors who havg'hitherto contributed it. At the present moment it is difficult %o speak with entire precision, but we are authorised* to cay , that Mr Dickens Jxa's, lejffc tbo "Mystery of Edwin Drood 'jf in a ,very advanced state, but that, as- if he bad ft presentiment of hia. •decease, he had at the outset arranged equitable' terms oi

accommodation in case the novel were stopped before it was completed.