Ben Jonson, as an acting dramatist, has almost disappeared from the stage he so long adorned, and, probably, no performance of his best comedy was ever more successful than the above. Dickens made such an admirable Captain Bobadil, that Leslie, the Royal Academician, took a most characteristic portrait of him in that character. The moment selected is when the Captain shouts out

"A gentleman! odds so, I am not within.”

Act 1, Scene 3.

Mr. Mitchell, of Bond Street, published a fine ithograph of the picture, and collectors of the deceased novelist's portraits will do well to secure a copy. For beauty of portraiture and character there is nothing like it. It is also very interesting, as coming between the beautiful but effeminate portrait of Maclise and the photograph of our own day, because it shows the change that was coming over his features, when deep thought and firmness of purpose were beginning to leave their marks behind them.

But to return to Dickens as an actor. A friend says:

Analogous to his powers as a reader were his abilities as an actor; and it has been said of him with truth that, with perhaps the exception of Frederick Lemaitre in his best days, there was no one who could excel Charles Dickens in purely dramatic representation. Those who saw the character of the lighthouse-keeper in Mr. Wilkie Collins's

drama, as portrayed first by Mr. Dickens and then. by Mr. Robson, were enabled to judge of the wonderful superiority of the rendering given by the former. And not merely as an actor, but as a stage director, were his talents pre-eminent; not merely did he play his own part to perfection, but he taught every one else in his little company how to play theirs; he would devise scenery with Stanfield and Telbin, take a practical share in the stage carpentry, write out the copy for the playbill, and in every way thoroughly earn the title of 'Mr. Crummles,' with which he was always affectionately greeted on these occasions."

At the time of which we are writing, Dickens was full of enthusiasm for the stage, and being appealed to by Jerrold for an opinion on his drama of "Time Works Wonders," he wrote to his friend :— "I am greatly struck by the whole idea of the piece. The elopement in the beginning, and the consequences that flow from it, and their delicate and masterly exposition, are of the freshest, truest, and most vigorous kind; especially the charactersespecially the governess, among the best I know; and the wit and the wisdom of it are never asunder. I could almost find it in my heart to sit down and write you a long letter on the subject of this play, but I won't. I will only thank you for it heartily, and add that I agree with you in thinking it incomparably the best of your dramatic writings."

During the summer and autumn of this year Mr. Dickens finished his new Christmas book, "The

Cricket on the Hearth (a Fairy Tale of Home); printed and published for the Author" by Messrs. Bradbury and Evans, illustrated by Leech, Stanfield, and Maclise, and dedicated to Lord Jeffrey. Next to the "Christmas Carol" and the "Chimes," this is a great favourite.

The quaint way in which it opens, giving an eloquent picture of homely and domestic comfort in the English carrier's house, the construction of the plot, and the glorious aénouement, make the book one of his best and heartiest efforts. Tilly Slowboy, the great clumsy nurse-girl, is very charmingly pourtrayed, her especial forte being to hold the baby topsy-turvey, and entertain it with dialogues, consisting mainly of scraps from conversations she hears, with all the nouns turned into plurals.

The Lyceum was first in the field (21st December) with a dramatic adaptation by Mr. Albert Smith, Miss Mary Keeley impersonating Bertha ; Mr. Keeley, Caleb; Mrs. Keeley, Mrs. Peerybingle; and Mr. Emery, John, the honest carrier. Under Mrs. Keeley's management it proved an extraordinary success.

On 6th January following, Mr. Webster's version of the story was placed on the Haymarket boards, with this strong cast:

At the Adelphi, O'Smith represented Mr. Peerybingle; Wright, Tilly Slowboy; and the celebrated Mrs. Fitzwilliam, Dot. At the City of London Theatre, too, an adaptation was performed with considerable ability. In the beginning of 1862, Mr. Boucicault's adaptation, under the title of "Dot," played at the Adelphi, proved a great triumph, Mr. J. L. Toole sustaining the part of Caleb.

CHAPTER XIV.

DICKENS AS A JOURNALIST.

E have previously alluded to the fact that
Mr. Dickens had for some time past been

thinking of connecting himself with a new daily paper which was to appear early in the new year. The idea was well taken up. Money was freely spent by the various shareholders, and many advertisements told the public that a newspaper, which should supply everything in the first style of newspaper talent, would be published at the price of twopence-halfpenny. The name chosen was the Daily News, and Mr. Dickens was widely advertised as "the head of the literary department." Expectation was raised to a high pitch by this announcement; and in 1846, on the 21st of January, the first number appeared. The new journal, however, did not prove so successful as was expected. The staffs of other papers had been long organized, their expenses-of course immense-were well and judiciously controlled, and the arrangements complete. All these things were new to the Daily News, and the expenses entered into did not render it possible, with the circulation it had then reached, to sell the