Pen photographs of Charles Dickens's readings . everwe are in a receptive mood. Unique, among these Christmas Stories, is The Holly-Tree. That cold, heartless monster, the snow, never dida better deed than when it snowed up the bashful man, Charley, at the Yorkshire wayside inn, in consequenceof which the bashful man began to associate the Christ-mas time of year with human interest, and with some in-quiry into, and some care for, the lives of those by whomhe found himself surrounded. The snow, I repeat, neverdid a better deed, for otherwise, by the bashful mans ownconfession, we never should
Pen photographs of Charles Dickens's readings . everwe are in a receptive mood. Unique, among these Christmas Stories, is The Holly-Tree. That cold, heartless monster, the snow, never dida better deed than when it snowed up the bashful man, Charley, at the Yorkshire wayside inn, in consequenceof which the bashful man began to associate the Christ-mas time of year with human interest, and with some in-quiry into, and some care for, the lives of those by whomhe found himself surrounded. The snow, I repeat, neverdid a better deed, for otherwise, by the bashful mans ownconfession, we never should have been made the happierby his Christmas Carols, and Boots never would haverelated the adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walmers,Junior. So for once the snow thawed when it wascoldest. But Bootss story is utterly impossible. Why, somuch the better ! Are not some of the most delightfulstories in the world as removed from fact as fancy canmake them ? Was not fancy made for this purpose ? Arewe always to sit on a Pre-Eaphaelite stump and contem-. < BOOTS AT THE HOLLY-TKEE INI^. 87 plate a Pre-Eaphaelite cabbage ? Do any of us believein the possibility of The Tempest, or of MidsummerNights Dream, and yet could we live as comfortablywithout them ? If no one ever dreamed, where would bethe consolation of waking hours ? Fancy is the oil thatkeeps Realitys wheels in motion. Mr. and Mrs. HarryWalmers, Junior, never thought of running away to GretnaGreen. Of course not; but the charmingly quaint storyis as pure and fresh as mountain dew. I would notlose the recollection of that little creature in the sky-blue mantle tucked under the arm of her young lover,who walks off much bolder than Brass (with a capitalB), for a wilderness of disagreeable facts. Truth is notnecessarily a virtue. There are three branches on the original untouched the first and third branches, whichare better on the tree than off it, Dickens cuts down thesecond and brings it into the lecture-room
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License: Licensed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbritish, bookyear1871
