Describes Thomas Powell. Transcription: his [Thomas Powell's] having invented attributed old jokes to me in his review of my book in the Daily News! I think [Charles] Dickens' good nature is shown in extracting a Micawber out of a Tom Powell. There's the rudiments of the character every way perceptible, but oh! what a mischievous malignant dog, in his peculiar way is the earthy original who unconsciously sat for the portrait of the dear, dirty, delightful 'friend of [David] Copperfield's youth.' In fact Dickens can't make a man with fun in him a scoundrel ? he does so love it. Hence he extra
Describes Thomas Powell. Transcription: his [Thomas Powell's] having invented attributed old jokes to me in his review of my book in the Daily News! I think [Charles] Dickens' good nature is shown in extracting a Micawber out of a Tom Powell. There's the rudiments of the character every way perceptible, but oh! what a mischievous malignant dog, in his peculiar way is the earthy original who unconsciously sat for the portrait of the dear, dirty, delightful 'friend of [David] Copperfield's youth.' In fact Dickens can't make a man with fun in him a scoundrel ? he does so love it. Hence he extracts the inherent mirth latent in the character and throws away the dirty alloy. Yet is old Powell unique! He had a trick, once, of meeting you and coining some lie that some acquaintance hadn ?t said of you, telling the other side a similar story. [Thomas] Picton told him he'd wring his nose for it as he, Powell, 'had been an 'epidemic' on him, too long! When detected, old Powell passes of [sic] the matter as an immense joke or claims credit &c. One of his traits is scissoring out newspaper incidents occurring in other cities, changing the names to that of New Yorkers, principally acquaintances, and republishing them. He would get F. Leslie into twenty libel suits, every week, if let to have his own way. He is all the morning chattering and suggesting such 'good jokes.' Were his character not pretty well known he might work infinite mischief. Title: Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries: Volume 10, page 163, March 17-28, 1859 . 28 March 1859. Gunn, Thomas Butler, 1826-1903
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