536
Return of illness 537
Our last meeting 538
A noteworthy incident 538
Last letter received from him 539
Final days at Gadshill 539
Wednesday the 8th of June 540
Last piece of writing 540
The 8th and 9th of June 541
The general grief 542
The burial 544
Unbidden mourners 544
The grave 544

* * * * *

APPENDIX.

I. THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DICKENS 547

II. THE WILL OF CHARLES DICKENS 561

III. CORRECTIONS MADE IN THE LATER EDITIONS OF
THE SECOND VOLUME OF THIS WORK 566

INDEX 571

THE LIFE

OF

CHARLES DICKENS.

CHAPTER I.

DAVID COPPERFIELD AND BLEAK HOUSE.

1850-1853.

Interest of _Copperfield_--Scott, Smollett, and
Fielding--Too close to the Real--Earlier and
Later Methods--Dickens at Hatton-garden
(1837)--Originals of Boythorn and
Skimpole--Last Glimpse of Leigh Hunt
(1859)--Changes made in
Skimpole--Self-defence--Scott and his
Father--Dickens and his Father--Sayings of John
Dickens--Skimpole and Micawber--Dickens and
David--Self-portraiture not attempted--The
Autobiographic Form--Consistent Drawing--Design
of David's Character--Tone of the Novel--The
Peggottys--Miss Dartle--Mrs. Steerforth--Betsey
Trotwood--A Country Undertaker--The Two
Heroines--Contrast of Esther and David--Plot of
the Story--Incidents and Persons
interwoven--Defects of _Bleak House_--Success
in Character--Value of Critical
Judgments--Pathetic Touches--Dean Ramsay on
_Bleak House_ and Jo--Originals of Chancery
Abuses.

DICKENS never stood so high in reputation as at the completion of
_Copperfield_. The popularity it obtained at the outset increased to a
degree not approached by any previous book excepting _Pickwick_. "You
gratify