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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36311-0.txt b/36311-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..952542e --- /dev/null +++ b/36311-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5967 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Problem of 'Edwin Drood', by W. Robertson +Nicoll + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Problem of 'Edwin Drood' + A Study in the Methods of Dickens + + +Author: W. Robertson Nicoll + + + +Release Date: June 3, 2011 [eBook #36311] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEM OF 'EDWIN DROOD'*** + + +This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler. + + [Picture: An Original Wrapper of “Edwin Drood” Designed by Charles + Allston Collins. (By permission of Messrs. Chapman & Hall)] + + + + + + THE PROBLEM OF + ‘EDWIN DROOD’ + + + A STUDY IN THE METHODS OF DICKENS + BY + W. ROBERTSON NICOLL + + * * * * * + + HODDER AND STOUGHTON + LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO + + * * * * * + + PRINTED IN 1912 + + * * * * * + + TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + THE EARL OF ROSEBERY + K.G. + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +PREFACE ix +INTRODUCTION xvii + PART I.—THE MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION + CHAPTER I +THE TEXT OF ‘EDWIN DROOD’ 3 + CHAPTER II +EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES 20 +NOTES FOR THE NOVEL 56 + CHAPTER III +THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE WRAPPER 69 + CHAPTER IV +THE METHODS OF DICKENS 82 + PART II.—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION + CHAPTER V +WAS EDWIN DROOD MURDERED? 109 + CHAPTER VI +WHO WAS DATCHERY? 141 + CHAPTER VII +OTHER THEORIES 177 + CHAPTER VIII +HOW WAS ‘EDWIN DROOD’ TO END? 184 +BIBLIOGRAPHY 203 + + + +PREFACE + + +The first serious discussion of _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ came from +the pen of the astronomer, Mr. R. A. Proctor. Mr. Proctor wrote various +essays on the subject. One appears in his _Leisure Readings_, included +in Messrs. Longmans’ ‘Silver Library.’ A second was published in 1887, +and entitled _Watched by the Dead_. There were, I believe, in addition +some periodical articles by Mr. Proctor; these I have not seen. Mr. +Proctor modified certain positions in his earlier essay included in +_Leisure Readings_, so that the paper must not be taken as representative +of his final views. Whatever may be thought of Mr. Proctor’s theory, all +will admit that he devoted much care and ingenuity to the study, and that +he had an exceptional knowledge of Dickens’s books. + +In 1905 Mr. Cuming Walters published his _Clues to Dickens’s Mystery of +Edwin Drood_. The _Athenæum_ expressed its conviction ‘that in these +hundred pages or so he has found the clue, the main secret which had +baffled all previous investigators, and so has secured permanent +association with one of the immortals.’ Mr. Cuming Walters’s book was +immediately followed by Mr. Andrew Lang’s _The Puzzle of Dickens’s Last +Plot_. In this Mr. Lang adopted with modifications the theory of Mr. +Proctor. The subject continued to interest this lamented author to the +end of his life. He wrote many letters and articles on the theme, coming +ultimately to the conclusion that Dickens did not know himself how his +story was to be ended. + +In 1910 Professor Henry Jackson of Cambridge published a volume, _About +Edwin Drood_. It is a work of sterling merit, and particularly valuable +for its study of the chronology of the story. Dr. Jackson was the first +to examine the manuscript in a scholarly way, and to give some of the +chief results. His conclusions are in the main those of Mr. Cuming +Walters, but they are supported by fresh arguments and criticisms. + +There have been many articles on the subject, particularly in that +excellent periodical, the _Dickensian_, edited by Mr. B. W. Matz. Of +this magazine it may be said that every number adds something to our +knowledge of the great author. + +By far the most successful attempt to finish the book is that of Gillan +Vase, which was published in 1878. It is the only continuation worth +looking at. + +Among the best of the periodical contributions are those by Dr. M. R. +James of Cambridge, published in the _Academy_, and in the _Cambridge +Review_. The papers of Mr. G. F. Gadd in the _Dickensian_ deserve +special praise. In the _Bookman_ Mr. B. W. Matz, whose knowledge of +Dickens is unsurpassed, has declared for the view that Edwin Drood was +murdered, but has not committed himself to any theory of Datchery. + +I should not have been justified in publishing this volume if I had been +able to add no new material. But I venture to think it will be found +that while I have freely used the arguments and the discoveries of +previous investigators, I have made a considerable addition to the +stores. In particular, I have brought out the fact that Forster declined +to accept Dickens’s erasures in the later proofs, and I have printed the +passages which Dickens meant to have omitted. The effect of the +omissions is also traced to a certain extent, though not fully. The more +one studies them, the more significant they appear. + +I have printed completely for the first time the Notes and Plans for the +novel. I have also published some notes on the manuscript based on a +careful examination. These notes are not by any means complete, but they +include perhaps the more important facts. Through the kindness of Miss +Bessie Hatton and Mr. B. W. Matz I have been able to give an account of +the unacted play by Charles Dickens the younger and Joseph Hatton on +_Edwin Drood_. + +I have also put together for the first time the external evidence on the +subject. It is particularly important that this evidence should be read +in full, and much of it is now inaccessible to the general reader. In +the discussion of the main problems it will, I believe, be found that +certain new arguments have been brought forward. In particular I ask +attention to the quotations from the Bancroft _Memoirs_ and from _No +Name_. I have also given certain studies of the methods of Dickens which +may be useful. + +I have to acknowledge with warm thanks the kindness of Mr. Hugh Thomson +in sending me his reading of the Wrapper. + +It will thus, I hope, be found that the study is a contribution to the +subject, and not a mere repetition or paraphrase of what has been +advanced. + +I have made no attempt at summarising the novel. No one can possibly +attack the problem with any hope of success who has not read the book +over and over again. A hasty perusal will serve no purpose. The +fragment deserves and repays the very closest study. + +There are questions that have been raised and arguments that have been +stated which are not mentioned here. This is not because of ignorance. +I have read, I believe, practically all that has been published on the +theme. What I have omitted is matter that seems to me trivial or +irrelevant. + +While fully believing in the accuracy of the conclusions I have reached, +I desire to avoid dogmatism. There is always the possibility that a +writer may be diverted from his purpose. He may come to difficulties he +cannot surmount. The fact that scholarly students of Dickens have come +to different conclusions is a fact to be taken into account. + +My thanks are due to Lord Rosebery for kindly accepting the dedication of +the volume. Lord Rosebery is, however, in no way responsible for my +arguments or my conclusions. + +In preparing this study I have had the constant assistance and counsel of +my accomplished colleague, Miss Jane T. Stoddart. Miss Stoddart’s +accuracy and learning and acuteness have been of the greatest use to me, +and there is scarcely a chapter in the volume which does not owe much to +her. + +Mr. J. H. Ingram has most kindly furnished me with information about Poe. + +Mr. Clement Shorter has allowed me to use his very valuable collection of +newspaper articles. + +Mr. B. W. Matz has very courteously answered some inquiries, and he has +permitted me to use his valuable bibliography. + +Messrs. Chapman & Hall have kindly given me permission to use the +Wrapper, etc. + +Mr. Cuming Walters has been so kind as to read the proofs. + +If there are those who think that the problem does not deserve +consideration, I am not careful to answer them. It is a problem which +will be discussed as long as Dickens is read. Those who believe that +Dickens is the greatest humorist and one of the greatest novelists in +English literature, are proud to make any contribution, however +insignificant, to the understanding of his works. Mr. Gladstone, in his +‘Essay on the Place of Homer in Education,’ mentions the tradition of +Dorotheus, who spent the whole of his life in endeavouring to elucidate +the meaning of a single word in Homer. Without fully justifying this use +of time, we may agree in Mr. Gladstone’s general conclusion ‘that no +exertion spent upon any of the classics of the world, and attended with +any amount of real result, is thrown away.’ + +BAY TREE LODGE, HAMPSTEAD, + _Sept._ 1912. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The three mysteries of _Edwin Drood_ are thus stated by Mr. Cuming +Walters: + +‘The first mystery, partly solved by Dickens himself, is the fate of +Edwin Drood. Was he murdered?—if so, how and by whom, and where was his +body hidden? If not, how did he escape, and what became of him, and did +he reappear? + +‘The second mystery is—Who was Mr. Datchery, the “stranger who appeared +in Cloisterham” after Drood’s disappearance? + +‘The third mystery is—Who was the old opium woman, called the Princess +Puffer, and why did she pursue John Jasper?’ + +It is with the first two of these mysteries that this book is concerned. +In the concluding chapter some hints are offered as to the third, but in +my opinion there are no sufficient materials for any definite answer. + +The problem before us is to decide with one half of Dickens’s book in our +possession what the course of the other half was likely to be. + +It is important to lay stress upon this. An able reviewer in the +_Athenæum_, 1st April 1911, says: ‘The book is still in its infancy. Its +predecessor, _Our Mutual Friend_, attained to some sixty-seven chapters, +_Great Expectations_ to fifty-nine, _Bleak House_ to sixty-six. There is +no strain on probability in supposing that _Edwin Drood_ might, in +happier circumstances, have reached something like these proportions.’ +The fact is that the book was to be completed in twelve numbers, and we +have six. + +In the first part of this volume I have dealt with the materials for a +solution. + +In the second part, I have used the materials and the internal evidence +of the book, and attempted an answer to the questions. + + + + +PART I.—THE MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION + + +CHAPTER I—THE TEXT OF EDWIN DROOD + + +The materials for the solution of the ‘Edwin Drood’ problems must first +of all be found in the text of the unfinished volume. Hitherto it has +not been observed that the book we have is not precisely what it was when +Dickens left it. Three parts had been issued by Dickens himself. After +his death the remaining three parts were issued by John Forster. Dickens +had corrected his proofs up to and including chapter xxi. The succeeding +chapters xxii. and xxiii. are untouched. I discovered to my great +surprise on examining the proofs in the Forster Collection that Forster +had in every case ignored Dickens’s erasures, and had replaced all the +omitted passages in the text. Thus it happens that we do not read the +book as Dickens intended us to read it. We have passages which on +consideration he decided not to print. It is unnecessary to criticise +the action of Forster, but it seems clear that he should at least have +given warning to the reader. I now print the passages erased by Dickens +and restored by Forster. + + * * * * * + + +SENTENCES AND PARTS OF SENTENCES ERASED BY DICKENS + + +In Chapter XVII.:— + + _an eminent public character_, _once known to fame as Frosty faced + Fogo_, + + * * * * * + + _by_, _always_, _as it seemed_, _on errands of antagonistically + snatching something from somebody_, _and never giving anything to + anybody_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_Sir_,’ _said Mr. Honeythunder_, _in his tremendous voice_, _like a + schoolmaster issuing orders to a boy of whom he had a bad opinion_, + ‘_sit down_.’ + + _Mr. Crisparkle seated himself_. + + _Mr. Honeythunder having signed the remaining few score of a few + thousand circulars_, _calling upon a corresponding number of families + without means to come forward_, _stump up instantly_, _and be + Philanthropists_, _or go to the Devil_, _another shabby stipendiary + Philanthropist_ (_highly disinterested_, _if in earnest_) _gathered + these into a basket and walked off with them_. + + * * * * * + + _when they were alone_, + + * * * * * + + _Mr. Crisparkle rose_; _a little heated in the face_, _but with + perfect command of himself_. + + ‘_Mr. Honeythunder_,’ _he said_, _taking up the papers referred to_: + ‘_my being better or worse employed than I am at present is a matter + of taste and opinion_. _You might think me better employed in + enrolling myself a member of your Society_.’ + + ‘_Ay_, _indeed_, _sir_!’ _retorted Mr. Honeythunder_, _shaking his + head in a threatening manner_. ‘_It would have been better for you + if you had done that long ago_!’ + + ‘_I think otherwise_.’ + + ‘_Or_,’ _said Mr. Honeythunder_, _shaking his head again_, ‘_I might + think one of your profession better employed in devoting himself to + the discovery and punishment of guilt than in leaving that duty to be + undertaken by a layman_.’ + + * * * * * + + ‘_Perhaps I expect to retain it still_?’ _Mr. Crisparkle returned_, + _enlightened_; ‘_do you mean that too_?’ + + ‘_Well_, _sir_,’ _returned the professional Philanthropist_, _getting + up and thrusting his hands down into his trousers pockets_, ‘_I don’t + go about measuring people for caps_. _If people find I have __any + about me that fit ’em_, _they can put ’em on and wear ’em_, _if they + like_. _That’s their look out_: _not mine_.’ + + * * * * * + + _It seems a little hard to be so tied to a stake_, _and innocent_; + _but I don’t complain_.’ + + ‘_And you must expect no miracle to help you_, _Neville_,’ _said Mr. + Crisparkle_, _compassionately_. + + ‘_No_, _sir_, _I know that_. + + * * * * * + + _and that of course I am guiding myself by the advice of such a + friend and helper_. _Such a good friend and helper_!’ + + _He took the fortifying hand from his shoulder_, _and kissed it_. + _Mr. Crisparkle beamed at the books_, _but not so brightly as when he + had entered_. + + * * * * * + + _But they were as serviceable as they were precious to Neville + Landless_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_I don’t think so_,’ _said the Minor Canon_. ‘_There is duty to be + done here_; _and there are womanly feeling_, _sense_, _and courage + wanted here_.’ + + ‘_I meant_,’ _explained Neville_, ‘_that the surroundings are so dull + and unwomanly_, _and that Helena can have no suitable friend or + society here_.’ + + ‘_You have only to remember_,’ _said Mr. __Crisparkle_, ‘_that you + are here yourself_, _and that she has to draw you into the + sunlight_.’ + + _They were silent for a little while_, _and then Mr. Crisparkle began + anew_. + + ‘_When we first spoke together_, _Neville_, _you told me that your + sister had risen out of the disadvantages of your past lives as + superior to you as the tower of Cloisterham Cathedral is higher than + the chimneys of Minor Canon Corner_. _Do you remember that_?’ + + ‘_Right well_!’ + + ‘_I was inclined to think it at the time an enthusiastic flight_. + _No matter what I think it now_. _What I would emphasise is_, _that + under the head of Pride your sister is a great and opportune example + to you_.’ + + ‘_Under all heads that are included in the composition of a fine + character_, _she is_.’ + + ‘_Say so_; _but take this one_.’ + + * * * * * + + _She can dominate it even when it is wounded through her sympathy + with you_. + + * * * * * + + _Every day and hour of her life since Edwin Drood’s disappearance_, + _she has faced malignity and folly—for you—as only a brave nature + well directed can_. _So it will be with her to the end_. + + * * * * * + + _which knows no shrinking_, _and can get no mastery over her_.’ + + * * * * * + + _as she is a truly brave woman_,’ + + * * * * * + + _As Mr. Grewgious had to turn his eye up considerably before he could + see the chambers_, _the phrase was to be taken figuratively and not + literally_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_A watch_?’ _repeated Mr. Grewgious musingly_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_I entertain a sort of fancy for having him under my eye to-night_, + _do you know_?’ + + * * * * * + +In Chapter XVIII. + + * * * * * + + ‘_indeed_, _I have no doubt that we could suit you that far_, + _however particular you might be_. + + * * * * * + + _with a general impression on his mind that Mrs. Tope’s was somewhere + very near it_, _and that_, _like the children in the game of hot + boiled beans and very good butter_, _he was warm in his search when + he saw the Tower_, _and cold when he didn’t see it_. + + _He was getting very cold indeed when_. ‘_Until_’ _is put in here_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_Indeed_?’ _said Mr. Datchery_, _with a second look of some + interest_. + + * * * * * + + _Mr. Datchery_, _taking off his hat to give that shock of white hair + of his another shake_, _seemed quite resigned_, _and betook himself + whither he had been directed_. + + * * * * * + + _Perhaps Mr. Datchery had heard something of what had occurred there + last winter_? + + _Mr. Datchery had as confused a knowledge of the event in question_, + _on trying to recall it_, _as he well could have_. _He begged Mrs. + Tope’s pardon when she found it incumbent on her to correct him in + every detail of his summary of the facts_, _but pleaded that he was + merely a single buffer getting through life upon his means as idly as + he could_, _and that so many people were so constantly making away + with so many other people_, _as to render it difficult for a buffer + of an easy temper to preserve the circumstances of the several cases + unmixed in his mind_. + + * * * * * + + ‘_Might I ask His Honour_,’ _said Mr. Datchery_, ‘_whether that + gentleman we have just left is the gentleman of whom I have heard in + the neighbourhood as being much afflicted by the loss of a nephew_, + _and concentrating his life on avenging the loss_?’ + + ‘_That is the gentleman_. _John Jasper_, _sir_.’ + + ‘_Would His Honour allow me to inquire whether there are strong + suspicions of any one_?’ + + ‘_More than suspicions_, _sir_,’ _returned Mr. Sapsea_; ‘_all but + certainties_.’ + + ‘_Only think now_!’ _cried Mr. Datchery_. + + ‘_But proof_, _sir_, _proof must be built up stone by stone_,’ _said + the Mayor_. ‘_As I say_, _the end crowns the work_. _It is not + enough that Justice should be morally certain_; _she must be + immorally certain—legally_, _that is_.’ + + ‘_His Honour_,’ _said Mr. Datchery_, ‘_reminds me of the nature of + the law_. _Immoral_. _How true_!’ + + ‘_As I say_, _sir_,’ _pompously went on the Mayor_, ‘_the arm of the + law is a strong arm_, _and a long arm_. _That is the way I put it_. + _A strong arm and a long arm_.’ + + ‘_How forcible_!—_And yet_, _again_, _how true_!’ _murmured Mr. + Datchery_. + + ‘_And without betraying what I call the secrets of the + prison-house_,’ _said Mr. Sapsea_; ‘_the secrets of the prison-house + is the term I used on the bench_.’ + + ‘_And what other term than His Honour’s would express it_?’ _said Mr. + Datchery_. + + ‘_Without_, _I say_, _betraying them_, _I predict to you_, _knowing + the iron will of the gentleman we have just left_ (_I take the bold + step of calling it __iron_, _on account of its strength_), _that in + this case the long arm will reach_, _and the strong arm will strike_. + _This is our Cathedral_, _sir_. _The best judges are pleased to + admire it_, _and the best among our townsmen own to being a little + vain of it_.’ + + _All this time Mr. Datchery had walked with his hat under his arm_, + _and his white hair streaming_. + + * * * * * + +In the next sentence the word _now_ is struck out. + + * * * * * + + ‘He had an odd momentary appearance upon him of having forgotten his + hat, when Mr. Sapsea _now_ touched it.’ + + * * * * * + + ‘_I shall come_. _Master Deputy_, _what do you owe me_?’ + + ‘_A job_.’ + + ‘_Mind you pay me honestly with the job of showing me Mr. Durdles’s + house when I want to go there_.’ + + * * * * * + +In Chapter XX.:— + + * * * * * + + ‘_Yes_, _you may be sure that the stairs are fireproof_,’ _said Mr. + Grewgious_, ‘_and that any outbreak of the devouring element would be + perceived and suppressed by the watchmen_.’ + + * * * * * + +In Chapter XXI.:— + + _I wished at the time that you had come to me_; _but now I think it + best that you did as you did_, _and came to your guardian_.’ + + ‘_I did think of you_,’ _Rosa told him_; ‘_but Minor Canon Corner was + so near him_—’ + + ‘_I understand_. _It was quite natural_.’ + + * * * * * + + ‘_Have you settled_,’ _asked Rosa_, _appealing to them both_, ‘_what + is to be done for Helena and her brother_?’ + + ‘_Why really_,’ _said Mr. Crisparkle_, ‘_I am in great perplexity_. + _If even Mr. Grewgious_, _whose head is much longer than mine_, _and + who is a whole night’s cogitation in advance of me_, _is undecided_, + _what must I be_!’ + + * * * * * + + _Am I agreed with generally in the views I take_?’ + + ‘_I entirely coincide with them_,’ _said Mr. Crisparkle_, _who had + been very attentive_. + + ‘_As I have no doubt I should_,’ _added Mr. Tartar_, _smiling_, ‘_if + I understood them_.’ + + ‘_Fair and softly_, _sir_,’ _said Mr. Grewgious_; ‘_we shall fully + confide in you directly_, _if you will favour us with your + permission_.’ + + * * * * * + + _I begin to understand to what you tend_,’ _said __Mr. Crisparkle_, + ‘_and highly approve of your caution_.’ + + ‘_I needn’t repeat that I know nothing yet of the why and + wherefore_,’ _said Mr. Tartar_; ‘_but I also understand to what you + tend_, _so let me say at once that my chambers are freely at your + disposal_.’ + + + +THE MANUSCRIPT + + +I make also a few notes based on a careful examination of the manuscript. +Certain passages are rewritten, and the result pasted over the original +page. These passages have been noted. Also certain sentences have been +altered in form, sometimes by the substitution of one word for another, +and sometimes by the addition of words. It is not necessary to give +every example, but a few may be noted. + +Towards the end of the second chapter the passage beginning ‘I have been +taking opium for a pain,’ including the long paragraph which follows, has +been entirely rewritten and pasted on. + +In the description of the Landlesses in chapter vi. Dickens made certain +changes. As the sentence stands now it reads as follows: ‘An unusually +handsome lithe young fellow, and an unusually handsome lithe girl; much +alike; both very dark, and very rich in colour; she of almost the gipsy +type; something untamed about them both; a certain air upon them of +hunter and huntress; yet withal a certain air of being the objects of the +chase, rather than the followers.’ + +As originally written it read thus: ‘A handsome young fellow, and a +handsome girl; both dark and rich in colour; she quite gipsy like; +something untamed about them both; a certain air upon them of hunter and +huntress; yet a certain air of being the objects of the chase, rather +than the followers.’ + +In chapter vii., where Neville is speaking of his sister, as we have the +passage it reads: ‘In a last word of reference to my sister, sir (we are +twin children), you ought to know, to her honour, that nothing in our +misery ever subdued her, though it often cowed me. When we ran away from +it (we ran away four times in six years, to be soon brought back and +cruelly punished), the flight was always of her planning and leading. +Each time she dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man. I take +it we were seven years old when we first decamped; but I remember, when I +lost the pocket-knife with which she was to have cut her hair short, how +desperately she tried to tear it out, or bite it off.’ + +The original version ran thus: ‘In reference to my sister, sir (we are +twin children), you ought to know, to her honour, that nothing in our +misery ever cowed her, though it often cowed me. When we ran away from +it (we ran away four times in five years, to be very soon brought back +and punished), the flight was always of her planning. Each time she +dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man. I take it we were +eight years old when we first decamped; but I remember, when I lost the +pocket-knife with which she was to have cut her hair short, that she +tried to tear it out, or bite it off.’ + +At the beginning of chapter xviii. we read of the stranger in +Cloisterham: ‘Being buttoned up in a tightish blue surtout.’ This was +originally: ‘Being dressed in a tightish blue surtout.’ A little further +on in the same paragraph we have: ‘He stood with his back to the empty +fireplace.’ Dickens originally wrote: ‘He stood with his back to the +fireplace.’ In the next paragraph ‘His shock of white hair’ was +originally ‘His shock of long white hair.’ + +In the same chapter, when Datchery and the boy are standing looking at +Jasper’s rooms we have the following sentence: ‘“Indeed?” said Mr. +Datchery, with a second look of some interest.’ This was originally +written: ‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with an appearance of interest.’ +In the final proofs this passage was entirely struck out. On the next +page we have this sentence: ‘Mr. Datchery, taking off his hat to give +that shock of white hair of his another shake, seemed quite resigned, and +betook himself whither he had been directed.’ The original version ran +thus: ‘Mr. Datchery, taking off his hat and giving his shock of white +hair another shake, was quite resigned, and betook himself whither he had +been directed.’ + +A little further on in the same chapter, when Datchery first goes into +Jasper’s room we have: ‘“I beg pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, making a leg +with his hat under his arm.’ This was originally written, “I beg +pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, hat in hand.’ + +In the last paragraph of this chapter we have: ‘Said Mr. Datchery to +himself that night, as he looked at his white hair in the gas-lighted +looking-glass over the coffee-room chimney-piece at the Crozier, and +shook it out: “For a single buffer, of an easy temper, living idly on his +means, I have had a rather busy afternoon!”’ This was originally +written: ‘Said Mr. Datchery to himself that night as he looked at his +white hair in the gas-lighted looking-glass over the coffee-room +chimney-piece at the Crozier: “Well, for a single buffer of an easy +temper, living idly on his means, I have had rather a busy afternoon!”’ + +In chapter xx., when Grewgious is talking about Bazzard we have the +following: ‘“No, he goes his way, after office hours. In fact, he is off +duty here, altogether, just at present; and a firm downstairs, with which +I have business relations, lend me a substitute. But it would be +extremely difficult to replace Mr. Bazzard.”’ Originally Dickens wrote: +‘“No, he goes his ways after office hours. In fact, he is off duty at +present; and a firm downstairs with which I have business relations, lend +me a substitute. But it would be difficult to replace Mr. Bazzard.”’ + +Chapter xxii. is much corrected, and the whole of the second paragraph is +rewritten and pasted on. Chapter xxiii. is also a good deal corrected. +Near the beginning we have the following: ‘The Cathedral doors have +closed for the night; and the Choir-master, on a short leave of absence +for two or three services, sets his face towards London.’ This was +originally written: ‘The Cathedral doors have closed for the night; and +the Choir-master, on leave of absence for a few days, sets his face +towards London.’ + +The passage beginning: ‘But she goes no further away from it than the +chair upon the hearth,’ and the next two paragraphs are entirely +rewritten and pasted on, and the following sentences are cancelled: ‘“So +far I might a’most as well have never found out how to set you talking,” +is her commentary. “You are too sleepy to talk too plain. You hold your +secrets right you do!”’ A little further on we have: ‘“Halloa!” he cries +in a low voice, seeing her brought to a standstill: “who are you looking +for?”’ This was originally ‘“Halloa!” cries this gentleman, “who are you +looking for?”’ + +On the next page we have: ‘With his uncovered gray hair blowing about.’ +Dickens originally wrote: ‘With his gray hair blowing about.’ + +On the same page, when Datchery and the opium woman are talking together +Dickens puts in the following sentence about opium as an afterthought: +‘“And it’s like a human creetur so far, that you always hear what can be +said against it, but seldom what can be said in its praise.”’ + +A little further on we have: ‘Mr. Datchery stops in his counting, finds +he has counted wrong, shakes his money together, and begins again.’ +Originally we had: ‘Mr. Datchery stops in his counting, finds he has +counted wrong, and begins again.’ Very near the end of this chapter we +have: ‘At length he rises, throws open the door of a corner cupboard, and +refers to a few uncouth chalked strokes on its inner side.’ Dickens +first wrote: ‘At length he rises, throws open the door of a corner +cupboard, and refers to a few chalked strokes on its inner side.’ + + + +CHAPTER II—EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES + + +We now proceed to give such external testimony as exists of the plans and +intentions of Dickens. The chief authority is, of course, the _Life_ by +Forster. We have in addition the testimony of Madame Perugini, whose +first husband, Charles Allston Collins, designed the wrapper. To this we +add the testimony of Charles Dickens the younger as conveyed to his +sister. Through the kindness of Miss Bessie Hatton I have been able to +read the text of the unacted play written by Joseph Hatton and Charles +Dickens the younger on _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_. We have also the +important letter of Sir Luke Fildes, who was chosen by Dickens to +illustrate the story. It seems essential to any complete consideration +of the subject that these testimonies should be given in full, and this +is the more necessary because some of them are now not readily at hand. + + +JOHN FORSTER’S TESTIMONY + + +Dickens in 1868 had been alarming his friends and exhausting himself by +his public Readings. When he was in America on his last Reading tour he +had made a profit of about £20,000. He entered into an agreement with +Messrs. Chappell to give a final course of Readings in this country, from +which he expected to receive an additional £13,000. The strain of his +work in America had manifestly told upon him. ‘There was manifest +abatement of his natural force, the elasticity of bearing was impaired, +and the wonderful brightness of eye was dimmed at times.’ Unfavourable +and alarming symptoms of nerve mischief were also noted, but he drew +lavishly on his reserve strength, and thinking that a new excitement was +needed he chose the _Oliver Twist_ murder, one of the most trying of his +public recitals. He suffered ‘thirty thousand shocks to the nerves’ +going to Edinburgh. His Readings and his journeyings exacted from him +the most terrible physical exertion, but no warnings could arrest his +course till his physicians peremptorily ordered him to desist. Even +then, however, he resumed his Readings at a later date. + +In this condition of mental and bodily fatigue Dickens began his last +book. I print almost in full the relative passages from Forster. + + The last book undertaken by Dickens was to be published in + illustrated monthly numbers, of the old form, but to close with the + twelfth. It closed, unfinished, with the sixth number, which was + itself underwritten by two pages. + + His first fancy for the tale was expressed in a letter in the middle + of July. ‘What should you think of the idea of a story beginning in + this way?—Two people, boy and girl, or very young, going apart from + one another, pledged to be married after many years—at the end of the + book. The interest to arise out of the tracing of their separate + ways, and the impossibility of telling what will be done with that + impending fate.’ This was laid aside; but it left a marked trace on + the story as afterwards designed, in the position of Edwin Drood and + his betrothed. + + I first heard of the later design in a letter dated ‘Friday, the 6th + of August 1869,’ in which, after speaking, with the usual unstinted + praise he bestowed always on what moved him in others, of a little + tale he had received for his journal, he spoke of the change that had + occurred to him for the new tale by himself. ‘I laid aside the fancy + I told you of, and have a very curious and new idea for my new story. + Not a communicable idea (or the interest of the book would be gone), + but a very strong one, though difficult to work.’ The story, I + learnt immediately afterward, was to be that of the murder of a + nephew by his uncle; the originality of which was to consist in the + review of the murderer’s career by himself at the close, when its + temptations were to be dwelt upon as if, not he, the culprit, but + some other man, were the tempted. The last chapters were to be + written in the condemned cell, to which his wickedness, all + elaborately elicited from him as if told of another, had brought him. + Discovery by the murderer of the utter needlessness of the murder for + its object, was to follow hard upon commission of the deed; but all + discovery of the murderer was to be baffled till towards the close, + when, by means of a gold ring which had resisted the corrosive + effects of the lime into which he had thrown the body, not only the + person murdered was to be identified, but the locality of the crime + and the man who committed it. So much was told to me before any of + the book was written; and it will be recollected that the ring, taken + by Drood to be given to his betrothed only if their engagement went + on, was brought away with him from their last interview. Rosa was to + marry Tartar, and Crisparkle the sister of Landless, who was himself, + I think, to have perished in assisting Tartar finally to unmask and + seize the murderer. + + Nothing had been written, however, of the main parts of the design + excepting what is found in the published numbers; there was no hint + or preparation for the sequel in any notes of chapters in advance; + and there remained not even what he had himself so sadly written of + the book by Thackeray also interrupted by death. The evidence of + matured designs never to be accomplished, intentions planned never to + be executed, roads of thought marked out never to be traversed, goals + shining in the distance never to be reached, was wanting here. It + was all a blank. Enough had been completed nevertheless to give + promise of a much greater book than its immediate predecessor. ‘I + hope his book is finished,’ wrote Longfellow, when the news of his + death was flashed to America. ‘It is certainly one of his most + beautiful works, if not the most beautiful of all. It would be too + sad to think the pen had fallen from his hand, and left it + incomplete.’ Some of its characters are touched with subtlety, and + in its descriptions his imaginative power was at its best. Not a + line was wanting to the reality, in the most minute local detail, of + places the most widely contrasted; and we saw with equal vividness + the lazy cathedral town and the lurid opium-eater’s den. Something + like the old lightness and buoyancy of animal spirits gave a new + freshness to the humour; the scenes of the child-heroine and her + luckless betrothed had both novelty and nicety of character in them; + and Mr. Grewgious in chambers with his clerk and the two waiters, the + conceited fool Sapsea, and the blustering philanthropist + Honeythunder, were first-rate comedy. Miss Twinkleton was of the + family of Miss La Creevy; and the lodging-house keeper, Miss + Billickin, though she gave Miss Twinkleton but a sorry account of her + blood, had that of Mrs. Todgers in her veins. ‘I was put in early + life to a very genteel boarding-school, the mistress being no less a + lady than yourself, of about your own age, or it may be some years + younger, and a poorness of blood flowed from the table which has run + through my life.’ Was ever anything better said of a school-fare of + starved gentility? + + The last page of _Edwin Drood_ was written in the châlet in the + afternoon of his last day of consciousness; and I have thought there + might be some interest in a facsimile of the greater part of this + final page of manuscript that ever came from his hand, at which he + had worked unusually late in order to finish the chapter. It has + very much the character, in its excessive care of correction and + interlineation, of all his later manuscripts; and in order that + comparison may be made with his earlier and easier method, I place + beside it a portion of a page of the original of _Oliver Twist_. His + greater pains and elaboration of writing, it may be mentioned, become + first very obvious in the later parts of _Martin Chuzzlewit_; but not + the least remarkable feature in all his manuscripts is the accuracy + with which the portions of each representing the several numbers are + exactly adjusted to the space the printer has to fill. Whether + without erasure or so interlined as to be illegible, nothing is + wanting, and there is nothing in excess. So assured had the habit + become, that we have seen him remarking upon an instance the other + way, in _Our Mutual Friend_, as not having happened to him for thirty + years. Certainly the exceptions had been few and unimportant; but + _Edwin Drood_ more startlingly showed him how unsettled the habit he + most prized had become, in the clashing of old and new pursuits. + ‘When I had written’ (22nd of December 1869), ‘and, as I thought, + disposed of the first two numbers of my story, Clowes informed me to + my horror that they were, together, _twelve printed __pages too + short_! Consequently I had to transpose a chapter from number two to + number one, and remodel number two altogether. This was the more + unlucky, that it came upon me at the time when I was obliged to leave + the book, in order to get up the Readings’ (the additional twelve for + which Sir Thomas Watson’s consent had been obtained); ‘quite gone out + of my mind since I left them off. However, I turned to it and got it + done, and both numbers are now in type. Charles Collins has designed + an excellent cover.’ It was his wish that his son-in-law should have + illustrated the story; but this not being practicable, upon an + opinion expressed by Mr. Millais which the result thoroughly + justified, choice was made of Mr. S. L. Fildes. + +Forster goes on to explain as follows the discovery of the manuscript +containing the passage ‘How Mr. Sapsea Ceased to be a Member of the Eight +Club.’ This is to be found in every edition of _Edwin Drood_, but +Forster’s remarks are important and must be reproduced: + + This reference to the last effort of Dickens’s genius had been + written as it thus stands, when a discovery of some interest was made + by the writer. Within the leaves of one of Dickens’s other + manuscripts were found some detached slips of his writing, on paper + only half the size of that used for the tale, so cramped, interlined, + and blotted as to be nearly illegible, which on close inspection + proved to be a scene in which Sapsea the auctioneer is introduced as + the principal figure, among a group of characters new to the story. + The explanation of it perhaps is, that, having become a little + nervous about the course of the tale, from a fear that he might have + plunged too soon into the incidents leading on to the catastrophe, + such as the Datchery assumption in the fifth number (a misgiving he + had certainly expressed to his sister-in-law), it had occurred to him + to open some fresh veins of character incidental to the interest, + though not directly part of it, and so to handle them in connection + with Sapsea as a little to suspend the final development even while + assisting to strengthen it. Before beginning any number of a serial, + he used, as we have seen in former instances, to plan briefly what he + intended to put into it chapter by chapter; and his first number-plan + of _Drood_ had the following: ‘Mr. Sapsea. Old Tory jackass. + Connect Jasper with him. (He will want a solemn donkey by and by)’; + which was effected by bringing together both Durdles and Jasper, for + connection with Sapsea, in the matter of the epitaph for Mrs. + Sapsea’s tomb. The scene now discovered might in this view have been + designed to strengthen and carry forward that element in the tale; + and otherwise it very sufficiently expresses itself. It would supply + an answer, if such were needed, to those who have asserted that the + hopeless decadence of Dickens as a writer had set in before his + death. Among the lines last written by him, these are the very last + we can ever hope to receive; and they seem to me a delightful + specimen of the power possessed by him in his prime, and the rarest + which any novelist can have, of revealing a character by a touch. + Here are a couple of people, Kimber and Peartree, not known to us + before, whom we read off thoroughly in a dozen words; and as to + Sapsea himself, auctioneer and mayor of Cloisterham, we are face to + face with what before we only dimly realised, and we see the solemn + jackass, in his business pulpit, playing off the airs of Mr. Dean in + his Cathedral pulpit, with Cloisterham laughing at the impostor.’ + + + +MADAME PERUGINI’S TESTIMONY + + +Madame Perugini’s article appeared in the _Pall Mall Magazine_ for June +1906. The title is ‘Edwin Drood and the Last Days of Charles Dickens, by +his younger daughter Kate Perugini.’ Madame Perugini begins by +summarising the evidence of Forster as already given. She proceeds to +make the following instructive comments. It will be observed also that +she makes no additions to the external evidence, particularly on the +vexed question of the wrapper: + + _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ is a story, or, to speak more correctly, + the half of a story, that has excited so much general interest and so + many speculations as to its ultimate disclosures, that it has given + rise to various imaginary theories on the part of several clever + writers; and to much discussion among those who are not writers, but + merely fervent admirers and thoughtful readers of my father’s + writings. All these attach different meanings to the extraordinary + number of clues my father has offered them to follow, and they are + even more keen at the present day than they were when the book made + its first appearance to find their way through the tangled maze and + arrive at the very heart of the mystery. Among the numerous books, + pamphlets, and articles that have been written upon _Edwin Drood_, + there are some that are extremely interesting and well worth + attention, for they contain many clever and possible suggestions, and + although they do not entirely convince us, yet they add still more to + the almost painful anxiety we all feel in wandering through the + lonely precincts of Cloisterham Cathedral, or along the banks of the + river that runs through Cloisterham town and leads to the Weir of + which we are told in the story. + + In following these writers to the end of their subtle imaginings as + to how the mystery might be solved, we may sometimes be inclined to + pause for an instant and ask ourselves whether my father did not + perhaps intend his story to have an ending less complicated, although + quite as interesting, as any that are suggested. We find ourselves + turning to John Forster’s _Life of Charles Dickens_ to help us in our + perplexity, and this is what we read in his chapter headed ‘Last + Book.’ Mr. Forster begins by telling us that _Edwin Drood_ was to be + published in twelve illustrated monthly parts, and that it closed + prematurely with the sixth number, which was itself underwritten by + two pages; therefore my father had exactly six numbers and two pages + to write when he left his little châlet in the shrubbery of Gad’s + Hill Place on 8th June 1870, to which he never returned. Mr. Forster + goes on to say: ‘His first fancy for the tale was expressed in July + (meaning the July of 1869), in a letter which runs thus: + + ‘“What should you think of the idea of a story beginning in this + way?—Two people, boy and girl, or very young, going apart from one + another, pledged to be married after many years—at the end of the + book. The interest to arise out of the tracing of their separate + ways and the impossibility of telling what will be done with that + impending fate.”’ + + This idea my father relinquished, although he left distinct traces of + it in his tale; and in a letter to Mr. Forster, dated 6th August + 1869, tells him: + + ‘I laid aside the fancy I told you of, and have a very curious and + new idea for my new story. Not a communicable idea (or the interest + of the book would be gone), but a very strong one, though difficult + to work.’ + + Mr. Forster then says that he immediately afterwards learnt that the + story was to be ‘the murder of a nephew by his uncle’; the + originality of which was to consist in the review of the murderer’s + career by himself at the close, when its temptations were to be dwelt + upon as if not he, the culprit, but some other man, were the tempted. + The last chapters were to be written in the condemned cell, to which + his wickedness, all elaborately elicited from him as if told of + another, had brought him. Discovery by the murderer of the utter + needlessness of the murder for its object, was to follow hard upon + commission of the deed; but all discovery of the murderer was to be + baffled till towards the close, when, by means of a gold ring which + had resisted the corrosive effects of the lime into which he had + thrown the body, not only the person murdered was to be identified, + but the locality of the crime and the man who committed it.’ + + Mr. Forster adds a little information as to the marriages at the + close of the book, and makes use of the expression ‘I think’ in + speaking of Neville Landless, as though he were not quite certain of + what he remembered concerning him. This ‘I think’ has been seized + upon by some of Mr. Forster’s critics, who appear to argue that + because he did not clearly recollect one detail of the story he may + therefore have been mistaken in the whole. But we see for ourselves + that Mr. Forster is perfectly well informed as to the nature of the + plot, and the fate of the two principal characters concerned, the + murdered and the murderer; and the only thing upon which he is not + positive is the ending of Neville Landless, to which he confesses in + the words ‘I think,’ thus making his testimony to the more important + facts the more impressive. If we have any doubts as to whether Mr. + Forster correctly stated what he was told, we have only to turn to + the story of _Edwin Drood_, and we find, as far as it goes, that his + statement is entirely corroborated by what we read in the book. + + If those who are interested in the subject will carefully read what I + have quoted, they will not be able to detect any word or hint from my + father that it was upon the Mystery alone that he relied for the + interest and originality of his idea. The originality was to be + shown, as he tells us, in what we may call the psychological + description the murderer gives us of his temptations, temperament, + and character, as if told by another; and my father speaks openly of + the ring to Mr. Forster. Moreover, he refers to it often in his + story, and we all recognise it, whatever our other convictions may + be, as the instrument by which Jasper’s wickedness and guilt are to + be established in the end. I do not mean to imply that the mystery + itself had no strong hold on my father’s imagination; but, greatly as + he was interested in the intricacies of that tangled skein, the + information he voluntarily gave to Mr. Forster, from whom he had + withheld nothing for thirty-three years, certainly points to the fact + that he was quite as deeply fascinated and absorbed in the study of + the criminal Jasper, as in the dark and sinister crime that has given + the book its title. And he also speaks to Mr. Forster of the murder + of a nephew by an uncle. He does not say that he is uncertain + whether he shall save the nephew, but has evidently made up his mind + that the crime is to be committed. And so he told his plot to Mr. + Forster, as he had been accustomed to tell his plots for years past; + and those who knew him must feel it impossible to believe that in + this, the last year of his life, he should suddenly become underhand, + and we might say treacherous, to his old friend, by inventing for his + private edification a plot that he had no intention of carrying into + execution. This is incredible, and the nature of the friendship that + existed between Mr. Forster and himself makes the idea unworthy of + consideration. + + Mr. Forster was devotedly attached to my father, but as years passed + by this engrossing friendship made him a little jealous of his + confidence, and more than a little exacting in his demands upon it. + My father was perfectly aware of this weakness in his friend, and + although the knowledge of it made him smile at times, and even joke + about it when we were at home and alone, he was always singularly + tenderhearted where Mr. Forster was concerned, and was particularly + careful never to wound the very sensitive nature of one who, from the + first moment of their acquaintance, had devoted his time and energy + to making my father’s path in life as smooth as so intricate a path + could be made. In all business transactions Mr. Forster acted for + him, and generally brought him through these troubles triumphantly, + whereas, if left to himself, his impetuosity and impatience might + have spoilt all chances of success; while in all his private troubles + my father instinctively turned to his friend, and even when not + invariably following his advice, had yet so much confidence in his + judgment as to be rendered not only uneasy but unhappy if Mr. Forster + did not approve of the decision at which he ultimately arrived. From + the beginning of their friendship to the end of my father’s life the + relations between the two friends remained unchanged; and the notion + that has been spread abroad that my father wilfully misled Mr. + Forster in what he told him of the plot of _Edwin Drood_ should be + abandoned, as it does not correspond with the knowledge of those who + understood the dignity of my father’s character, and were also aware + of the perfectly frank terms upon which he lived with Mr. Forster. + + If my father again changed his plan for the story of _Edwin Drood_ + the first thing he would naturally do would be to write to Mr. + Forster and inform him of the alteration. We might imagine for an + instant that he would perhaps desire to keep the change as a surprise + for his friend, but what I have just stated with regard to Mr. + Forster’s character renders this supposition out of the question, as + my father knew for a certainty that his jealousy would debar him from + appreciating such a surprise, and that he would in all probability + strongly resent what he might with justice be allowed to consider as + a piece of unnecessary caution on my father’s part. That he did not + write to Mr. Forster to tell him of any divergence from his second + plan for the book we all know, and we know also that my eldest + brother, Charles, positively declared that he had heard from his + father’s lips that Edwin Drood was dead. Here, therefore, are two + very important witnesses to a fact that is still doubted by those who + never met my father, and were never impressed by the grave sincerity + with which he would have given this assurance. + + It is very often those who most doubt Mr. Forster’s accuracy on this + point who are in the habit of turning to his book when they are in + the search of facts to establish some theory of their own; and they + do not hesitate to do this, because they know that whatever views + they may hold upon the work itself, or the manner in which it is + written, absolute truth is to be found in its pages. Why should they + refuse, therefore, to believe a statement made upon one page of his + three volumes, when they willingly and gratefully accept the rest if + it is to their interest to do so? This is a difficult question to + answer, but it is not without importance when we are discussing the + subject of _Edwin Drood_. On pages 425 and 426 of the third volume + of Mr. Forster’s _Life_ is to be found the simple explanation of my + father’s plot for his story, as given to him by my father himself. + It is true that Mr. Forster speaks from remembrance, but how often + does he not speak from remembrance, and yet how seldom are we + inclined to doubt his word? Only here, because what he tells us does + not exactly fit in with our preconceived views as to how the tale + shall be finished, are we disposed to quarrel with him, for the + simple reason that we flatter ourselves we have discovered a better + ending to the book than the one originally intended for it by the + author. And so we put his statement aside and ignore it, while we + grope in the dark for a thing we shall never find; and we obstinately + refuse to allow even the little glimmer of light my father has + himself thrown upon the obscurity to help us in our search. It was + not, I imagine, for the intricate working out of his plot alone that + my father cared to write this story; but it was through his wonderful + observation of character, and his strange insight into the tragic + secrets of the human heart, that he desired his greatest triumph to + be achieved. + + I do not write upon these things because I have any fresh or + startling theories to offer upon the subject of _Edwin Drood_. I + cannot say that I am without my own opinions, but I am fully + conscious that after what has been already so ably said, they would + have but little interest for the general public; so I shrink from + venturing upon any suggestions respecting the solution of my father’s + last book. My chief object in writing is to remind the readers of + this paper that there are certain facts connected with this story + that cannot lightly be put aside, and these facts are to be found in + John Forster’s _Life of Charles Dickens_, and in the declaration made + by my brother Charles. Having known both Mr. Forster and my brother + intimately, I cannot for a moment believe that either of them would + speak or write that which he did not know to be strictly true; and it + is on these grounds alone that I think I have a right to be heard + when I insist upon the assertion that Edwin Drood was undoubtedly + murdered by his uncle Jasper. As to the unravelling of the mystery, + and the way in which the murder was perpetrated, we are all at + liberty to have our own views, seeing that no explanations were as + yet arrived at in the story; but we should remember that only vague + speculations can be indulged in when we try to imagine them for + ourselves. + + It has been pointed out, and very justly, that although Jasper + removed the watch, chain, and scarf-pin from Edwin’s body, there + would possibly remain on it money of some kind, keys, and the metal + buttons on his clothes, which the action of the quicklime could not + destroy, and by which his identity would be made known. This has + been looked upon as an oversight, a mere piece of forgetfulness on my + father’s part. But remembering, as I do very well, what he often + said, that the most clever criminals were constantly detected through + some small defect in their calculations, I cannot but think it most + probable that this was not an oversight, but was intended to lead up + to the pet theory that he so frequently mentioned whenever a murder + case was brought to trial. After reading _Edwin Drood_ many times, + as most of us have read it, we must, I think, come to the conclusion + that not a word of this tale was written without full consideration; + that in this story at least my father left nothing to chance, and + that therefore the money, and the buttons, were destined to take + their proper place in the book, and might turn out to be a weak spot + in Jasper’s well-arranged and complicated plot, _the_ weak spot my + father insisted upon, as being inseparable from the commission of a + great crime, however skilfully planned. The keys spoken of need not + be taken seriously into account, for Edwin was a careless young + fellow, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that he did not always + carry them upon his person; he was staying with his uncle, and he may + have left them in the portmanteau, which was most likely at the time + of the murder lying unfastened in his room, with the key belonging to + it in the lock. It would be unfair to suggest that my father wrote + unadvisedly of this or that, for he had still the half of his story + to finish, and plenty of time, as he thought, in which to gather up + the broken threads and weave them into a symmetrical and harmonious + whole, which he was so eminently capable of completing. + + That my father’s brain was more than usually clear and bright during + the writing of _Edwin Drood_, no one who lived with him could + possibly doubt; and the extraordinary interest he took in the + development of this story was apparent in all that he said or did, + and was often the subject of conversation between those who anxiously + watched him as he wrote, and feared that he was trying his strength + too far. For although my father’s death was sudden and unexpected, + the knowledge that his bodily health was failing had been for some + time too forcibly brought to the notice of those who loved him, for + them to be blind to the fact that the book he was now engaged in, and + the concentration of his devotion and energy upon it, were a tax too + great for his fast-ebbing strength. Any attempt to stay him, + however, in work that he had undertaken was as idle as stretching + one’s hands to a river and bidding it cease to flow; and beyond a few + remonstrances now and again urged, no such attempt was made, knowing + as we did that it would be entirely useless. And so the work sped + on, carrying with it my father’s few remaining days of life, and the + end came all too soon, as it was bound to come, to one who never + ceased to labour for those who were dear to him, in the hope of + gaining for them that which he was destined never to enjoy. And in + my father’s grave lies buried the secret of his story. + + The scene of the Eight Club, which Mr. Forster discovered after his + death, in which there figure two new characters, Mr. Peartree and Mr. + Kimber, bears no relation as we read it to the unfolding of the plot; + and although the young man Poker, who is also introduced in this + fragment for the first time, seems to be of more significance, we see + too little of him to be certain that we may not already have made his + acquaintance. In Mr. Sapsea my father evidently took much pleasure, + and we are here reminded of the note made for him in the first + number-plan of _Edwin Drood_: ‘Mr. Sapsea. Old Tory jackass. + Connect Jasper with him. (He will want a solemn donkey by and by.)’ + My father also wanted the solemn donkey, and not only brought him in + for the purposes of his story, but because, as in the case of ‘the + Billickin,’ he took delight in dwelling upon the absurdities of the + character. + + As to the cover of _Edwin Drood_, that has been the subject of so + much discussion there is very little to tell. It was designed and + drawn by Mr. Charles A. Collins, my first husband. The same reasons + that prevented me from teasing my father with questions respecting + his story made me refrain from asking any of Mr. Collins; but from + what he said I certainly gathered that he was not in possession of my + father’s secret, although he had made his designs from my father’s + directions. There are a few things in this cover that I fancy have + been a little misunderstood. In the book only Jasper and Neville + Landless are described as dark young men. Edwin Drood is fair, and + so is Crisparkle. Tartar is burnt by the sun; but when Rosa asks + ‘the Unlimited head chambermaid’ at the hotel in Furnival’s Inn if + the gentleman who has just called is dark, she replies: + + ‘No, Miss, more of a brown gentleman.’ + + ‘You are sure not with black hair?’ asked Rosa, taking courage. + + ‘Quite sure of that, Miss. Brown hair and blue eyes.’ + + Now in a drawing it would be difficult to make a distinction between + the fair hair of Edwin and the slightly darker hair of Tartar; and in + the picture, where we see a girl—Rosa we imagine her to be—seated in + a garden, the young man at her feet is, I feel pretty sure, intended + for Tartar. Edwin it cannot be, nor Neville, as has been supposed, + for he was decidedly dark. Besides this, Neville would not have told + his affection to Rosa, for Helena was far too quick-witted not to + understand from Rosa’s first mention of Tartar that she is already in + love with him, and she would have warned and saved the brother to + whom she was so ardently attached from making any such confession. + The figure is not intended for Jasper, because we know that Jasper + did not move from the sun-dial in the scene where he declares his mad + passion for Rosa, and Jasper had black hair and whiskers. And, + again, the drawing cannot be meant to represent Helena and + Crisparkle, for the young man is not in clerical dress. The figures + going up the stairs are still more difficult to make out; but there + can be little doubt that the active higher one is the same young man + we see at Rosa’s feet, and must therefore be Tartar. Of the + remaining two, one may be Crisparkle, although there is still no + clerical attire, and the other either Grewgious or Neville, though + the drawing certainly bears but little resemblance to either of those + characters. + + The lower and middle picture is, of course, the great scene of the + book; but whether the young man standing calm, and inexorable as + Fate, is intended to be the ghost of Edwin as seen by Jasper in his + half-dazed and drugged condition, or whether it is Helena dressed as + Datchery, as one writer has ingeniously suggested (although there are + reasons in the story against the supposition that Helena is Datchery, + and many to support the theory that the ‘old buffer’ is + Bazzard),—these are puzzles that will never be cleared up, except to + the minds of those who have positively determined that they hold the + clue to the mystery, and can only see its interpretation from one + point of view. The girl’s figure with streaming hair, in the picture + where the word ‘Lost’ is written, has been supposed to represent Rosa + after her parting from Edwin; but it may more likely, I think, + indicate some scene in the book which has yet to be described in the + story. This is another enigma; but my father, it may be presumed, + intended to puzzle his readers by the cover, and he had every + legitimate right to do so, for had his meaning been made perfectly + clear ‘the interest of the book would be gone.’ Some surprise has + been expressed because Mr. Forster did not ask Mr. Collins for the + meaning of his designs; but if he already knew the plot, why should + he seek information from Mr. Collins? particularly as my father may + have told him that he had not disclosed the secret of his story to + his illustrators, for I believe I am right in affirming that Mr. Luke + Fildes was no better informed as to the plan of the book than was Mr. + Collins. + + * * * * * + + I am unfortunately not acquainted with much that has been written + about _Edwin Drood_, for the story was so painfully associated with + my father’s death and the sorrow of that time that after first + reading it I could never bear to look into the book again till about + two months ago, when I found myself obliged to do so; and then my + thoughts flew back to the last occasion when my father mentioned it + in my hearing. + + . . . . . + + There is one other fact connected with my father and _Edwin Drood_ + that I think my readers would like to know, and I must be forgiven if + I again speak from my own experience in order to relate it. Upon + reading the book once more, as I have already told, after an interval + of a great number of years, the story took such entire possession of + me that for a long time I could think of nothing else; and one day, + my aunt, Miss Hogarth, being with me, I asked her if she knew + anything more definite than I did as to how the ending was to be + brought about. For I should explain that when my father was + unusually reticent we seldom, if ever, attempted to break his silence + by remarks or hints that might lead him to suppose that we were + anxious to learn what he had no doubt good reasons for desiring to + keep from us. And we made it a point of honour among ourselves + never, in talking to him on the subject of _Edwin Drood_, to show the + impatience we naturally felt to arrive at the end of so engrossing a + tale. + + My aunt said that she knew absolutely nothing, but she told me that + shortly before my father’s death, and after he had been speaking of + some difficulty he was in with his work, without explaining what it + was, she found it impossible to refrain from asking him, ‘I hope you + haven’t really killed poor Edwin Drood?’ To which he gravely + replied, ‘I call my book the Mystery, not the History, of Edwin + Drood.’ And that was all he would answer. My aunt could not make + out from the reply, or from his manner of giving it, whether he + wished to convey that the Mystery was to remain a mystery for ever, + or if he desired gently to remind her that he would not disclose his + secret until the proper time arrived for telling it. But I think his + words are so suggestive, and may carry with them so much meaning, + that I offer them now, with my aunt’s permission, to those who take a + delight in trying to unravel the impenetrable secrets of a story that + has within its sadly shortened pages a most curious fascination, and + is ‘gifted with invincible force to hold and drag.’ + + + +THE TESTIMONY OF CHARLES DICKENS THE YOUNGER + + +I have quoted from Madame Perugini’s statement the words: ‘We know also +that my elder brother Charles positively declared that he had heard from +his father’s lips that Edwin Drood was dead.’ I proceed to corroborate +the statement by giving here a brief account of the play by Joseph Hatton +and Charles Dickens. + +The importance of this play as a witness to Dickens’s intentions is shown +in an article by Joseph Hatton which appeared in the _People_ on 19th +November 1905. Mr. Hatton explains that about the year 1880, in a +conversation, he sketched out his idea of the play up to the crucial +point. Dickens had a play in his mind when he wrote the story, and it +was said that he had thought of Dion Boucicault as his collaborator in +his work for the stage. After the death of Dickens, Boucicault had a +mind to write the play and invent his own conclusion to the story, but +afterwards gave it up. Mr. Hatton, in a conversation with Mr. Luke +Fildes, saw Dickens’s possible conclusion, but did not attempt to gather +up the broken threads. ‘Consulting his son, Charles, to whom I offered +my sketch, I found that his father had revealed to him sufficient of the +plot to clearly indicate how the story was to end. We agreed to write +the play. Much of the son’s version of the finale was proved by the +instructions which the author had given to the illustrator in regard to +certain of the unpublished and unwritten chapters. And so Dickens the +younger and I fell to work and wrote the play of _Edwin Drood_ for the +Princess’s Theatre.’ He goes on to explain that the piece was cast, and +a great point made of the authoritative conclusion of the story, thus +clearing up something of the mystery which was part of its title. But +Mr. Harry Jackson, the stage manager, did not like the play, and it was +left unacted. Years after, Dickens had a hope that Mr. Willard would +undertake the play, but this expectation was not fulfilled. Dickens +consoled himself by saying that next to the pleasure of having a good +play acted was the pleasure of writing it, and for the rest he took the +incident as one of the ‘little ironies’ of his life. + +The play as it lies before me is in four Acts. The first is made up of +conversations between the Landlesses, Mrs. Crisparkle, Septimus +Crisparkle, Rosa and Edwin. These are practically repeated from the +book. Grewgious and Jasper then come on the scene, the novel being +closely followed in their conversation. The second Act is made up of +conversations also mainly reproduced from the book between Helena and +Rosa, Jasper and Crisparkle. Grewgious comes on in the second Scene +where Edwin and Rosa decide to be brother and sister. There follow in +the third Scene the talks between Jasper and Durdles. Edwin talks to the +opium woman, and Jasper appears with the scarf on his arm. So far there +is practically nothing that is not taken directly from Dickens. The +third Act opens with a conversation between Septimus and Mrs. Crisparkle +as to the guilt of Landless. Helena and Neville appear protesting +innocence. Grewgious tells Jasper about the breaking of the engagement +between Edwin and Rosa. Jasper makes love to Rosa. In the concluding +Act the scene is laid in the opium den in London: ‘Dark, +poverty-stricken. Fourpost bedstead, chair, table, candlestick, set well +down so as to allow good space for vision later on, light up a little, +when Opium Sal lights candle shortly after Jasper’s entrance. For +details see Fildes’s picture in book. Opium Sal discovered moving about +in a witch-like kind of way.’ Jasper enters and tells Sal that a man +followed him to the door. She lights the opium pipe for him, and then +questions him. + +He says at last: ‘Hush! the journey’s made! It’s over!’ + + SAL. Is it over so soon? + + JASPER. I must sleep that vision off. It is the poorest of all. No + struggle, no consciousness of peril, no entreaty, and yet I never saw + _that_ before! + + SAL. See what, deary? + + JASPER. Look at it! Look what a poor miserable thing it is! _That_ + must be real. It’s over. + + (_He has accompanied this incoherence with some wild unmeaning + gestures_; _but they trail off into the progressive inaction of + stupor_, _and he lies like a log upon the bed_. _The_ WOMAN + _attempts to rouse him as before_, _but finding him past rousing + __for the time_, _she slowly gets upon her feet with an air of + disappointment_, _flicks his face with her hand savagely_, _and then + flings a rug over_ JASPER.) + + (_Both_ SAL _and_ JASPER _now being perfectly quiet_, _the back of + scene is illuminated_, _showing the scene exactly as at end of Act + II_. _The candle is out in the Opium Den_, _leaving front part of + stage dark_. _The brightest light in vision is from_ JASPER’S + _window_, _leaving other parts of scene slightly in shadow but + sufficiently light for action to be seen_. _It is to be carefully + noted that all the persons on in the Vision Scene should wear list + shoes_, _so that they make no noise in moving about_, _and that the + Stage Manager should insist upon perfect quiet behind the stage and + at the wings_. _The actors_, _too_, _speak in rather a measured_, + _monotonous tone_. _Crowd later on in Vision to be grouped and + drilled from this point of view_.) + + (_The Scene being well open_, _there is a flash of lightning_, _and a + peal of thunder_, _followed after a short pause by a burst of merry + laughter from_ JASPER’S _room_, _the voices of_ DROOD _and_ NEVILLE + _being audible_. _They come down to door_, JASPER _with them_, + _without his hat_.) + +Edwin, Jasper, and Neville are talking. Edwin says he will walk with +Neville as far as the river and have a look at the storm. Neville and +Jasper exchange good-nights, and Edwin says: ‘Don’t go to bed, Jack, I +won’t be long.’ + + (JASPER _in response waves hand_. _Pause_. _Then re-enters house_, + _closes door_. _Goes upstairs_. _Puts light out_, _and is seen for + a moment at window_. _Flash of lightning_, _peal of thunder_. + _Pause_. JASPER _comes out with hat on head_, _the black silk scarf + on arm_. _Comes out cautiously_, _closing door after him and looks + round_, _and warily goes to crypt_; _finds door locked and takes key + from his pocket with which he opens it_, _and pushes door wide open_. + _Creeps off in the direction_ NEVILLE _and_ EDWIN _have gone_. + _Pause_. _Weak flash of lightning and peal of thunder_. JASPER + _returns crouching_, _and hides within shadow of wall_. _Re-enter_ + EDWIN DROOD _from where exit was made_. _He looks up at_ JASPER’S + _window_.) + + Ah, too bad; he has gone to bed and has put his light out. + + (JASPER _rushes upon_ EDWIN _from behind_, _seizes him_, _whips + scarf_, _which he has previously been twisting into rope-like shape_, + _round his head and neck_, _and proceeds to strangle him_. _There is + a fierce struggle for a few seconds_. _Nearly on the point of + death_, EDWIN _gets free of_ JASPER, _sees his assailant_, _and + thinks_ JASPER _is there to help him_.) + + EDWIN. Jack! Jack! Save me! They are killing me! (Flings himself + into JASPER’S arms.) + + JASPER. Save you, yes! + + (_Deliberately tightens scarf_, _strikes_ EDWIN, _and kills him_. + _Flash of lightning and peal of thunder_, _as_ EDWIN _falls lifeless + at_ JASPER’S _feet_. _Pause_.) + + JASPER (_a little overcome physically_, _and jerking out his + sentences gasping_, _but with intense ferocity_). You poor fool. + You’ll boast no more. (_Spurning body with his foot_.) Ah! ah! ah! + (_Laughs wildly_.) He’s gone. The fellow-traveller has gone for + ever, gone down, into the everlasting abyss! Hush! (_Listens_.) + Durdles? No, opium mixed with his liquor keeps that other fool + quiet. (_Listens again_, _and looks cautiously round—distant + low-moaning peal of thunder_.) Only the storm wearing itself out! + Ah! ah! ah! (_Looking at body_.) You’ve seen the last of the storm, + weak, self-satisfied fool! Come (wildly seizing the body, and + dragging it towards crypt), come—to your marriage bed (_drags body_). + Come—to sleep with Death! + + (_Exit with body into crypt_.) + + (_Slow music_. _Short pause_. _Re-enter_ JASPER _from crypt_, _and + as he does so gauze clouds begin to darken scene_. JASPER _locks + crypt_, _puts key in his pocket_, _crosses_, _crouching and + creeping_, _looking behind him fearfully_, _and enters his own + house_, _with flash of lightning_, _peal of thunder_, _the very last + of the storm_. _By this time gauze clouds nearly darken the scene_. + _Double on bed moves_. OPIUM SAL _rises restlessly_, _once more + leans over bed_, _and begins to talk while the actor representing_ + JASPER_ returns to his place on bed_.) + + SAL. Troubled dreams, deary! Troubled dreams. Have you been taking + the journey again? Was it pleasant, and what did you do to + fellow-traveller, eh? + + JASPER (_speaking in a dreamy way_). That’s how the journey was + made—that’s how I like to make it. But there’s something more. I + never saw that before; what is it? (_Fearfully_, _falls asleep + again_.) + + (SAL _wearily resumes her attitude of rest with her arms on bed_, + _and the Vision Scene goes on_. DURDLES _appears beckoning off_, + _unlocks crypt and enters_. _As he does so_ GREWGIOUS _and_ ROSA + _come on from direction indicated by_ DURDLES’S _beckoning_, _all the + others in scene coming from the same place_. ROSA _clings to her + guardian’s arm_. _They stop in centre of stage opposite crypt_, + _looking towards door_. NEVILLE _and_ HELENA _follow_. _They join_ + GREWGIOUS _and_ ROSA. CRISPARKLE _and_ OPIUM SAL’S _Double come on_. + OPIUM SAL’S _Double is pointing towards_ ROSA _and others_, _and_ + CRISPARKLE _joins the group_. _The Double now stands near wing and + beckons off_. _Townspeople come on and make group_, _Double at their + head_, _she pointing towards crypt_; _they all look in that + direction_. DURDLES _comes to door_, _beckons_ GREWGIOUS, _who goes + in after_ DURDLES _to crypt_. _Groups now move a step or two nearer + to entrance of crypt_. _Slight pause_. ROSA _clings to_ HELENA; + NEVILLE _in dumb show whispers anxiously to_ HELENA _and_ ROSA, _as + if to reassure and comfort them_. HELENA _stands proudly but + anxious_; ROSA _droopingly_.) + + GREW. (_standing just outside crypt door_, _and addressing himself + to_ CRISPARKLE). Keep the women back; this is no place for them. + Edwin Drood has been foully murdered! + + (_Sensation in crowd_, _not indicated by noise_, _but dumb show_. + ROSA _staggers_. NEVILLE _catches her in his arms_. JASPER _moves + and groans in his sleep_. DURDLES _comes out of crypt_, _plucks_ + GREWGIOUS _by the sleeve_, _and holds up_ JASPER’S _long black + scarf_.) + + CRIS. Jasper’s scarf! + + (JASPER again groans on bed.) + + Where is Jasper? + + (_Goes to door of_ JASPER’S _house and knocks_. _This knocking must + be made right at back of stage_.) + + GREW. It is no good knocking there. The murderer of Edwin Drood + will be found in London! + + (_Sensation as before in crowd_. CRISPARKLE _still knocks_, _and + between knocks faint rapping is heard at door of opium den_, _and_ + JASPER _tosses about on bed_, _then starts up with a cry_, _the + Vision disappearing the moment he stands on the floor_.) + + JASPER (_starting as if at what he has seen_). No, no. It’s a lie! + + (_Knocking at opium den door becomes louder_.) + + (_Turning to_ SAL, _who is now at other end of room_.) What’s that? + + SAL. They wants to come in. + + JASPER. Who wants to come in? + + (_Knocking is louder and louder_.) + + SAL. Why, the perlice. + + JASPER. The police! Damnation! The man who followed me here + to-night! Then it’s all true. Durdles has found the body in spite + of all my precautions, and I am lost. (Rushes wildly about room.) + Is there no escape? Where’s the window? + + SAL. There ain’t no winder, deary. + + JASPER. Then I’m trapped like a wolf in a cage. You filthy hag, + this is your doing. + + (_Seizes candlestick on stool to strike her_; _she crouches down_. + _Knocking at door now so fierce as to arrest his attention_, _and he + turns towards it_, _weapon in his hand_.) + + (_Voice at door_. Open in the Queen’s name!) + + (JASPER _drops stool or whatever he has seized upon to attack_ SAL + _with_, _staggers back_, _tears open his shirt-sleeve_, _where a + small phial is seen fastened to left wrist_, _drags it from his wrist + and holds it convulsively in right hand_, _as door is violently burst + open_.) + + (_Enter_ Inspector of Police, _handcuffs in hand_, DURDLES, NEVILLE, + CRISPARKLE, and GREWGIOUS.) + + GREW. (_to_ Officer, _pointing to_ JASPER). There is your prisoner. + + JASPER. Never! Do you think I was not prepared for this always! + (_Takes poison_, _and flings phial down_.) Now I defy you! Hush! I + did kill him! Ha! ha! The fellow-traveller! Yes. For love. For a + mad wild passion. Killed him as I would have killed you and you—as I + would have swept you all from the path that led to her. Ha! ha! what + fools you were not to see it, not to see my love, how it burned, how + it consumed me. She knew it! Rosa knew it. (_Then speaking as + though none but he and_ ROSA _were present_.) Rosa! Rosa! My Rosa! + Come! You must! You shall! (_Wildly_.) Back! Back! She’s mine I + tell you! (_Passes hand over eyes_, _and staggers_, _then once more + half realises the situation_.) What’s that? (_Looks round_, _and + sees_ NEVILLE.) You here! You who think to reap the harvest for + which I have sold my soul to hell! Vile wretch! I’ll kill you! + + (_Rushes to_ NEVILLE, _who stands forward_. _In act of raising arm + to strike him_, JASPER _is seized with death spasm_, _trembles_, + _shudders_, _and_, _flinging up arms_, _falls dead_. _Picture_: + OPIUM SAL _crouching still in fear_, _Officer_, GREWGIOUS, DURDLES, + NEVILLE, _and_ CRISPARKLE _near the body_.) + + END OF DRAMA + + + +THE TESTIMONY OF SIR LUKE FILDES + + +A reviewer in the _Times_ Literary Supplement, 27th October 1905, wrote: +‘Nor do we attach much importance to any of the hints Dickens dropped, +whether to John Forster, to any member of his family, or to either of his +illustrators. He was very anxious that his secret should not be guessed, +and the hints which he dropped may very well have been intentionally +misleading.’ This called forth the following letter from Sir Luke +Fildes: + + TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES + + Sir,—In an article entitled ‘The Mysteries of Edwin Drood’ in your + issue of to-day, the writer, speculating on the various theories + advanced as solutions of the mystery, ventures to say:— + + ‘Nor do we attach much importance to any of the hints Dickens + dropped, whether to John Forster, to any member of his family, or to + either of his illustrators. He was very anxious that his secret + should not be guessed, and the hints which he dropped may very well + have been intentionally misleading.’ + + I know that Charles Dickens was very anxious that his secret should + not be guessed, but it surprises me to read that he could be thought + capable of the deceit so lightly attributed to him. + + The ‘hints he dropped’ to me, his sole illustrator—for Charles + Collins, his son-in-law, only designed the green cover for the + monthly parts, and Collins told me he did not in the least know the + significance of the various groups in the design; that they were + drawn from instructions personally given by Charles Dickens, and not + from any text—these ‘hints’ to me were the outcome of a request of + mine that he would explain some matters, the meaning of which I could + not comprehend, and which were for me, his illustrator, + embarrassingly hidden. + + I instanced in the printers’ rough proof of the monthly part sent to + me to illustrate where he particularly described John Jasper as + wearing a neckerchief of such dimensions as to go twice round his + neck; I called his attention to the circumstance that I had + previously dressed Jasper as wearing a little black tie once round + the neck, and I asked him if he had any special reasons for the + alteration of Jasper’s attire, and, if so, I submitted I ought to + know. He, Dickens, appeared for the moment to be disconcerted by my + remark, and said something meaning he was afraid he was ‘getting on + too fast’ and revealing more than he meant at that early stage, and + after a short silence, cogitating, he suddenly said, ‘Can you keep a + secret?’ I assured him he could rely on me. He then said, ‘I must + have the double necktie! It is necessary, for Jasper strangles Edwin + Drood with it.’ + + I was impressed by his earnestness, as indeed, I was at all my + interviews with him—also by the confidence which he said he reposed + in me, trusting that I would not in any way refer to it, as he feared + even a chance remark might find its way into the papers ‘and thus + anticipate his “mystery”’; and it is a little startling, after more + than thirty-five years of profound belief in the nobility of + character and sincerity of Charles Dickens, to be told now that he + probably was more or less of a humbug on such occasions.—I am, Sir, + yours obediently, + + LUKE FILDES. + + HARROGATE, _October_ 27. + + + +NOTES FOR THE NOVEL + + + I give here the notes which Dickens made for his novel. These are + partly quoted by Professor Jackson in his book, _About Edwin Drood_, + but are now for the first time printed complete. + +_Friday_, _Twentieth August_ 1869 + + Gilbert Alfred. + + Edwin. + + Jasper Edwyn. + + Michael Oswald. +The Loss of James Wakefield. Arthur. + Edwyn. Selwyn. + Edgar. + Mr. Honeythunder. + Mr. Honeyblast. +James’s Disappearance. The Dean. + Mrs. Dean. +FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. Miss Dean. + + SWORN TO AVENGE IT. + + ONE OBJECT IN LIFE. + +A KINSMAN’S DEVOTION. + + THE TWO KINSMEN. + +The Loss of Edwyn Brood. + + The Loss of Edwin Brude. + + The Mystery in the Drood Family. + +The Loss of Edwyn Drood. + + The Flight of Edwyn Drood. Edwin Drood in hiding. + + The Loss of Edwin Drude. + +The Disappearance of Edwin Drood. + + The Mystery of Edwin Drood. + + Dead? or Alive? + +Opium-Smoking. + + Touch the key-note. + + ‘When the wicked man—’ + +The Uncle & Nephew. + + ‘Pussy’s’ Portrait. + + _You won’t take warning then_? + +Dean. Mr. Jasper. + Minor Canon, Mr. Crisparkle. + Uncle & Nephew. Verger. +Gloves for the Nuns’ House. Peptune. + Churchyard. _Change to Tope_. + +CATHEDRAL TOWN RUNNING THROUGHOUT. + +Inside the Nuns’ House. + + Miss Twinkleton and her double existence. + + Mrs. Tisher. + + Rosebud. + +The affianced young people. _Every love scene after is a quarrel more or +less_. + +Mr. Sapsea. Old Tory Jackass. + + His Wife’s Epitaph. + +Jasper and the Keys. + + Durdles down in the crypt and among the graves. His dinner bundle. + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_.—_NO. I_.) + + CHAPTER I + + THE DAWN + + change title to THE DAWN. + + opium smoking and Jasper. + + Lead up to Cathedral. + + CHAPTER II + + A DEAN AND A CHAPTER ALSO + +Cathedral & Cathedral Town Mr. Crisparkle. + + and the Dean. + + Uncle & Nephew. + + Murder very far off. + +Edwin’s Story & Pussy. + + CHAPTER III + + THE NUNS’ HOUSE + +Still picturesque suggestions of Cathedral Town. + +The Nuns’ House and the young couple’s first love scene. + + CHAPTER IV + + MR. SAPSEA + +Connect Jasper with him. (He will want a solemn donkey by & by.) + + Epitaph brings them together, and brings Durdles with them. + + The Keys. Story Durdles. + +Bring in the other young couple. YES + + Neville and Olympia Heyridge or Heyfort? + +Neville & Helena Landless. + + Mixture of Oriental blood—or imperfectly acquired mixture in them. +YES. + + _No_ + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_.—_NO. II_.) + + CHAPTER V + + PHILANTHROPY IN MINOR CANON CORNER + + The Blustrous Philanthropist. Old Mrs. Crisparkle. + + Mr. Honeythunder. China Shepherdess. + + Minor Canon Corner. + + CHAPTER VI + + MORE CONFIDENCES THAN ONE + +Neville’s to Mr. Crisparkle. + +Rosa’s to Helena. Piano scene with Jasper. She singing; he + following her lips. + + CHAPTER VII + + DAGGERS DRAWN + +QUARREL. + + (Fomented by Jasper). Goblet. And then confession to Mr. +Crisparkle. + + _Jasper lays his ground_. + + CHAPTER VIII + + MR. DURDLES AND FRIEND + +Deputy engaged to stone Durdles nightly. + + Carry through the woman of the 1st chapter. + + Carry through Durdles calling—and the bundle & the keys. + + John Jasper looks at Edwin asleep. + +Pursue Edwin Drood and Rosa? + + Lead on to final scene then in No. V? IV? + + _Yes_. + + How many more scenes between them? + + Way to be paved for their marriage and parting instead. _Yes_. + +Miss Twinkleton’s? No. Next No. + +Rosa’s Guardian? DONE IN No. II. + + Mr. Sapsea? In last chapter. + + Neville Landless at Mr. Crisparkle’s + + and Helena? YES. + + Neville admires Rosa. That comes out from himself. + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_. _NO. III_.) + + CHAPTER X {63} + + SMOOTHING THE WAY + +That is, for Jasper’s plan, through Mr. Crisparkle who takes new ground +on Nevill’s new confidence. + + Minor Canon Corner. The closet? + +remember there is a child. + + Edwin’s appointment for Xmas Eve. + + CHAPTER XI + + A PICTURE AND A RING + + P. + + J. T. + + 1747 + +Drood in chambers. [The two waiters] + + Bazzard the clerk. + + Mr. Grewgious’s past story: + +‘A ring of diamonds and rubies delicately set in gold.’ + + Edwin takes it. + + CHAPTER XII + + A NIGHT WITH DURDLES + +Lay the ground for the manner of the murder to come out at last. + + Keep the boy suspended. + + Night picture of the Cathedral. + +Once more carry through Edwin and Rosa? + + or Last time? LAST TIME. + + Then + +Last meeting of Rosa & Edwin outside the Cathedral? YES. + + Kiss at parting. + + ‘Jack.’ + +Edwin goes to the dinner. + + The Windy night. + + The Surprise and Alarm. + + Jasper’s failure in the one great + + object made known by Mr. Grewgious. + + Jasper’s Diary? YES. + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_.—_NO. IV_.) + + CHAPTER XIII + + BOTH AT THEIR BEST + +The Last Interview + + And Parting. + + CHAPTER XIV + + WHEN SHALL THESE THREE MEET AGAIN? + +How each passes the day. + +[Watch & shirt pin] Neville. [Watch to the + Jewellers.] +[all Edwin’s Edwin. +Jewellery.] + Jasper. + +‘And so _he_ goes up the Postern Stair.’ + + Storms of wind. + + CHAPTER XV + + IMPEACHED + +Neville away cart. Pursued & brought back. + +Mr. Grewgious’s communication: + + _And his scene with Jasper_. + + CHAPTER XVI + + DEVOTED + +Jasper’s artful use of the communication on his recovery. + +Cloisterham Weir, Mr. Crisparkle, and the watch and pin. + +Jasper’s artful turn. + + The DEAN. Neville cast out. + + Jasper’s Diary ‘I devote myself to his destruction.’ + +Edwin and Rosa for the last time? DONE ALREADY. + +Kinfederel. + +Edwin Disappears. + +THE MYSTERY. DONE ALREADY. + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_.—_NO. V_.) + + CHAPTER XVII + + PHILANTHROPY PROFESSIONAL AND UNPROFESSIONAL + + CHAPTER XVIII + + SHADOW ON THE SUN DIAL {67a} + + A SETTLER IN CLOISTERHAM + + CHAPTER XIX + + A SETTLER IN CLOISTERHAM {67b} + + SHADOW ON THE SUN DIAL + + CHAPTER XX + + LET’S TALK {67c} + + VARIOUS FLIGHTS {67d} DIVERS FLIGHTS + + (_MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD_.—_NO. VI_.) + + CHAPTER XXI + + A GRITTY STATE OF THINGS COMES ON + + CHAPTER XXII + + THE DAWN AGAIN + + CHAPTER XXIII + + * * * * * + + + +CHAPTER III—THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE WRAPPER + + +Much attention has been given to the illustrations on the wrapper and +their significance. So far as I can find, the question was first raised +in the _Spectator_. On 1st October 1870, in a review of the first +edition of _Edwin Drood_, the _Spectator_ complained that the publishers +had not given a facsimile of the vignetted cover. The critic proceeds: +‘By whom was the lamplight discovery of a standing figure, apparently +meant for Edwin Drood, in the vignette at the bottom of the page, +intended to be made?’ He inquired also whether the man entering with the +lanthorn was John Jasper, and what were the directions given by Mr. +Dickens as to the ascent of the winding staircase represented on the +right hand of the cover. The _Spectator_ asked for any authentic +indications which might exist of the turn which Dickens intended to give +to the story. ‘Nor can we see how it can be possible that no such +indications exist, with this prefiguring cover to prove that he had not +only anticipated, but disclosed to some one or other, many of the +situations he intended to paint.’ Since then others, and in particular +Mr. Andrew Lang, have with much insistency declared that the bottom +picture represents a meeting of the risen Edwin Drood with his +horror-stricken uncle, John Jasper. + +In reply to these questions certain considerations may be adduced: + +1. We have already shown from the testimony of Charles Allston Collins, +as reported by his widow, and by Sir Luke Fildes, that he, at least, was +not aware of any such intention in the mind of Dickens. On the contrary, +Madame Perugini and Sir Luke Fildes are convinced that Edwin Drood was +murdered. More than this, Charles Dickens the younger, who was more or +less in his father’s confidence, agreed with them. As we have noted, he +affirmed that his father had told him that Edwin Drood was murdered, and +he constructed his play on that basis. + +2. I attach much weight to Madame Perugini’s suggestion that whatever +her father meant or did not mean, he was certainly not the man to give +away on the cover the answer to the mystery. He may have meant—he very +probably did—before he began the story to mystify his readers a little. +This is shown, I think, by the various suggested titles printed on page +57. But as he rejected those titles, it is plain that he thought them +unsatisfactory, and that he refrained from raising in the title at least +the question whether the murder of Edwin Drood was accomplished. + +3. I had prepared materials for a chapter on the wrappers of Dickens’s +novels as used in the monthly parts, but it is not necessary to go into +particulars. I am glad to find myself in full agreement with the eminent +Dickens scholar, Mr. B W. Matz, who attaches no importance to the covers. +I put no trust in the wrapper of _Edwin Drood_ any more than I should in +that of _Pickwick_, _Martin Chuzzlewit_, _Little Dorrit_, _Dombey and +Son_, and many others, for a suggestion of any intricate points in any of +their plots. The only covers which may be reliable in this respect are +_A Tale of Two Cities_, _Oliver Twist_, and _Sketches by Boz_. Each of +these works was issued in parts after their respective stories had +appeared complete in other forms. All the others must have been designed +before the first parts were published, and knowing the freedom which +Dickens allowed himself we can attach little importance to the evidence +of a particular cover as an index to the story. + +When Mr. Marcus Stone, R.A., completed his seventy-second year, on 4th +July 1912, he was interviewed by a representative of the _Morning Post_, +and said: + + The cover of _Our Mutual Friend_, with the representation of + different incidents in the story, I drew after seeing an amount of + matter equivalent to no more than the first two one-shilling monthly + parts. Here it is: you will see that I depicted among other + characters, Mr. Silas Wegg. Well, I was aware that Wegg had a wooden + leg, but I wanted to know whether this was his right or his left leg, + as there was nothing in the material before me that threw light on + this point. To my surprise, Dickens said: ‘I do not know. I do not + think I had identified the leg.’ That was the only time I ever knew + him to be at fault on a point of this kind, for as a rule he was + ready to describe down to the minutest details the personal + characteristics, and, I might almost add, the life-history of the + creations of his fancy. + +4. But the final proof of the impossibility of making trustworthy +deductions from the cover is to be found in the fact that no readers read +it in the same way. In proof of this I give the readings of Professor +Henry Jackson, Mr. Andrew Lang, Dr. M. R. James, and Mr. Cuming Walters. +Through the great kindness of Mr. Hugh Thomson the artist, who has made a +study of this subject and has given me his results, I am able to add +another interpretation certainly of no lower authority than those which +accompany it. + + +PROFESSOR JACKSON’S READING + + + We may fairly presume that the figures in the four corners represent + comedy, tragedy, the opium-woman, and the Chinaman. In the nave of + the Cathedral, Edwin and Rosa pair off against Jasper and Crisparkle. + Despite the discrepancy which Mr. Lang points out, I think that the + lower of the two pictures on our left shows Jasper and Rosa in the + garden of the Nuns’ House. In the upper side-piece, the girl is, I + am sure, Rosa flying from Jasper’s pursuit, in full view of a placard + announcing Edwin’s disappearance. It is true that the hatless girl + with her hair streaming down her back does not answer very well to + Dickens’s description of Rosa, and has no resemblance to Sir L. + Fildes’s pictures of her: but if Dickens, when he had not yet thought + out his conception of her personality, told Collins to draw a + frightened girl of seventeen running away from school, no more than + this could be expected. For the scheme of the sketch, compare the + picture in _Bleak House_, which shows Lady Dedlock, as she mounts the + staircase, turning to look at a bill announcing a reward for the + discovery of the murderer of Tulkinghorn. That placards and + advertisements, imploring Edwin to communicate with his uncle, had + been widely circulated, we have been told at p. 182. On the right, + the two men in the lower picture are, I suppose, Jasper and Durdles + ascending the tower on the night of ‘the unaccountable expedition’; + while the man above is Jasper on Christmas Eve looking down at + ‘_that_,’ p. 276: ‘Look down, look down! You see what lies at the + bottom there?’ p. 274. I demur to Mr. Lang’s statements that the + young man whom I venture to identify with Jasper is represented as + ‘whiskerless,’ and that the figure which I take to be Durdles is + well-dressed. + +Professor Jackson then mentions the views of Mr. Proctor and Mr. Lang on +the important vignette at the bottom of the page: + + For my own part, I suspect that the upright figure represents Drood, + but that the Drood which it represents is a phantom of Jasper’s + imagination. Let us suppose that an advertisement for a ring known + to have been in the possession of the late Edwin Drood appears in the + local newspaper, and that Jasper, now for the first time aware of the + ring’s existence, goes to the crypt to look for it. Dickens might + well suppose him at such a moment to see a vision of the murdered + man, and might instruct Collins to represent what Jasper imagined + himself to see. Indeed, I fancy that I recognise an intentional + contrast between the two figures: the one in the foreground, full of + movement, solidly drawn; the other, in the background, statuesque, + and a little shadowy. Doubtless Dickens was anxious that the reader + should not know too much; and if he made Collins give visible form to + a hallucination of Jasper’s brain, I for one do not think the + procedure illegitimate. It is sad that Dickens did not live to + explain the innocent deception which, as I imagine, he meant for a + few months to practise upon his readers. + + + +MR. ANDREW LANG’S INTERPRETATION IN ‘THE PUZZLE OF DICKENS’S LAST PLOT’ + + + The cover lies before the reader. In the left-hand top corner + appears an allegorical female figure of joy, with flowers. The + central top space contains the front of Cloisterham Cathedral, or + rather, the nave. To the left walks Edwin, with hyacinthine locks, + and a thoroughly classical type of face, and Grecian nose. _Like + Datchery_, _he does not wear_, _but carries his hat_; this means + nothing, if they are in the nave. He seems bored. On his arm is + Rosa; _she_ seems bored; she trails her parasol, and looks away from + Edwin, looks down, to her right. On the spectator’s right march the + surpliced men and boys of the choir. Behind them is Jasper, black + whiskers and all; he stares after Edwin and Rosa; his right hand + hides his mouth. In the corner above him is an allegorical female, + clasping a stiletto. + + Beneath Edwin and Rosa is, first, an allegorical female figure, + looking at a placard, headed ‘LOST,’ on a door. Under that again, is + a girl in a garden-chair; a young man, whiskerless, with wavy hair, + kneels and kisses her hand. She looks rather unimpassioned. I + conceive the man to be Landless, taking leave of Rosa after urging + his hopeless suit for which Helena, we learn, ‘seems to compassionate + him.’ He has avowed his passion, early in the story, to Crisparkle. + Below, the opium hag is smoking. On the other side, under the + figures of Jasper and the choir, the young man who kneels to the girl + is seen bounding up a spiral staircase. His left hand is on the iron + railing; he stoops over it, looking down at others who follow him. + His right hand, the index finger protruded, points upward, and, by + chance or design, points straight at Jasper in the vignette above. + Beneath this man (clearly Landless) follows a tall man in a ‘bowler’ + hat, a ‘cut-away’ coat, and trousers which show an inch of white + stocking above the low shoes. His profile is hid by the wall of the + spiral staircase: he might be Grewgious of the shoes, white + stockings, and short trousers, but he may be Tartar: he takes two + steps at a stride. Beneath him a youngish man, in a low, soft, + clerical hat and a black pea-coat, ascends, looking downwards and + backwards. This is clearly Crisparkle. A Chinaman is smoking opium + beneath. + + In the central lowest space, a dark and whiskered man enters a dark + chamber; his left hand is on the lock of the door; in his right he + holds up a lantern. The light of the lantern reveals a young man in + a soft hat of Tyrolese shape. His features are purely classical, his + nose is Grecian, his locks are long (at least, according to the taste + of to-day); he wears a light paletot, buttoned to the throat; his + right arm hangs by his side; his left hand is thrust into the breast + of his coat. He calmly regards the dark man with the lantern. That + man, of course, is Jasper. The young man is EDWIN DROOD, of the + Grecian nose, hyacinthine locks, and classic features, as in Sir L. + Fildes’s third illustration. + + Mr. Proctor correctly understood the unmistakable meaning of this + last design, Jasper entering the vault: + + ‘To-day the dead are living, + The lost is found to-day.’ + + + +DR. JAMES’S VIEW + + +In the _Cambridge Review_ for 9th March 1911 Dr. James says: + + Now, as to the figures at the angles and the scene at the top there + is general agreement. As to those on the left, H. J. is, I think, + right in calling the upper one Rosa’s flight; but the lower one + _cannot_ be Jasper and Rosa. The young man has a moustache. Jasper + had none, and has none in the two pictures of him on this same cover. + Also, the artist has carefully emphasised the fact that the girl is + indifferent to her suitor. The figures, I believe, represent Rosa + and Neville Landless. + + On the right, H. J. assumes that there are two scenes. I am clear + that there is but one: for, whereas, on the left side the two scenes + are separated by a sprig of the rose-wreath which surrounds the + centre, and a similar sprig parts them from the top scene, there is + on the right only the division from the top scene, managed in the + same way as on the left. And yet, had the scene been two, there was + great necessity to separate them, inasmuch as they are taking place + in the same surroundings, namely, the winding staircase. As to the + identity of the three men, the lowest one is a cleric, Crisparkle, + the next above him I will not identify; the uppermost is either + Jasper or just possibly (since he is pointing pretty directly at the + figure of Jasper in the top scene, and seems to be acting as a guide + to those below him) Datchery. + +Dr. James dissents from Dr. Jackson as to the central vignette at the +bottom. No phantom of the imagination is there. We have a real person, +as is shown by the fact that he casts a shadow on the wall behind him. + + +MR. HUGH THOMSON’S READING + + +Mr. Hugh Thomson wrote the following notes on 3rd April 1912, and they +are now printed for the first time: + + But to get to the cover to which you particularly directed my + attention. It was designed, I take it, primarily as a decoration, + and not as a series of representations of the characters to appear in + the book. Consequently, there is but little definite + character-drawing in any of the groups with the exception of the one + at the bottom of the page, where Jasper is depicted exactly as I + should wish him depicted, dark and saturnine ‘with thick, lustrous + black hair and whiskers.’ If the other figure is merely a wraith + conjured up by Jasper’s evil opium-soaked conscience, it is as + substantial as one of the ghosts of Hamlet’s father given to us on + the stage time after time without protest. But in a black and white + design for a popular serial it is scarcely possible to be subtle, and + at the same time plainly intelligible. So it may be a ghost, or it + may be Edwin in the flesh, or Neville Landless got up to represent + Edwin. It is a very effective little cut. In the other groups, + Jasper is not so unmistakable, but, of course, in the upper drawings + the sleek, clerical-looking personage with his hand at his mouth is + meant to represent Jasper. The staircase groups, I can’t identify. + The young men in both may be meant to represent Jasper. They are not + in the least like that sombre personage, but just colourless young + men. In the garden scene one cannot think that the kneeling figure + pressing the girl’s fingers to his lips is meant for Jasper at all. + It has a mop of fair hair and boasts a moustache, and in the scene in + the garden of the Nuns’ House Rosa did not permit Jasper to approach + her so nearly. In the picture there is no suggestion of the + repugnance and fear with which she regarded Jasper. Don’t you think + it reasonable to suggest that this little picture illustrates a scene + to take place much later in the book, a scene Dickens did not live to + write? It might be Edwin Drood returned from abroad or from + disguise. Edwin Drood making love to Helena Landless. In chapter + viii. he was ‘already enough impressed by Helena to feel indignant + that Helena’s brother should dispose of him (Edwin) so coolly’ to + Rosebud. + + Or could it be Tartar proposing to Rosebud? But Tartar had no + moustache either as himself or as Datchery, and the girl’s figure has + a suggestion of lithe dignity which I don’t associate with the + ‘little beauty’ Rosebud. + + I agree with the author of _About Edwin Drood_ that Edwin was not + worth while bringing back, but it is possible that he was to return, + and that this is he in the garden scene. In the space above this the + female figure scanning a placard ‘LOST’ is, I think, merely + allegorical, and not meant to represent Rosebud fleeing from Jasper. + In the book she leaves Cloisterham so neat and pretty that Joe, the + omnibus man, would have liked to keep for himself the love she sent + to Miss Twinkleton. + + + +MR. CUMING WALTERS’S READING + + +There is another view to which I strongly incline, first stated by Mr. +Cuming Walters. I take the erect figure in the bottom vignette to be +Datchery. It is not Edwin. The large hat and the tightish surtout are +the articles of clothing on which Dickens lays stress in his description +of Datchery. Mr. Lang says that the figure is that of a young man in a +longish loose greatcoat, not a tightish surtout such as Datchery wore, +but I agree with Mr. Cuming Walters that the figure corresponds with the +description of Datchery. Edwin as seen above with Rosa in the cathedral +is not wearing a coat of this sort. His hat also is different. On +examining the figure Mr. H. B. Irving said to me: ‘That looks uncommonly +like a woman in disguise.’ + +None of us has a right to dogmatise, but the variety of opinions among +those who have studied the cover shows that no certain conclusion can be +drawn from the illustrations. The arguments advanced previously tend to +make this practically certain. In the discussion of the problem a wholly +disproportionate weight has been laid on the illustrated cover. It would +hardly bear that weight even if every one were agreed as to the reading +of the pictures, and there is no such agreement. + + + +CHAPTER IV—THE METHODS OF DICKENS + + +HALF-WAY IN DICKENS + + +Dickens has left us one-half of his last story. It was to be completed +in twelve parts, and six parts were published. We can only infer and +guess at the way in which the author would have completed it. Would he +have brought many new characters on the stage, or are we to believe that +the main characters are already there, and that it is through the +revealing of their secrets that the end is to be reached? To give a +positive reply is impossible, and yet we may learn something of Dickens’s +methods by studying his complete books. Supposing we had only one-half +of each book in our possession, might we expect that the complete story +would introduce us to many fresh characters? I give the results of some +investigations from the later novels. + + +THE LENGTH OF DICKENS’S NOVELS + + +_Edwin Drood_, as we have it, runs in round numbers to about 100,000 +words. When completed it would have been 200,000 words. This would have +made it slightly longer than _Great Expectations_, which may be estimated +at 160,000 words. _A Tale of Two Cities_ runs to 143,000 words. _Edwin +Drood_, while slightly longer than this, would have been very much +shorter than the larger works of Dickens. _David Copperfield_ has about +306,000 words; _Bleak House_, 308,000, and _Our Mutual Friend_, 297,000. +All these are practically the same length. _Barnaby Rudge_ has about +264,000 words. + + +‘BLEAK HOUSE’ + + +I begin with _Bleak House_, which is one of the latest and most elaborate +of Dickens’s stories. In the first half the characters arrive in crowds. +I make out in the first chapter ten or eleven. The second chapter brings +My Lady Dedlock, Sir Leicester Dedlock, Mr. Tulkinghorn, and others. The +third brings Esther Summerson and John Jarndyce, besides half a dozen +more. The fourth brings us the Jellybys, with Mr. Guppy, and others. +Krook and Nemo are the fresh arrivals in chapter v.; Mr. Harold Skim-pole +arrives in chapter vi., with the Coavinses. In chapter vii. I make out +six arrivals at least. Chapter viii. gives us the Pardiggles, Mr. +Gusher, the brickmaker, and family, and Jenny, his wife. In chapter ix. +Mr. Lawrence Boythorn arrives alone; chapter x. gives us the Snagsbys, +their predecessor, Peffer, the two prentices, and Guster, the servant. +Miss Flite comes with chapter xi., and along with her appear the young +surgeon, the beadle, Mrs. Perkins, Mrs. Anastasia Piper, and a few more. +Chapter xii. brings Mlle. Hortense, maid to Lady Dedlock, Lord Boodle and +his retinue, the Right Hon. William Buffy, M.P., and his retinue. In +Chapter xiii. we have Mr. Bayham Badger, Mrs. Badger, and the former +husbands of Mrs. Badger are recalled. Chapter xiv. brings Mr. Turveydrop +and his son, also Allan Woodcourt, the young surgeon, and we have +mentioned the ‘old lady with a censorious countenance,’ and the late Mrs. +Turveydrop. In chapter xv. we have Mrs. Blinder and the Neckett family; +chapter xvii., Mrs. Woodcourt, mother of Allan; chapter xix., Mr. and +Mrs. Chadband; chapter xx., Young Smallweed and Jobling, _alias_ Weevle; +in chapter xxi., the Grandfather and Grandmother Smallweed, Judith +Smallweed, Mr. George, trooper (Uncle George, chapter vii.), and Phil +Squod of the Shooting Gallery. The great Mr. Bucket appears in chapter +xxii. Captain Hawdon is in chapter xxvi. In chapter xxvii. we have the +Bagnet family of five. In chapter xxviii. there comes Volumnia Dedlock; +Miss Wisk in chapter xxx., and Liz in chapter XXXI. + +We have now reached the end of the first half, and the arrivals after +that are few and unimportant. In chapter xxxii. no new character is +brought on the stage, though there is talk about the noted siren, who +assists at the Harmonic Meetings, and is announced as Miss M. +Melvilleson, though she has been married a year and a half. In chapter +xxxiii. it is mentioned that the ‘Sols Arms,’ a well-conducted tavern, is +licensed to a highly respectable landlord, Mr. J. G. Bogsby. After that +we have no new character till chapter xxxvii., where we are introduced to +Mr. W. Grubble, the landlord of that very clean little tavern, ‘The +Dedlock Arms.’ Vholes is introduced by Skimpole as the man who gives him +something and called it commission. Mr. Vholes has the privilege of +supporting an aged father in the Vale of Taunton, and has a red eruption +here and there upon his face. He has three daughters—Emma, Jane, and +Caroline—and cannot afford to be selfish. In chapter xxxviii. we meet +Mrs. Guppy, ‘an old lady in a large cap, with rather a red nose, and +rather an unsteady eye, but smiling all over.’ Then in chapter xl. there +are the cousins of Sir Leicester Dedlock. In chapter xliii. Mrs. +Skimpole and the Skimpole family are introduced, and in chapter liii. +Mrs. Bucket. It will be observed that some of these can scarcely be +called new characters, and that not one is of any real importance, that +is, so far as _Bleak House_ is concerned. Dickens in the middle of his +story had practically put every actor upon the stage. The story was to +be developed by the characters to whom the reader had been introduced. I +have calculated that in the first half there are about one hundred and +six characters of greater or less importance. In the second half there +are, on the most generous computation, only sixteen, and not one of them +plays a vital part in the development of the tale. + + +‘OUR MUTUAL FRIEND’ + + +I take next _Our Mutual Friend_, and with this I must deal more briefly. +_Our Mutual Friend_ is remarkable for the profusion of characters in the +first half. In the second chapter there are sixteen at least, including +Mr. and Mrs. Veneering, Mr. and Mrs. Podsnap, Mortimer Lightfoot, Eugene +Wrayburn, and John Harmon. The Wilfers come in chapter iv.; in chapter +v. Silas Wegg and the Boffins, and almost every chapter adds to the +company till we get to the middle. After that there is an abrupt +cessation. There are not more than half a dozen new characters named in +the second part, and all of them are wholly insignificant, the Deputy +Lock, Gruff and Glum, the Greenwich pensioner, the Archbishop of +Greenwich, a waiter, Mrs. Sprodgkin, the exacting member of the fold, and +the contractor of 500,000 power. In _Our Mutual Friend_ every character +of any significance has been introduced when the first half ends. The +few stragglers who come later have practically no effect on the story. + + +‘LITTLE DORRIT’ + + +In _Little Dorrit_ we have the old profuseness of characters; in the +first half nearly one hundred, and in the second half there are +practically no new characters at all. Mr. Tinkler, the valet to Mr. +Dorrit, and Mr. Eustace, the classical tourist, can hardly be counted. +In chapter xxi., ‘The History of a Self-Tormentor,’ we have Charlotte +Dawes, the false friend, who vanishes instantly, and counts for nothing. +Thus, I think, we may say, taking the three long books of Dickens’s later +period, that in each it was his manner to introduce no new characters of +the least import in the second half of his books. But it may be worth +while to glance at his practice in the shorter tales, _A Tale of Two +Cities_ and _Great Expectations_. + + +‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ + + +In the second half of this fine book there are practically no new +characters that I can trace. The epithet can hardly be applied to the +President of the trial at the Conciergerie. + + +‘GREAT EXPECTATIONS’ + + +It is now agreed that one of Dickens’s most perfect books is _Great +Expectations_. It is known also that Dickens complied with a suggestion +of Lord Lytton’s, which modified the plot—not seriously nor disagreeably. +Here again in the second part we have very few fresh characters. We have +the Colonel in Newgate introduced to Mr. Wemmick, but he is ‘sure to be +assassinated on Monday.’ Let us not forget Miss Skiffins, a good sort of +fellow, with a high regard both for Wemmick and the Aged. There is the +retrospective Provis, but the characters introduced belong to the past. +Finally, in chapter xlvi., we have a pleasant glimpse of the Barley +family and of Mrs. Whymple, the best of housewives, and the motherly +friend of Clara and Herbert. It is she who fosters and regulates with +equal kindness and discretion their mutual love. ‘It was understood that +nothing of a tender nature could possibly be confided to Old Barley, by +reason of his being totally unequal to the consideration of any subject +more psychological than Gout, Rum, and Purser’s Stores.’ + +These are all the books of which I have made a close personal +examination. I believe that the general result will be the same in all +save two or three exceptional works, such as _Barnaby Rudge_. Whether he +consciously acted on the principle that no new characters should be +introduced after half the story was told, it is impossible to say. It +seems certain, however, that he acted upon it. + + +WILKIE COLLINS ‘AHEAD OF ALL THE FIELD’ + + +Dickens was no great reader, and it is plain by what he did not say, as +well as by what he did say, that he did not on the whole admire ardently +the work of his contemporaries. But he made a special exception in the +case of Wilkie Collins, with whom he collaborated on more than one +occasion, as in the story _No Thoroughfare_. He published in his own +magazine some of Collins’s best detective stories, including _The Woman +in White_, _No Name_, and _The Moonstone_. Of these stories Dickens put +first _No Name_. _The Moonstone_ he criticised in one of his letters to +Wills. At first he thought it in many respects ‘much better than +anything he has done,’ but afterwards he wrote, 26th July 1868: ‘I quite +agree with you about _The Moonstone_. The construction is wearisome +beyond endurance, and there is a vein of obstinate conceit in it that +makes enemies of readers.’ {90} + +In September 1862 he wrote in enthusiastic terms of admiration about _No +Name_. This I take to be a very weighty and significant letter, as will +appear in the sequel: + + I have gone through the second volume [_No Name_] at a sitting, and I + find it _wonderfully fine_. It goes on with an ever-rising power and + force in it that fills me with admiration. It is as far before and + beyond _The Woman in White_ as that was beyond the wretched common + level of fiction-writing. There are some touches in the Captain + which no one but a born (and cultivated) writer could get near—could + draw within hail of. And the originality of Mrs. Wragge, without + compromise of her probability, involves a really great achievement. + But they are all admirable; Mr. Noel Vanstone and the housekeeper, + both in their way as meritorious as the rest; Magdalen wrought out + with truth, energy, sentiment, and passion, of the very first water. + + I cannot tell you with what a strange dash of pride as well as + pleasure I read the great results of your hard work. Because, as you + know, I was certain from the Basil days that you were the Writer who + would come ahead of all the Field—being the only one who combined + invention and power, both humorous and pathetic, with that invincible + determination to work, and that profound conviction that nothing of + worth is to be done without work, of which triflers and feigners have + no conception. {91} + +Mr. Swinburne in his study of Wilkie Collins writes: + + It is apparently the general opinion—an opinion which seems to me + incontestable—that no third book of their author’s can be ranked as + equal with _The __Woman in White_ and _The Moonstone_: two works of + not more indisputable than incomparable ability. _No Name_ is an + only less excellent example of as curious and original a talent. + {92a} + +This was not the opinion of Dickens. + + +‘A BACKWARD LIGHT’ + + +On 6th October 1859 Dickens replied to a suggestion by Collins on the +working out of _A Tale of Two Cities_. The italics are mine: + + I do not positively say that the point you put might not have been + done in your manner; but I have a very strong conviction that it + would have been overdone in that manner—too elaborately trapped, + baited, and prepared—in the main anticipated, and its interest + wasted. This is quite apart from the peculiarity of the Doctor’s + [Dr. Manette—_A Tale of Two Cities_] character, as affected by his + imprisonment; which of itself would, to my thinking, render it quite + out of the question to put the reader inside of him before the proper + time, in respect of matters that were dim to himself through being, + in a diseased way, morbidly shunned by him. _I think the business of + art is to lay all that ground carefully_, _not with the care that + conceals itself—to show_, _by a backward light_, _what everything has + been working to_,—_but only to suggest_, _until the fulfilment + comes_. _These are the ways of Providence_, _of which ways all art + is but a little imitation_. {92b} + + + +EDGAR ALLAN POE AND DICKENS: A MYSTIFICATION + + +Could Dickens keep his secrets well? In other words, could he prevent +his readers from fathoming a mystery till the proper moment of the +_dénouement_? An important help to the answering of this question will +be found in the essay on Charles Dickens by Edgar Allan Poe, who was a +critic of extraordinary penetration. If any one could detect a secret it +was he. But he was also much given to mystification, and it is not wise +to accept anything he says without verifying it. The essay on Dickens +turns largely on _Barnaby Rudge_, and, to the best of my belief, it has +not been strictly examined. + + +POE’S CLAIM + + +Poe says: + + We are not prepared to say, so positively as we could wish, whether + by the public at large, the whole _mystery_ of the murder committed + by Rudge, with the identity of the Maypole ruffian with Rudge + himself, was fathomed at any period previous to the period intended, + or, if so, whether at a period so early as materially to interfere + with the interest designed; but we are forced, through sheer modesty, + to suppose this the case; since, by ourselves individually, the + secret was distinctly understood immediately upon the perusal of the + story of Solomon Daisy, which occurs at the seventh page of this + volume of three hundred and twenty-three. In the number of the + Philadelphia _Saturday Evening Post_ for 1st May 1841 (the tale + having then only begun), will be found a prospective notice of some + length, in which we make use of the following words: + + ‘That Barnaby is the son of the murderer may not appear evident to + our readers—but we will explain. The person murdered is Mr. Reuben + Haredale. He was found assassinated in his bed-chamber. His steward + (Mr. Rudge, senior) and his gardener (name not mentioned) are + missing. At first both are suspected. “Some months afterward”—here + we use the words of the story—“the steward’s body, scarcely to be + recognised but by his clothes and the watch and ring he wore, was + found at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds, with a deep + gash in the breast, where he had been stabbed by a knife. He was + only partly dressed; and all the people agreed that he had been + sitting up reading in his own room, where there were many traces of + blood, and was suddenly fallen upon and killed, before his master.” + + ‘Now, be it observed, it is not the author himself who asserts that + the steward’s body was found; he has put the words in the mouth of + one of his characters. His design is to make it appear, in the + _dénouement_, that the steward, Rudge, first murdered the gardener, + then went to his master’s chamber, murdered _him_, was interrupted by + his (Rudge’s) wife, whom he seized and held _by the wrist_, to + prevent her giving the alarm—that he then, after possessing himself + of the booty desired, returned to the gardener’s room, exchanged + clothes with him, put upon the corpse his own watch and ring, and + secreted it where it was afterwards discovered at so late a period + that the features could not be identified.’ + +This is the prediction we have to examine. In the first place, was such +an article published in the Philadelphia _Saturday Evening Post_ for 1st +May 1841? Mr. J. H. Ingram, the chief authority on Poe in this country, +very kindly informs me that this review has never been reprinted in any +edition of Poe’s works. Should it not be searched out and reprinted in +full? I should like to see the context of Poe’s extract, and I should +like still more to be sure that the article appeared as he says it did. +Mr. Ingram has no doubt that the article appeared as stated by Poe. Mr. +J. H. Whitty of Richmond, Va., kindly informs me that all the early files +of the _Post_ are inaccessible. + +In the second place, Poe affirms that the article appeared in the +Philadelphia paper for 1st May 1841, and that the tale was only then +begun. As for that, _Barnaby Rudge_ was first published as a volume in +1841, after having run as a serial in the pages of _Master Humphrey’s +Clock_ from 13th February 1841 to 27th November 1841. I have failed to +find the precise date of its first appearance in America. No doubt it +appeared in serial form, and the first instalments on which Poe bases his +assertions should have been printed in America considerably earlier than +1st May. But the assertion which chiefly demands scrutiny is very +definitely made by Poe. He says: The secret was _distinctly_ understood +_immediately_ upon the perusal of the story of Solomon Daisy.’ The +italics are mine. + + +THE STORY OF SOLOMON DAISY + + +We turn to the story of Solomon Daisy ‘as told in the _Maypole_ at any +time for four and twenty years.’ It is very simple and matter-of-fact. +It tells how Mr. Reuben Haredale, of The Warren, a widower with one +child, left the place when his lady died. He went up to London, where he +stopped some months, but, finding that place as lonely as The Warren, he +suddenly came back with his little girl, bringing with him besides, that +day, only two women servants, and his steward and a gardener. The rest +stayed behind in London, and were to follow next day. That night, an old +gentleman who lived at Chigwell Row, and had long been poorly, died, and +an order came to Solomon at half after twelve o’clock at night to go and +toll the passing bell. Solomon relates to a thrilled audience how he +went out in a windy, rainy, very dark night; how he entered the church, +trimmed the candle, thought of old tales about dead people rising and +sitting at the head of their own graves, fancying that he saw the old +gentleman who was just dead, wrapping his shroud round him, and shivering +as if he felt it cold. At length he started up and took the bell rope in +his hands. At that minute there rang—not that bell, for he had scarcely +touched the rope—but another! It was only for an instant, and even then +the wind carried the sound away, but he heard it. He listened for a long +time, but it rang no more. He then tolled his own bell and ran home to +bed as fast as he could touch the ground. Next morning came the news +that Mr. Reuben Haredale was found murdered in his bed-chamber, and in +his hand was a piece of the cord attached to an alarm bell outside, which +hung in his room, and had been cut asunder, no doubt by the murderer when +he seized it. ‘That was the bell I heard.’ He further relates how the +steward and the gardener were both missing, both suspected, but never +found. The body of Mr. Rudge, the steward—scarcely to be recognised by +his clothes and the watch and the ring he wore—was found months +afterwards at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds with a deep +gash in the breast where he had been stabbed by a knife. Every one knew +now that the gardener must be the murderer, and Solomon Daisy predicted +that he would be heard of. That is the whole story as told by Solomon +Daisy, and Poe affirms that he perceived from this story: (1) That the +steward Rudge first murdered the gardener; (2) that he then went to his +master’s chamber and murdered him; (3) that he was interrupted by Rudge’s +wife, whom he seized and held by the wrist to prevent her giving the +alarm; (4) that he possessed himself of the booty, returned to the +gardener’s room, exchanged clothes with him, put upon the corpse his own +watch and ring, and secreted it where it was afterwards discovered at so +late a period that the features could not be identified. + + +WHERE POE FAILED + + +Poe admits that his preconceived ideas were not entirely correct: + + The gardener was murdered, not before, but after his master; and that + Rudge’s wife seized _him_ by the wrist, instead of his seizing _her_, + has so much the air of a mistake on the part of Mr. Dickens that we + can scarcely speak of our own version as erroneous. The grasp of a + murderer’s bloody hand on the wrist of a woman _enceinte_ would have + been more likely to produce the effect described (and this every one + will allow) than the grasp of the hand of the woman upon the wrist of + the assassin. We may, therefore, say of our supposition, as + Talleyrand said of some cockney’s bad French—_que s’il ne soit pas + Français assurément donc il le doit être_—that if we did not rightly + prophesy, yet, at least, our prophecy should have been right. + +I have no hesitation in saying that this is largely a piece of pure +mystification, another _Tale of the Grotesque and Arabesque_. It is +conceivable that Poe guesses from Solomon Daisy’s story that the steward +Rudge murdered the gardener and his master. It follows that the steward +changed clothes with the murdered gardener, put upon the corpse his own +watch and ring, and secreted it where it was afterwards discovered at so +late a period that the features could not be identified. But that Poe +should have guessed immediately after reading Solomon Daisy’s story that +he seized and held by the wrist his wife to prevent her giving the alarm +is beyond belief. ‘By the wrist’ are the three significant words, and +they prove that Poe must have had before him when writing the parts of +the novel up to and including chapter V. For it is in the fifth chapter +that the first mention is made of the smear of blood on Barnaby’s wrist. +We read there: + + They who knew the Maypole story, and could remember what the widow + was, before her husband’s and his master’s murder, understood it + well. They recollected how the change had come, and could call to + mind that when her son was born, upon the very day the deed was + known, he bore upon his wrist what seemed a smear of blood but half + washed out. + +Near the beginning of chapter lxii., where Rudge is making his confession +in prison, he says of his wife: + + Did I see her fall upon the ground; and, when I stooped to raise her, + did she thrust me back with a force that cast me off as if I had been + a child, staining the hand with which she clasped my wrist? Is + _that_ fancy? + +To claim that the seizing of the wrist could have been deduced from +Solomon Daisy’s story by itself is to affirm an impossibility. + +And so vanishes the main value of the prediction. If Poe wrote that +article in the _Saturday Evening Post_, he wrote it after having read the +fifth chapter of Dickens’s novel. + + +WHERE POE SUCCEEDED + + +It may be asked whether Poe discovered anything from his reading of the +first pages. The only thing which he may have guessed is the thing which +it was comparatively easy to guess. He may have conjectured that the +mysterious stranger at the Maypole was Rudge Redux. When this surmise +had been lodged in his mind the other deductions follow as a matter of +course from later chapters, as the tale unfolds itself. Even if Poe +identified the stranger at the Maypole with the murderer it was no great +feat, for the murderer is closely disguised, from which any intelligent +reader would infer that he has a motive for fearing detection in an old +haunt. He is shabbily dressed; he is very curious about the people and +events at The Warren; he is suspected as a criminal of some kind by the +cronies; he strikes Joe as he leaves. On the road he threatens Varden +with murder. This shows us that we have before us a fugitive criminal. +He is presented to us with all the marks of a villain in hiding. It may +be noted that from Solomon Daisy’s story the inference is that only one +of two men committed the murder of Reuben Haredale, the gardener or +Rudge. There has also been a difficulty in identifying the remains. +This leaves Poe no special credit. There is considerable keenness in his +conjecture that the treatment of the Gordon Riots was an afterthought of +Dickens. Poe says: + + The title of the book, the elaborate and pointed manner of the + commencement, the impressive description of The Warren, and + especially of Mrs. Rudge, go far to show that Mr. Dickens has really + deceived himself—that the soul of the plot, as originally conceived, + was the murder of Haredale, with the subsequent discovery of the + murderer in Rudge—but that this idea was afterwards abandoned, or, + rather, suffered to be merged in that of the Popish riots. The + result has been most unfavourable. That which, of itself, would have + proved highly effective, has been rendered nearly null by its + situation. In the multitudinous outrage and horror of the Rebellion, + the _one_ atrocity is utterly whelmed and extinguished. + +But facts, as Poe admits, are against this supposition. Dickens says in +his Preface: + + If the object an author has had, in writing a book, cannot be + discovered from its perusal, the probability is that it is either + very deep or very shallow. Hoping that mine may lie somewhere + between these two extremes, I shall say very little about it, and + that only in reference to one point. No account of the Gordon Riots + having been to my knowledge introduced into any work of fiction, and + the subject presenting very extraordinary and remarkable features, I + was led to project this tale. + +This is final. It appears from Forster’s biography that Dickens desired +to expose the brutalising character of laws which led to the incessant +execution of men and women comparatively innocent. It is clear also that +Dickens made a special study of the contemporary newspapers and annual +registers. But Forster admits that the form ultimately taken by _Barnaby +Rudge_ had been comprised only partially within its first design, and he +admits also that the interest with which the tale begins has ceased to be +its interest before the close. ‘What has chiefly taken the reader’s +fancy at the outset almost wholly disappears in the power and passion +with which, in the later chapters, great riots are described. So +admirable is this description, however, that it would be hard to have to +surrender it even for a more perfect structure of fable.’ To this I may +add that the letters to the artist Cattermole on the illustrations to +_Barnaby Rudge_ are very valuable for the fullness and precision of their +detail. + + +DICKENS’S WAY + + +That it is legitimate to draw inferences from the hints given by Dickens +I should be the last to deny. His purpose was to provide hints which, +when contemplated with what he called a backward glance, should appear +luminous at the end of the story. Their meaning at the time might be +more or less obscure, but when from the end of the book one could look +back upon its course even to the beginning, he would see that the artist +had a purpose all through, and that he was steadily preparing his reader +for the _dénouement_. Of this I give a striking proof, on which, so far +as I am aware, little stress has been laid. {104} The _Edinburgh Review_ +of July 1857 contains an article, ‘The License of Modern Novelists,’ in +which the critic deals with _Little Dorrit_, and denounces his charges +against the administrative system of England. Among other things, the +reviewer says: ‘Even the catastrophe in _Little Dorrit_ is evidently +borrowed from the recent fall of houses in Tottenham Court Road, which +happens to have appeared in the newspapers at a convenient period.’ +Dickens, for the first and only time in his life, so far as I know, +publicly replied to a reviewer. He wrote an article in _Household Words_ +of 1st August 1857, entitled ‘Curious Misprint in the _Edinburgh +Review_,’ in which he turned upon his critic fiercely and sharply. He +quotes the sentence about the catastrophe in _Little Dorrit_, and goes on +to say: + + Thus, the Reviewer. The Novelist begs to ask him whether there is no + License in his writing those words, and stating that assumption as a + truth, when any man accustomed to the critical examination of a book + cannot fail, attentively turning over the pages of _Little Dorrit_, + to observe that that catastrophe is carefully prepared for from the + very first presentation of the old house in the story; that when + Rigaud, the man who is crushed by the fall of the house, first enters + it (hundreds of pages before the end) he is beset by a mysterious + fear and shuddering; that the rotten and crazy state of the house is + laboriously kept before the reader, whenever the house is shown; that + the way to the demolition of the man and the house together is paved + all through the book with a painful minuteness and reiterated care of + preparation, the necessity of which (in order that the thread may be + kept in the reader’s mind through nearly two years) is one of the + adverse incidents of the serial form of publication? It may be + nothing to the question that Mr. Dickens now publicly declares, on + his word of honour, that that catastrophe was written, was engraved + on steel, was printed, had passed through the hands of compositors, + readers for the press, and pressmen, and was in type and in proof in + the Printing House of Messrs. Bradbury and Evans before the accident + in Tottenham Court Road occurred. But, it is much to the question + that an honourable reviewer might have easily traced this out in the + internal evidence of the book itself, before he stated, for a fact, + what is utterly and entirely, in every particular and respect, + untrue. + +The blows are dealt with a will, and it should be noted that Dickens is +more irritated at the stupidity of the reviewer in failing to see the way +in which he contrived the catastrophe than at his mistake in the fact. +It is to be noted also that Dickens considered that his serial form of +publication compelled him to be almost too minute, copious, and constant +in keeping the thread in the mind of a reader whose attention had to be +maintained for nearly two years. + + + + +PART II—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION + + +CHAPTER V—WAS EDWIN DROOD MURDERED? + + +I reply in the affirmative, and for the following reasons: + + +I. + + +1. The external testimonies as given in a previous chapter are all +explicit as far as they go in their testimony that in the intention of +Dickens Edwin Drood was murdered. There is first the testimony of John +Forster. To him Dickens plainly declared that a nephew was to be +murdered by his uncle. The murderer was to discover that his crime was +useless for its purpose, but he was not to be convicted in the ordinary +way. It was by means of a gold ring, which had resisted the corrosive +effects of the lime into which the body had been cast, that the murderer +and the person murdered were to be identified. + +2. Madame Perugini corroborates Forster’s testimony, and points out that +the only thing on which he is not positive is the ending of Neville +Landless. He guards himself by saying, ‘I think,’ and this makes his +testimony to the more important facts the more impressive. Madame +Perugini, who thoroughly understood the relations between Forster and +Dickens, finds it impossible to believe that Dickens should have altered +his plan without communicating with Forster. Forster’s strong character, +and the peculiar friendship that existed between him and Dickens, make it +impossible to believe that Dickens should suddenly become ‘underhand,’ +and we might say treacherous, by inventing a plot which he did not intend +to carry into execution. Forster became a little jealous of Dickens’s +confidence, and more than a little exacting in his demands on it. This +Dickens knew, and smiled at occasionally. But he was very careful not to +wound his friend’s very sensitive nature, and he so trusted Forster’s +judgment as to be uneasy and unhappy if he did not obtain its sanction +for his decisions and his actions. If there had been any change of plan +Forster would certainly have been told. He never was told. + +3. Again, we know that Charles Dickens the younger positively declared +that he heard from his father’s lips that Edwin Drood was dead. I have +been able to print part of a play written by Charles Dickens the younger +and Joseph Hatton. This shows beyond contradiction that the authors +believed Drood to be dead. Mr. Hatton says: ‘Consulting his son, +Charles, to whom I offered my sketch, I found that his father had +revealed to him sufficient of the plot to clearly indicate how the story +was to end.’ How far this may apply to details we cannot be sure, but +most certainly it certifies the death. + +4. To this I may add that Madame Perugini’s own firm belief that Drood +was dead is of no small importance, considering that she was the wife of +Charles Allston Collins, who drew the much discussed wrapper. It did not +occur either to Madame Perugini or her husband that there was any doubt +as to the fate of Edwin Drood. + +5. The weighty letter of Sir Luke Fildes printed on pages 54–5 confirms +unmistakably and strongly the witness already adduced. Fildes was the +sole illustrator of _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, and he testifies that +Collins did not in the least know the significance of the various groups +on the wrapper. Further, when Sir Luke was puzzled by the statement that +John Jasper was described as wearing a neckerchief that would go twice +round his neck he drew Dickens’s attention to the circumstance that he +had previously dressed Jasper as wearing a little black tie once round +the neck, and asked why the alteration was made. Dickens, a little +disconcerted, suddenly asked, ‘Can you keep a secret?’ He then said: ‘I +must have the double necktie! It is necessary, for Jasper strangles +Edwin Drood with it.’ Fildes was impressed by Dickens’s earnestness, and +resented the suggestion often made that Dickens’s hints dropped to +members of his family or friends may have been intentionally misleading. +‘It is a little startling,’ says Sir Luke, ‘after more than thirty-five +years of profound belief in the nobility of character and sincerity of +Charles Dickens, to be told now that he probably was more or less of a +humbug on such occasions.’ + +I cannot but feel that the external testimony is too strong to be +explained away, and it ought to be read and pondered in its entirety. + + +II. DICKENS’S OWN NOTE + + +In the Memoranda made by Dickens for chapter xii., and printed on page +63, we read that Jasper ‘lays the ground for the manner of the murder, to +come out at last. Night picture of the Cathedral.’ Mr. Lang himself +admits, ‘It seems almost undeniable that, when Dickens wrote this note, +he meant Jasper to succeed in murdering Edwin.’ {113} + + +III. THE ADMITTED TESTIMONY OF THE BOOK + + +The proof that Edwin Drood was murdered is to my mind mainly to be found +in the pages of the story. One would have to print a large part of it in +order to convey the impressive and unmistakable force of the whole, but +perhaps it is better to read it as Dickens wrote it. For he himself +advances nothing to modify or mitigate the conclusion that, as the result +of a carefully designed plot, Edwin Drood was foully murdered by his +uncle. Happily it is not necessary to spend much space on this. I +believe that Dr. Jackson is fully justified in his statement that all who +have written on the subject acknowledge that Jasper tried to murder his +nephew, and believed himself to have succeeded. We all see that Jasper +had either strangled Edwin with a black scarf and committed his body to a +heap of quicklime that lay about convenient, or thought that he had done +so. ‘We all see that the crime is to be proved by a gold ring of rubies +and diamonds which Edwin has concealed about his person, though Jasper +does not know it.’ Mr. Proctor writes: + + It is clear that Dickens has intended to convey the impression that + Edwin Drood is murdered, his body and clothes consumed, Jasper having + first taken his watch and chain and shirt-pin, which cannot have been + thrown into the river till the night of Christmas Day, since the + watch, wound up at twenty minutes past two on Christmas Eve, had run + down when found in the river. + +Having arrived at this point we may proceed. + +Is it conceivable that Jasper, believing himself to have succeeded in +murdering his nephew, could have failed? Jasper is meant by Dickens to +be a man wholly without conscience and heart. Such characters are not +numerous in Dickens’s books, but we have evidence that he knew them and +had pondered over them. I may quote his words in _Hunted Down_: + + There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a man who is a + calculating criminal, is, in any phase of his guilt otherwise than + true to himself, and perfectly consistent with his whole character. + Such a man commits murder, and murder is the natural culmination of + his course; such a man has to outface murder, and will do it with + hardihood and effrontery. It is a sort of fashion to express + surprise that any notorious criminal, having such crime upon his + conscience, can so brave it out. Do you think that if he had it on + his conscience at all, or had a conscience to have it upon, he would + ever have committed the crime? Perfectly consistent with himself, as + I believe all such monsters to be, this Slinkton recovered himself, + and showed a defiance that was sufficiently cold and quiet. He was + white, he was haggard, he was changed; but only as a sharper who had + played for a great stake and had been outwitted and had lost the + game. + +In _Household Words_ for 14th June 1856, Dickens has an article on ‘The +Demeanour of Murderers.’ He is referring to William Bousfield, ‘the +greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey dock.’ Bousfield’s +demeanour was considered exceedingly remarkable because of his composure +under trial. On this Dickens says: + + Can any one, reflecting on the matter for five minutes, suppose it + possible—we do not say probable, but possible—that in the breast of + this poisoner there were surviving, in the days of his trial, any + lingering traces of sensibility, or any wrecked fragment of the + quality which we call sentiment. Can the profoundest or the simplest + man alive believe that in such a heart there could have been left, by + that time, any touch of pity? + +The murder of Edwin Drood had been so long premeditated that Jasper had +done it hundreds and thousands of times in the opium den. The motive was +his fierce and wolfish passion for Rosa. He loathed his poor nephew as +the chief obstacle to his wishes, and planned out in every detail a +murder which would utterly remove him from the sight of men. + +Jasper, then, was an unredeemed villain, but he was anything than a fool. +He drugged Drood; he strangled him; he put his body in quicklime; he had +time to rob the victim of his jewellery; he maintained a threatening and +defiant attitude. He was not afraid that Drood would return to convict +him of an attempt to murder. He had done his business. I think it worth +while to point out that in Dickens’s view Jasper’s malevolence must have +been raised to the highest point of fury on the night of the murder. For +the murder was committed on a night of the wildest tempest. Trees were +almost torn out of the earth, chimneys toppled into the streets, the +hands of the cathedral clock were torn off, the lead from the roof was +stripped away and blown into the close, and stones were displaced on the +summit of the great tower. In _Barnaby Rudge_ (chapter ii.) Dickens +says: + + There are times when the elements being in unusual commotion, those + who are bent on daring enterprises, or agitated by great thoughts, + whether of good or evil, feel a mysterious sympathy with the tumult + of nature, and are roused into corresponding violence. In the midst + of thunder, lightning, and storm, many tremendous deeds have been + committed; men, self-possessed before, have given a sudden loose to + passions they could no longer control. The demons of wrath and + despair have striven to emulate those who ride the whirlwind and + direct the storm; and man, lashed into madness with the roaring winds + and boiling waters, has become for the time as wild and merciless as + the elements themselves. + + + +IV. THE RING + + +As we have seen, Dickens’s method is to make every hint significant, and, +as a rule, not too significant. The reader at the time may fail to +perceive why a particular point is mentioned, but it is not mentioned +carelessly or without design. The backward glance from the end is to +interpret all. Besides this there are hints in the novels to which he +calls special attention, and which he thereby binds himself to redeem. +Conspicuous among these in _Edwin Drood_ is the sentence about the +jewelled ring and betrothal over which Edwin Drood’s right hand closed as +it rested in its little case. He would not let Rosa’s heart be grieved +by those sorrowful jewels. He would restore them to the cabinet from +which he had unwillingly taken them, and keep silence. He would let them +be. He would let them lie unspoken of in his breast. But Dickens says: +‘Among the mighty store of wonderful chains that are for ever forging, +day and night, in the vast ironworks of time and circumstance, there was +one chain forged in the moment of that small conclusion, riveted to the +foundations of heaven and earth, and gifted with invincible force to hold +and drag.’ No answer to our question, no solution of the problem can be +satisfactory which fails to assign its due weight to this sentence. In +Proctor’s first attempt at the solution of _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ +contained in _Leisure Readings_, we find the following amazingly inept +words: ‘From the stress laid on this point, and the clear words in which +its association with the mystery is spoken of, we may safely infer, I +think, that it is intended partly to mislead the reader.’ + +Later on, Proctor, seeing the insufficiency of this, propounded another +theory. This was that the attempt on Drood and his rescue were known +almost immediately to Mr. Grewgious, who took possession of the ring; +that when the fact that such a ring had been in Drood’s pocket came to +Jasper’s knowledge he at once in a state of panic rushed to the vault to +recover it from among the quicklime; that Drood, divining this intention, +concealed himself in the vault and confronted Jasper the moment he opened +the door. This theory is partly approved of by Mr. William Archer. {119} +But Dickens’s point is plainly that the ring was the only jewellery +possessed by Drood about which Jasper knew nothing. It is the finding of +the ring in the tomb that is to bring the guilt of the murder home. + +As for the numerous assumptions made by Proctor, it can only be said that +they have no foundation in the facts. There is no reason to believe that +the attempt on Drood and his rescue were known almost immediately to Mr. +Grewgious. There is no evidence that Grewgious took possession of the +ring. There is no evidence that Jasper came to know that such had been +in Drood’s pocket. All these theories are not only without foundation, +but, I think, also in plain contradiction to the whole tenor of the +story. + +If Drood was half dead how did he get away? According to Mr. Proctor’s +ingenious theory he was rescued from the bed of quicklime by Durdles. He +was rescued with the skin burnt off his face, and his eyebrows gone, so +that he could afterwards disguise himself as Datchery. If this is so, +the quicklime must have behaved itself in a singularly obliging and +accommodating manner. But, as a matter of fact, there is no evidence +whatever for the theory, and the whole drift of the story makes against +it. The difficulties are admitted even by those who incline to support +Proctor’s view and to maintain that Edwin is not dead. + +Mr. Lang admits that Proctor’s theory of the murder is thin, and that +‘all this set of conjectures is crude to the last degree.’ I am content +to leave it at that. Mr. Lang has conjectures of his own. He +conjectures that Mr. Grewgious visited the tomb of his lost love, Rosa’s +mother, and consecrated to her ‘a night of memories and sighs.’ He says: +‘Mrs. Bud, his lost love, we have been told, was buried hard by the +Sapsea monument.’ This is not told by Dickens. It is better to stick by +the narrative. + +Supposing that Edwin was not dead, what was the meaning of the long +silence? Why did he allow Neville to rest under a cloud of suspicion, +and exposed to great peril? Why did he allow Jasper’s persecution of +Rosa? Why did he allow Helena Landless, whom he had begun more or less +to love, to suffer with the rest? Are we to suppose that he came back +disguised to fix the guilt on his uncle? Can we believe that he did not +know that his uncle had tried to murder him? If not, are we to believe +that he suspected his uncle and was not sure, and came down to try to +surprise his uncle’s secret and to punish him? He could only have +punished him at most for an attempt at murder. Even that might have been +hard to bring home, supposing he himself was not clear as to the facts. +‘Fancy can suggest no reason,’ writes Mr. Lang, ‘why Edwin Drood, if he +escaped from his wicked uncle, should go spying about instead of coming +openly forward. No plausible, unfantastic reason could be invented.’ + +Dr. M. R. James, one of the few who still think that Edwin might not have +been murdered, says in his last writing on the subject: ‘I freely confess +that the view that Edwin is dead solves many difficulties. A wholly +satisfactory theory of the manner of his escape has never been devised; +his failure to clear Neville from suspicion is hard to explain.’ Mr. +Lang, in what has unhappily proved his last article on the subject, in +_Blackwood_ for May 1911, explains that while he believed in 1905 that +Jasper failed in his attempt to murder, ‘now I have no theory as to how +the novel would have been built up.’ + + +V. + + +Those who more or less strongly still believe that Dickens meant to spare +Edwin rest their case mainly on a subjective impression. Says Dr. James: +‘On the other hand, whether the result would be a piece of “bad art” or +not, I do think it is more in Dickens’s manner to spare Edwin than to +kill him. The subjective impression that he is not doomed is too strong +for me to dismiss.’ {122} It is difficult to argue against a subjective +impression. The fact remains that Edwin Drood becomes superfluous. He +has effected no lodgment in any human heart. Mr. Walters says that Drood +is little more than a name-label attached to a body, a man who never +excites sympathy, and whose fate causes no emotion. Proctor, who +believes that Edwin Drood survived, admits that he lived unpaired. ‘Rosa +was to give her hand to Tartar, Helena Landless to Crisparkle, while +Edwin and Mr. Grewgious were to look on approvingly, though Edwin a +little sadly.’ + +Mr. Lang in the Gadshill edition of Dickens wrote: ‘Edwin and Neville are +quarrelsome cubs, not come to discretion, and the fatuity of Edwin, +though not exaggerated much, makes him extremely unsympathetic.’ But in +his book on the subject Mr. Lang changes his view and writes: ‘On +re-reading the novel I find that Dickens makes Drood as sympathetic as he +can.’ Thus impressions alter. Gillan Vase, in her continuation of the +story would make us believe that on Edwin’s reappearance Rosa transferred +her heart from Tartar to her old lover! But taking the story as it +stands, we see that the sorrow for his death is not deep, and that no +heart is broken by his disappearance. Rosa is consoled, and more than +consoled. Helena grieves for her brother, and flings a shield over Rosa. +Neville and Edwin have never been good friends. Grewgious has cheerfully +acquiesced in, if he has not instigated, the breaking of the engagement +between Rosa and Edwin. The appropriate explanation is: ‘Poor youth! +Poor youth!’ That is all. + +It has been suggested that there is a parallel between _No Thoroughfare_ +and _Edwin Drood_. According to Proctor it is suggested clearly in _No +Thoroughfare_ that Vendale has been murdered beyond all seeming hope. +Proctor’s real argument seems to be that Vendale is not marked for death, +and does not die, and that Edwin Drood belongs to the same class. He +says that Nell and Paul, Richard Carson and the other characters who die +in Dickens’s stories are marked for death from the beginning, but that +there is not one note of death in all that Edwin does or says. I believe +that this is entirely contrary to the facts. There are some who like +Edwin, but none who love him. He is hated by his uncle, and hated +perhaps by Neville. + +In _No Thoroughfare_, a story written by Wilkie Collins and Dickens in +1867 as a Christmas Number, we have the story of a man supposed dead +coming to life again. It may be noted that the only portions of this +story furnished exclusively by Dickens were the overture and the third +act. Collins contributed to the first and fourth act, and wrote the +whole of the second. Vendale, a wine-merchant, is in love with a Swiss +girl, Marguerite. She returns his affection, but her guardian Obenreizer +is bitterly opposed. He consents, however, to the marriage if Vendale +can double his income and make it £3000 a year. Vendale discovers that a +forgery has been committed, through which £500 are missing. He is asked +by the Swiss firm with which he deals to send a trustworthy messenger to +investigate the fraud and discover its perpetrator. Vendale resolves to +go himself, and tells Obenreizer. Obenreizer is the culprit, though +Vendale does not suspect it, and the two go to Switzerland together. +Obenreizer keeps planning a murder, and contrives to give Vendale an +opium draught. He drugs him again, and in the course of a perilous +mountain journey Vendale is roused to the knowledge that Obenreizer had +set upon him, and that they were struggling desperately in the snow. +Vendale rolls himself over into a gulf. But help is near. Marguerite’s +fears have been excited, and she has followed her lover on the journey. +She engages a rescue expedition, and they find the lost man insensible. +He is delirious and quite unconscious where he is. Then he seems to sink +in the deadly cold, and his heart no longer beats. ‘She broke from them +all, and sank over him on his litter with both her living hands upon the +heart that stood still.’ But by and by, when the crisis of the exposure +comes, ‘supported on Marguerite’s arm—his sunburnt colour gone, his right +arm bandaged and slung over his breast—Vendale stood before the murderer +a man risen from the dead.’ I cannot see that this is a great surprise. +Vendale was not marked for death. I think the unsophisticated reader, +knowing how he is loved and how he is waited for, and how unconsciousness +may pass into consciousness, would fully expect him to live. When he +comes to life, he is supported on Marguerite’s arm. There was no arm on +which Edwin Drood could lean. Dickens can provide for his old bachelors +like Newman Noggs, but he had no provision for Edwin. + + +THE ARGUMENTS FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE THEORY + + +_From the Wrapper_.—I am convinced after a careful perusal of nearly all +that has been written on the subject that the real strength of the +disappearance theory is to be found in the bottom picture of the wrapper. +When Madame Perugini published the article from which I have quoted, Mr. +Lang in a letter to the _Times_ {127} rested his whole case on the cover +design. He said: + + The chief difficulty in accepting the fact has always been that, in + designs on the covers, by Mr. C. A. Collins, first husband of Mrs. + Perugini, we see a young man, who is undeniably Edwin Drood, + confronting Jasper in a dark vault, in the full light of a lantern + held up by Jasper. Mrs. Perugini says that this figure may be + regarded as ‘the ghost of Edwin as seen by Jasper in his half-dazed + and drugged condition,’ or Helena Landless ‘dressed as Datchery.’ + The figure is not dressed as Datchery, nor was Miss Landless fair + like Drood, but very dark. As for the ghost, he is as substantial as + Jasper, and it is most improbable that Dickens would have a mere + hallucination designed in such a substantial fashion, ‘massive and + concrete,’ as Pip said of Mr. Wopsle’s rendering of the part of + Hamlet. + +Mr. Lang in his final _Blackwood_ paper repeats the assertion with +unhesitating confidence. He goes so far as to say: + + Last, Dickens had instructed his son-in-law, Charles Collins (brother + of Wilkie Collins), to design a pictorial cover of the numbers, in + which Jasper, entering a dark vault with a lantern, finds a + substantial shadow-casting Drood ‘in his habit as he lived,’—soft + conical hat and all,—confronting him. + +As to this we note: + +1. That Collins received no such instructions. + +2. That neither Collins nor Luke Fildes nor any of the Dickens family +read the illustration in that sense. They all supposed Edwin to be dead. + +3. We also note that, in spite of Mr. Lang’s confident assertions, there +is no unanimity as to the meaning of the design. It may be Drood; it may +be, as I think it is, Datchery; it may be Neville Landless, as Mr. Hugh +Thomson has suggested. But no one is entitled to dogmatise on the +subject. + +4. As I have already pointed out, in the great majority of the wrappers +the designs are vague and general, and cannot be verified in the +narrative. + +5. But to my mind the most conclusive proof that the wrapper is not to +be rigidly and pedantically interpreted is that Dickens himself was the +very last man in the world to give away his secrets on the cover. On +this Madame Perugini has said all that needs to be said. I am glad to +find that in his last review of the controversy Dr. M. R. James makes no +mention of the wrapper evidence. + + +‘WHEN SHALL THESE THREE MEET AGAIN?’ + + +It appears that certain readers have taken the heading of chapter xiv., +‘When shall these three meet again?’ as an argument for the theory that +Drood reappears. If the use of the quotation has any special interest a +very good interpretation has been supplied by Mr. Edwin Charles. Mr. +Charles points out that the words are used in _Macbeth_ before the three +witches meet again to plant in Macbeth’s mind the tragical lust of +ambition. He slays Duncan, who is at once his guest, his kinsman, and +his king. And Duncan’s sons, also guests of Macbeth, fly respectively to +England and Ireland, and Macbeth uses the flight to spread suspicion +against them. ‘We hear our bloody cousins are bestow’d in England and in +Ireland: not confessing their cruel parricide.’ Jasper is Edwin Drood’s +kinsman and guardian and host. Jasper slays his nephew, and contrives +that the suspicion of his murder shall fall on his other guest, Neville +Landless, who has to leave Cloisterham. Is this a chance parallel? Does +the use of the words in the heading of the chapter prove that Dickens had +the tragedy of _Macbeth_ in his mind? Mr. Charles not only thinks so, +but he holds that the quotation positively destroys any shadow of doubt +as to what was intended to be the fate of Edwin. Mr. Charles also notes +that Dickens makes another reference to Macbeth in the story when he +records the dinner which Grewgious gave to Edwin and Bazzard at Staple +Inn. Speaking of the leg of the flying waiter Dickens says that ‘it +always preceded him and the tray by some seconds, and always lingered +after he disappeared,’ adding, ‘like Macbeth’s leg when accompanying him +off the stage with reluctance to the assassination of Duncan.’ + +There is not much to reply to in the argument, but the reply is, to say +the least, sufficient. + + +‘EDWIN DROOD IN HIDING’ + + +Another argument has been drawn from the tentative titles written by +Dickens here first printed in full. Two of them are ‘The Flight of Edwin +Drood,’ and ‘Edwin Drood in Hiding.’ On this Mr. Lang writes in the +_Morning Post_ {130} that, though the titles do not go with the idea that +Edwin was to be slain early, Dickens may have intended the titles to +mislead his readers, and may have rejected them because he felt them to +be too misleading. This I believe to be the exact truth. Dickens was +willing to have as much mystery as possible, but he soon perceived that +it would not suit his purpose to raise the question whether Edwin was +dead or alive. + + +THE MANNER OF THE MURDER + + +In Dr. Jackson’s book on the subject there is a very able discussion on +the manner in which the murder was accomplished. Dr. Jackson inquires: +(1) Where and how did Jasper murder Drood, or attempt to murder him? (2) +Where and how did Jasper dispose of Drood’s body, or attempt to dispose +of it? For myself, I believe that the manner of the murder is part of +the mystery to be solved as the book proceeds. In this I am in general +agreement with Proctor. It would be vain to guess what happened on that +stormy night. To give the details definitely would have been to give +them prematurely, for much of the interest of the novel is to depend on +their unfolding. But certain suggestions may be offered. Dr. Jackson +holds that significance is to be attached to Jasper’s babblings in the +presence of the opium woman. He tells her that he has in his mind the +tower of the cathedral, a perilous journey over abysses with an +indispensable fellow-traveller. Also that when the journey was really +made there was ‘no struggle, no consciousness of peril, no entreaty,’ but +that ‘a poor, mean, miserable thing,’ which was nevertheless real, lay +‘down below at the bottom.’ Dr. Jackson thinks that we have here +Jasper’s confession of the place and the manner of the crime. ‘He had +ascended the tower with Edwin, and he had seen Edwin’s body lying down +below, presumably at the foot of the staircase by which they had +ascended.’ + +Mr. Walters thinks that Drood was to be encountered near the cathedral, +drugged and then strangled with the black silk scarf that Jasper wore +round his own neck. Mr. Proctor and Mr. Lang suppose that Jasper +partially strangled Drood near the cathedral, and then deposited his body +in the Sapsea monument. They do not explain ‘the perilous journey over +abysses.’ The babblings of the opium den become intelligible if Jasper +flung or pushed Drood down the staircase of the tower. But if Drood was +attacked outside the cathedral on level ground they are ‘unjustifiable +mystifications.’ + +Dr. Jackson further argues that in chapter xii., ‘A Night with Durdles,’ +is a rehearsal of the coming tragedy. He thinks that when Durdles sleeps +Jasper makes a wax impression of a key with which Durdles had opened the +outside door of the crypt and the door between the crypt and the +cathedral. He finds quicklime in the crypt. Then he flings or pushes +Drood, who is drugged, down the staircase, and deposits his body in the +quicklime in the crypt. Else why did Jasper make a careful study of the +tower with Durdles? + +My friend and colleague, Miss Jane T. Stoddart, kindly sends me the +following: + + Some critics have failed to realise the extreme importance of the + Sapsea monument in connection with the murder. It has been suggested + by Professor Jackson that Jasper buried the body in a heap of lime in + the crypt of the cathedral. But crypts are semi-public places, and if + heaps of lime were about workmen would be coming and going. In no + case could a corpse lie unnoticed on the open floor of a crypt for + more than a few hours. All the evidence points rather to the Sapsea + monument in the graveyard as the murderer’s chosen hiding-place. + Observe how Dickens distinguishes between tombs and monuments, clearly + meaning by the latter those massive vault-like erections of stone + which are often seen in old churchyards, and which have the dimensions + of small chambers with a corridor. Durdles says in chapter V.: ‘“Say + that hammer of mine’s a wall—my work. Two; four; and two is six,” + measuring on the pavement. “Six foot inside that wall is Mrs. + Sapsea.” + + ‘“Not really Mrs. Sapsea?” asks Jasper. + + ‘“Say Mrs. Sapsea. Her wall’s thicker, but say Mrs. Sapsea. Durdles + taps that wall represented by that hammer, and says, after good + sounding: ‘Something betwixt us!’ Sure enough, some rubbish has been + left in that same six-foot space by Durdles’s men!”’ + + There is therefore a ‘six-foot’ vacant space at least in the Sapsea + monument, left, no doubt, for the reception at some far distant date + of the Mayor’s body. Within this place Jasper decides to deposit the + remains of his victim. I do not agree with the critics who fancy + there was a Sapsea vault in the crypt. The monument is in the full + light of day, for in chapter xii. the Mayor is walking near the + churchyard ‘on the look-out for a blushing and retiring stranger.’ + And in chapter xviii. he calls Datchery’s attention to this ‘small + lion’ in the churchyard. Mrs. Sapsea, we are distinctly told, is + buried within the monument, not in any subterranean vault in the + crypt. + + THE ‘NIGHT WITH DURDLES’ + + We come now to the night of the mysterious expedition of Jasper and + Durdles, when they climb the Cathedral Tower in the moonlight, and + when Durdles lies in a drugged sleep on the floor of the crypt. + Jasper has been very active during this interval. How has his time + been spent? His first business, after possessing himself of the key + of the crypt, must have been to search in the bundle carried by + Durdles for the key of the Sapsea monument. We have repeatedly been + told of his interest in the bundle, into which (see chapter iv.) he + had seen Durdles drop this particular key. The inscription had been + placed on the monument, but we are to understand that the key had not + yet been returned to the Mayor. Having secured this key, Jasper + leaves the building, and by some means which can only be conjectured + conveys quicklime to the monument, and places it in readiness in the + empty space. He may have gone back to the yard-gate where Durdles + had showed him the mound of lime, but this would have been a very + risky proceeding, as the ‘hole in the city wall’ occupied by Durdles + was beyond Minor Canon Corner, the Monks’ Vineyard, and the + Travellers’ Twopenny. Even in the dead of night, sharp eyes in the + lodging-house (Deputy’s, for instance) might have seen a man go by + wheeling lime in a barrow or carrying it in a sack. It is far more + probable that the lime was found nearer to the cathedral. + + It has been suggested, further, that Jasper, while away from Durdles, + took a wax model of the key of the crypt, which also opens the door + at the top of the steps leading from the crypt to the cathedral. The + Dean (it is presumed by Professor Jackson) has already entrusted him + with another key, that of the iron gate which gives access to the + Tower. We are told that Durdles ‘bears the close scrutiny of his + companion in an insensible way, although it is prolonged while the + latter fumbles among his pockets for a key confided to him that will + open an iron gate, so to enable him to pass to the staircase of the + great Tower.’ + + Visitors to cathedrals to-day usually find that the key of the tower + staircase is in charge of the chief verger, and Jasper would have no + difficulty in obtaining a loan of it from this functionary for one + night, though hardly for a longer period, as visitors would be coming + and going. + + Dr. Jackson supposes that the Dean lent his key to the choirmaster, + and assumes that, before the expedition with Durdles, Jasper has + already taken a wax model of it. If he did so, it must have been in + the interval between locking-up time, when we find him (see chapter + xii.) conversing with the Dean and the verger, and the time of his + changing his coat to go out on the expedition. But Dickens tells us + that Mr. Jasper withdrew to his piano, and sat chanting choir music + in a low and beautiful voice for two or three hours; ‘in short, until + it has been for some time dark, and the moon is about to rise.’ I + take it, then (1) that the iron key was lent to Jasper by the verger + for use in this nocturnal expedition; (2) that no wax model of it has + been made up to the time of starting; (3) that the verger will look + for the return of the key next day. + + It seems to me most unlikely that Jasper took a wax model of the + crypt key or the key to the iron gate, either on the night of his + wandering with Durdles, or at any other time. If he took any wax + model, it was that of the key to the Sapsea monument. He used the + crypt key merely to let himself out of the building and in again. + May not the simplest explanation be that he unlocked the door of the + monument, leaving it merely closed, so that a turn of the iron handle + would admit him on the night of the murder? According to the picture + at the foot of the cover the door seems to have a handle. + + I find it difficult to believe that Jasper would order duplicates of + two large and unusual-looking keys to be made from wax models by a + locksmith in Cloisterham. Such an order would have excited curiosity + and perhaps unfavourable surmises in a town where Jasper was so well + known. I should expect a curious stare if I carried wax models of + church keys even to a locksmith in a London suburb; and Jasper had no + time during the week before Christmas to make a journey to London. + He was not himself a worker in iron like Roland Graeme in _The + Abbot_, who at the cost of much time and labour forged a bunch of + keys almost exactly resembling those carried by the lady of + Lochleven. + + On the night of the murder—that wild and stormy Christmas Eve—Jasper + brought Edwin into the churchyard on some pretext, after partially + stupefying him with the ‘good stuff’ which affects the brain so + speedily. He may have persuaded him to drink to the dawn of + Christmas, as Faust proposed to quaff the cup of poison to the rising + Easter dawn: + + Der letzte Trunk sei nun, mit ganzer Seele, + Als festlich hoher Gruss, dem Morgen zugebracht. + + It is after midnight when the murderer and his victim are abroad + together. At that hour the ‘streets are empty,’ and only the storm + goes thundering along them. The precincts ‘are unusually dark + to-night.’ No need, then, for Jasper to fear detection as he slips + the great silk scarf over Edwin’s head and pulls it tightly round his + throat. ‘No struggle, no consciousness of peril, no entreaty—and yet + I never saw that before.’ + + The maundering talk of Jasper in the opium woman’s den need not be + taken literally. The difficult and dangerous journey ‘over abysses + where a slip would be destruction’ may have no reference to the + actual tower, but to the perils of the scheme and the risk of + detection. Among other modes of killing, however, the idea of + flinging Edwin from the tower may have occurred to Jasper, and been + abandoned. Hence his outcry, ‘Look down! look down! You see what + lies at the bottom there!’ + + Dr. Jackson thinks Jasper departed so far from his original plan that + he chose the crypt instead of the Sapsea monument as a hiding-place. + I think it far more likely that, if ever he intended to hurl Edwin + from the tower, he set aside this plan when he found that it meant + the making of two duplicate keys. Suppose that in the days following + the crime, when the names of Edwin Drood and Jasper were in every + mouth in Cloisterham, a small tradesman in some obscure lane were to + ask his neighbours why the choirmaster needed these two large keys. + The conjecture might be sufficient to destroy him. + +I venture to think that Miss Stoddart is right in assigning the place of +the body to the Sapsea monument, but I incline to agree with Dr. Jackson +that, in order to do justice to the ‘Night with Durdles,’ and the +confessions to the opium woman, we must give some place to the tower as +connected with the murder. But I do not understand how Jasper should +have seen Drood lying beneath him dead if he had merely pushed him down +the tower stairs. Would it not have been more likely that Jasper should +have pushed Drood from the galleries, and seen him fall into the space +beneath? We cannot lay great stress on the topography of Cloisterham. +The Sapsea monument is a pure invention, having no counterpart in +Rochester, and Dickens manifestly used the utmost freedom in dealing with +his materials. Mr. Lang, by the way, makes a strange mistake in saying, +‘As he walks with Durdles that worthy explains (in reply to a question by +Jasper) that, by tapping a wall, even if over six feet thick, with his +hammer, he can detect the nature of the contents of the vault.’ {139} +The wall is not six feet thick. The words are: ‘six foot inside that +wall is Mrs. Sapsea.’ + +It was for Dickens to explain in the remaining part of the novel how the +murder was achieved, and no one has a right to say that he would have +failed in doing so. His object is to leave upon us the impression of a +murder which was in a singular degree premeditated, ferocious, and +complete. If Dr. Jackson is right in supposing that Drood was thrown +from the tower, in addition to his being drugged, strangled, and laid in +quicklime, Dickens gives us a fresh thrill of horror. + + + +CHAPTER VI—WHO WAS DATCHERY? + + +In discussing this problem we have no aid from external evidence. It +seems that the question was not raised by the critics of the time. We +are thrown upon internal evidence, and not only the internal evidence of +the book, but the evidence given by a study of Dickens’s methods. We +have also, as I hope to show, some help given indirectly from Dickens’s +own biography, and in particular from a book by Wilkie Collins. + +It will be convenient at this stage that we should discuss the exact +position of affairs after Edwin vanished from the scene. + +To us who read the book, Jasper’s guilt is so plain and his character so +atrocious that we wonder why those who knew him did not at once suspect +his guilt. To us Jasper is a self-confessed criminal with his doom +already written, but to his neighbours at Cloisterham he presented +himself in a wholly different aspect. The Dean himself is not more +obviously a pattern of virtuous living. Jasper occupies a conspicuous +set of rooms. His fire burns, his red light glimmers, his curtains are +drawn, in sight of all the town. He is young, good-looking, socially +attractive, and occupied in an almost sacred profession. His duties as +choirmaster raise him far above the position of a provincial teacher of +music. On Sundays and weekdays the people hear his voice in Psalms and +Canticles and Anthems. Edwin expresses the truth about his uncle’s +standing when he says: ‘I should have put in the foreground your being so +much respected as Lay Precentor, or Lay Clerk, or whatever you call it, +of this Cathedral; your enjoying the reputation of having done such +wonders with the choir; your choosing your society, and holding such an +independent position in this queer old place.’ Mrs. Crisparkle remarks +on his ‘well-bred consideration,’ and his pallor as of ‘gentlemanly +ashes.’ When the story opens there is not a soul in Cloisterham who +breathes a word of scandal against him, and his real nature is suspected +by only two living persons known to us. One is Rosa Bud, whom he has +terrified by his secret love-making; the other the opium woman in London, +who has heard strange mutterings in his drugged sleep which to her were +not wholly ‘unintelligible.’ The Dean’s fear is that ‘Mr. Jasper’s heart +may be too much set on his nephew.’ Nocturnal ramblings with the +disreputable Durdles suggest nothing more surprising to the Dean than +that Jasper means to write a book about the place. His visits to London +are so carefully timed that he is rarely absent from the daily services. +He is a favourite with his landlady, Mrs. Tope, and to mothers with +marriageable daughters he must appear a very eligible young bachelor. +Who could dream that a man of twenty-six, refined, highly educated, and +agreeable, should seek his private recreation in an opium den? + +Eight or nine months pass away, and at the point where the story closes +Jasper is to all appearance still safe and prosperous. But already the +avengers are upon his track, and we shall find it possible from the +indications given in the book to show that there were at least six +persons designed to have a share in the final capture. + +The first mind in which suspicion lodges is clearly that of Mr. +Grewgious, and he has taken his impressions of Jasper from Rosa and from +Helena Landless. From his interview with Rosa in chapter ix. he learned +that the young bride-elect wished to have nothing to do with Jasper. ‘I +don’t like Mr. Jasper to come between us,’ she said, ‘in any way.’ After +the murder, when Grewgious comes to Jasper’s rooms he has already seen +Rosa and Helena Landless, and the latter must have told him of the +persecution to which Rosa has been subjected. When Jasper utters a +terrible shriek and falls to the ground in a swoon, his companion stands +by the fire, warming his hands, and looking curiously at the prostrate +figure. He refuses to eat with Jasper, and treats him from that time +onwards as ‘a brigand and wild beast in combination.’ He keeps a +personal watch on his movements in Staple Inn, and it is doubtless with +his connivance and support that Datchery goes to Cloisterham. Are not +these significant words of Grewgious in chapter xxi. to Rosa and +Crisparkle: ‘When one is in a difficulty, or at a loss, one never knows +in what direction a way out may chance to open. It is a business +principle of mine, in such a case, not to close up any direction, but to +keep an eye on every direction that may present itself. I could relate +an anecdote in point, but that it would be premature.’ In that last +sentence may not Grewgious refer to the plan for sending Datchery to +Cloisterham? + +When the novel breaks off, Grewgious is working against Jasper, but only +on strong suspicion. If Rosa had reported to him Jasper’s exact words in +her final interview with him, that suspicion may have been heightened to +certainty. The part allotted to him in the ultimate crisis is that of +identifying the remains of Edwin, now hardly distinguishable otherwise, +owing to the action of quicklime in the Sapsea tomb, by means of the ring +which was on the young man’s person at the time of his murder, and which +possessed invincible powers to hold and drag. After giving the ring to +Edwin Mr. Grewgious had said ‘Her ring. Will it come back to me? My +mind hangs about her ring very uneasily to-night. But this is +explainable. I have had it so long, and I have prized it so much. I +wonder—’ + +The ring will come back to him from the dust of death. + + +THE PRINCIPLES OF DISGUISE + + +It is universally admitted that Datchery was disguised. + +Before seeking to identify him with a character already known to us I +shall give a short note on the principles and limitations of disguise. +Suppose one wishes to disguise himself, how far is it possible for him to +succeed? What are the limits within which success is possible? + +The question was very carefully discussed in the _Berliner Tageblatt_ for +15th May 1912, under the title ‘On the Psychology of Dissimulation.’ The +author, Dr. Hugo Eick, uses the word _Verstellung_ entirely in the sense +of mental disguise or purposeful deception. In the closing paragraph he +limits the possibilities. His remarks on this question are not without +value for the students of certain literary problems. + +According to Dr. Eick, the really fundamental things which can never be +imitated are all manifestations of positive life. For example, we cannot +simulate courage, enthusiasm, humility. It is true that we can reproduce +certain distinctive marks of courage and enthusiasm which may deceive the +inexperienced; but the essence of these qualities can be expressed only +by a person who has experienced them, and who possesses them. A brave +man may simulate timidity and cowardice, the man who is capable of +enthusiasm may wear the mask of apathetic indolence; all depressive and +negative conditions may be imitated. But fulness of life and the sap +which quickens it cannot be replaced by any dissimulation. The stupid +person may persuade another stupid person to believe in his cleverness. +But it is impossible to counterfeit cleverness before a clever person +unless we possess a minimum of cleverness, because a certain amount of +cleverness is needed for the deception itself. The real tone of truth’s +voice can no more be copied than the fiery gleam of enthusiasm. At this +point all the arts of deception fail; the voice contradicts the words. +The man who possesses something of these qualities of soul can indeed +simulate higher degrees of the same qualities, and can exploit them in +unlimited measure. But the elemental things of life are inimitable, and +lie beyond the reach of falsehood. He who imitates an elemental thing is +immediately discovered—supposing, of course, that the discoverer has +himself some share in the element. + + +THE NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS + + +The idea that Datchery is a new character may safely be dismissed. It is +in one of the characters already on the stage that we must find Datchery. +I might proceed by taking the characters one by one, and by a process of +exhaustion arrive at Datchery. But a simpler way may be to enumerate the +qualifications required in Datchery, and to show that one character of +the story possesses them all. The claims of the other characters may be +then discussed. + +Datchery is assigned the task of collecting and co-ordinating all the +evidence of diverting suspicion from the innocent Neville Landless, and +fixing it on the true criminal. In order to do this satisfactorily he +required a combination of qualities. + +1. We need mental alertness and ability. Stupidity would be fatal. + +2. We need high courage and firm resolution. + +3. We need an individual who is at once fearless and skilful, one who +knows the art of disguise, one who can assume a new character and carry +through the assumption to a triumphant end. + +4. We need supremely a character whose whole heart goes with the effort +at detection. There must be behind all his actions a passionate, +personal, intimate concern. These requirements, I believe, are satisfied +in Helena Landless, and in Helena Landless alone. The identification is +naturally received at first with a certain measure of incredulity and +surprise, but a careful and patient study of the story will confirm it. + +The theory was put forth by Mr. Cuming Walters in 1905 in his book _Clues +to Dickens’s_ ‘_Mystery of Edwin Drood_.’ It is one of the most +brilliant conjectures or identifications in literary history. In arguing +for its truth I must follow largely on the lines of Mr. Cuming Walters, +but I hope to supply some fresh and fortifying considerations. + + +HELENA LANDLESS + + +No one will ever understand this problem unless he studies the method of +Dickens as explained by Dickens himself in his letter to Wilkie Collins +(page 92), and in his reply to the _Edinburgh_, (page 105). Dickens is +supremely an artist, and he tries to insert nothing without a purpose. +Sometimes his hints are intended to help at the time, sometimes to +mislead temporarily. Sometimes they are intended to be plain when the +end is reached, and the reader peruses the story in the light of the +conclusion. + +1. Helena has the mental alertness and ability which qualified her for +the task. It is interesting to see from the original manuscript and the +proofs how Dickens kept raising and lowering the lights which fell upon +the Landlesses. We have seen from the original manuscript in chapter vi. +how Dickens heightened his description of the pair. He changed ‘A +handsome young fellow, and a handsome girl; both dark and rich in +colour,’ into ‘An unusually handsome, lithe young fellow, and an +unusually handsome, lithe girl; much alike; both very dark, and very rich +in colour.’ He emphasises Helena’s personal characteristics: ‘Slender, +supple, quick of eye and limb; half shy, half defiant; fierce of look; an +indefinable kind of pause coming and going on their whole expression, +both of face and form, which might be equally likened to the pause before +a crouch or a bound.’ She fought her way through her tragical childhood, +was beaten by a cruel stepfather, and would have allowed him to ‘tear her +to pieces before she would have let him believe that he could make her +shed a tear.’ ‘She had a masterful look.’ Rosa said to her: ‘You seem +to have resolution and power enough to crush me. I shrink into nothing +by the side of your presence.’ But it is soon manifest that Helena has a +tender heart. She and her brother came to the Crisparkles ‘to quarrel +with you, and affront you, and break away again.’ But they are touched +by Mr. Crisparkle’s kindness, and Helena is more than touched. Neville +tells Crisparkle that in describing his own imperfections he is not +describing his sister’s. ‘She has come out of the disadvantages of our +miserable life, as much better than I am as that cathedral tower is +higher than these chimneys.’ Describing the misery of their childhood to +Crisparkle, Neville says: ‘You ought to know, to her honour, that nothing +in our misery ever subdued her, though it often cowed me. When we ran +away from it (we ran away four times in six years, to be soon brought +back and cruelly punished), the flight was always of her planning and +leading. Each time she dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man. +I take it we were seven years old when we first decamped.’ He says again +to Crisparkle: ‘You don’t know, sir, what a complete understanding can +exist between my sister and me, though no spoken word—perhaps hardly as +much as a look—may have passed between us.’ + +2. She has been from the beginning a born planner and leader. She has +shown the daring of a man. When her brother lost the pocket-knife with +which she was to have cut her hair short, she tried desperately to tear +it out or to bite it off. Yet this strong and fiercely passionate girl +had herself under the strictest control. + +She had no fear of Jasper. Rosa, Helena, Neville, Jasper, and Edwin meet +in Crisparkle’s drawing-room. Rosa is singing under the control of +Jasper. She bursts into tears and shrieks out: ‘I can’t bear this! I am +frightened! Take me away!’ Helena immediately comes to the rescue, and +with one swift turn of her lithe figure lays the little beauty on a sofa. +Edwin says to Jasper: + + ‘You are such a conscientious master, and require so much, that I + believe you make her afraid of you. No wonder.’ + + ‘No wonder,’ repeated Helena. + + ‘There, Jack, you hear! You would be afraid of him, under similar + circumstances, wouldn’t you, Miss Landless?’ + +‘Not under any circumstances,’ returned Helena. + +This to my mind is the first unmistakable suggestion of what was to be +developed. Here we have Jasper and Helena falling into enmity almost at +the first moment of their meeting, challenging one another to battle. +Helena accepts the challenge. Not under any circumstances would she be +afraid of Jasper. She lives to redeem that word. + +3. Dickens expressly tells us that Helena from her childhood was +accustomed to disguise herself as a boy. ‘When we ran away from it (we +ran away four times in six years, to be soon brought back and cruelly +punished), the flight was always of her planning and leading. Each time +she dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man.’ This is the +strongest reason for the identification of Helena with Datchery. I find +it difficult to suppose that any careful student of Dickens will believe +that these facts about Helena’s disguise were put in without intent. It +was one of those facts which Dickens intended his readers to interpret by +the backward look. Those who were amazed when Datchery appeared as +Helena would be referred back to the significant words which they had +missed. + +Helena protects her unhappy brother in London, and plans against his +enemies. She surmises that ‘Neville’s movements are watched, and that +the purpose of his foes is to isolate him from all friends and +acquaintances, and wear out his daily life grain by grain.’ She secures +the help of Mr. Tartar. + +In her conference with Grewgious, Helena plans for checkmating Jasper, +and inquires whether ‘it would be best to wait until any more maligning +and pursuing of Neville on the part of this wretch shall disclose itself, +or to try to anticipate it.’ + +4. Helena’s whole heart went with the effort at detection. We have seen +her hatred of Jasper. In the conversation between Helena and Rosa about +Drood and Jasper, Rosa betrays her horror of Jasper and his mesmeric +power over her, which makes her ashamed and passionately hurt. They +resume on the same strain. + + Says Rosa: + + ‘But you said to-night that you would not be afraid of him, under any + circumstances, and that gives me—who am so much afraid of him—courage + to tell only you. Hold me! Stay with me! I am too frightened to be + left by myself.’ + + The lustrous gipsy-face drooped over the clinging arms and bosom, and + the wild black hair fell down protectingly over the childish form. + There was a slumbering gleam of fire in the intense dark eyes, though + they were then softened with compassion and admiration. Let + whomsoever it most concerned look well to it! + +This last sentence is another of the unmistakably prophetic sentences in +Dickens. Helena was the sworn champion thenceforth of Rosa against +Jasper. Helena submits herself to the fairy bride and learns from her +what she knows. When Jasper is mentioned and Rosa says, ‘I could not +hold any terms with him, could I?’ Helena answers with indignation, ‘You +know how I love you, darling. But I would sooner see you dead at his +wicked feet.’ + +As to the close and tender affection between Helena and Neville, and her +vehement sympathy with his trial, there is no question. I quote one +passage because it seems to me a most striking fact that in the proofs of +Dickens the whole of it is struck out: + + ‘I don’t think so,’ said the Minor Canon. ‘There is duty to be done + here; and there are womanly feeling, sense, and courage wanted here.’ + + ‘I meant,’ explained Neville, ‘that the surroundings are so dull and + unwomanly, and that Helena can have no suitable friend or society + here.’ + + ‘You have only to remember,’ said Mr. Crisparkle, ‘that you are here + yourself, and that she has to draw you into the sunlight.’ + + They were silent for a little while, and then Mr. Crisparkle began + anew. + + ‘When we first spoke together, Neville, you told me that your sister + had risen out of the disadvantages of your past lives as superior to + you as the tower of Cloisterham Cathedral is higher than the chimneys + of Minor Canon Corner. Do you remember that?’ + + ‘Right well!’ + + ‘I was inclined to think it at the time an enthusiastic flight. No + matter what I think it now. What I would emphasise is, that under + the head of Pride your sister is a great and opportune example to + you.’ + + ‘Under _all_ heads that are included in the composition of a fine + character, she is.’ + + ‘Say so; but take this one. . . . She can dominate it even when it + is wounded through her sympathy with you. . . . Every day and hour + of her life since Edwin Drood’s disappearance she has faced malignity + and folly for you as only a brave nature well directed can. So it + will be with her to the end . . . [pride] which knows no shrinking, + and can get no mastery over her.’ + +Immediately after, Neville says: ‘I will do all I can to imitate her.’ + +‘Do so, and be a truly brave man, as she is a truly brave woman,’ +answered Mr. Crisparkle stoutly. In his proof Dickens struck out the +words, ‘as she is a truly brave woman.’ + +It is impossible, I think, to read this and not to see that Dickens is +afraid that we may too soon suspect Helena Landless of being Datchery. + +Neville’s sufferings under the suspicion are unmistakable and cruel. +When Crisparkle saw him he wished that his eyes were not quite so large +and quite so bright. ‘I want more sun to shine upon you.’ Neville tells +him that he feels marked and tainted even when he goes out at night, and +he never goes out in the day. He says, though Dickens did not mean us to +read the sentence: ‘It seems a little hard to be so tied to a stake, and +innocent; but I don’t complain.’ + +Such are the main reasons that induce me to believe that Helena is +Datchery. It is admitted on all hands that she was meant to play an +important part in the story. What part does she play if she is not +Datchery? + + +DATCHERY’S WISTFUL GAZE + + +But the proof that impresses me as much as any other is to be found in +the passage: ‘John Jasper’s lamp is kindled and his lighthouse is shining +when Mr. Datchery returns alone towards it. As mariners on a dangerous +voyage, approaching an iron-bound coast, may look along the beams of the +warning light to the haven lying beyond it that may never be reached, so +Mr. Datchery’s wistful gaze is directed to this beacon and beyond.’ The +detective of whom this is written cannot possibly be a mere detective. +His heart is engaged in the search. This fits Helena, and Helena only, +of all the characters that have been brought forward. A professional +detective paid by Grewgious could never have behaved in that way. +Helena’s whole heart was in the business. She had to relieve her +fondly-loved brother from a cruel weight of anxiety and suspicion. She +had to bring a villain whose baseness she thoroughly knew to justice. +She had to liberate the girl friend she loved from persecution, and she +looked to a beyond, to the haven—the haven of Crisparkle’s love. + + +DATCHERY’S WIG + + +Datchery wears a wig, and it is unusually large, as though a woman’s hair +were concealed under it. As Mr. Cuming Walters also points out, Helena +undoubtedly had a strong motive for not sacrificing her hair to the +disguise, for she was unmistakably in love with Crisparkle. + + +DATCHERY’S HANDS + + +There is no doubt that if Datchery was Helena, one of her chief +difficulties must have been with her hands. + +Miss Stirling Graeme, the author of _Mystifications_, had a marvellous +power of disguising herself. ‘There was nothing extraordinary about +her,’ says Dr. John Brown, ‘but let her put on the old lady; it was as if +a warlock spell had passed over her; not merely her look, but her nature +was changed: her spirit had passed into the character she represented; +and jest, quick retort, whimsical fancy, the wildest nonsense flowed from +her lips, with a freedom and truth to nature which appeared to be +impossible in her own personality.’ + +Sir Walter Scott in his _Journal_ for 7th March 1828 tells us that when +she returned to her party in the character of an old Scottish lady she +deceived every one. ‘The prosing account she gave of her son, the +antiquary, who found an auld wig in a slate quarry, was extremely +ludicrous, and she puzzled the Professor of Agriculture with a merciless +account of the succession of crops in the parks around her old +mansion-house. No person to whom the secret was not entrusted had the +least guess of an impostor, _except one shrewd young lady present_, _who +observed the hand narrowly_, _and saw it was plumper than the age of the +lady seemed to warrant_.’ + +In the _Daily Mail_ of 4th April 1912 there is an account of two girls +who lived together, passing as husband and wife. The man with whom they +lodged said: ‘The husband’s hands were so small and soft that both my +wife and myself were suspicious.’ + +I ask the attention of readers to the manner in which Dickens refers to +Datchery’s hands. I do not lay too much stress on these indications, but +they deserve consideration. + +1. We read in chapter xviii. about Datchery in the coffee-room of the +Crozier, ‘as he stood with his back to the empty fireplace waiting for +his fried sole, veal cutlet, and pint of sherry.’ (‘Empty’ was an +afterthought on Dickens’s part.) Here we have Datchery keeping his hands +out of view. + +2. A little after, Datchery asks the waiter to take his hat down for a +moment from the peg. If he had stretched out his own hand it might have +been noticed. + +3. Later in the same chapter, when Datchery meets Jasper and the Mayor, +he does not shake hands with them. ‘“I beg pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, +making a leg with his hat under his arm.’ Originally this was written +‘hat in hand.’ If he carried his hat under his arm, one hand would be +buried in the hat. + +4. Afterwards we read of Datchery following Jasper and the Mayor, ‘with +his hat under his arm, and his shock of white hair streaming in the +evening breeze.’ + +5. When Datchery is talking to the opium woman, ‘he lounges along, like +the chartered bore of the city, with his uncovered grey hair blowing +about, and his purposeless hands rattling the loose money in the pockets +of his trousers.’ His hands are thus out of sight. Immediately after we +find him ‘still rattling his loose money,’ and again, ‘still rattling.’ + +6. At last he begins to count out the sum demanded of him by the opium +woman. ‘Greedily watching his hands, she continues to hold forth on the +great example set him.’ Of course, she may merely be watching for the +money in his hands, but there may be something more in it than this. Let +it be noted that Dickens originally wrote, ‘Greedily watching him,’ and +inserted ‘his hands’ later. + +7. Immediately after ‘Mr. Datchery drops some money, stoops to pick it +up.’ In all the scene with the opium woman he keeps his hands out of +sight as much as possible, and when he does show them they strike the old +woman. + +I may add, though much has been said about the possibility of detecting +by means of the voice, this does not appear by any means to be +impossible, or even very difficult. Only one meeting between Jasper and +Helena is recorded. Her voice is described as low and rich. Even if he +had talked with Datchery, it is more than doubtful whether he would have +known the voice again, music-master though he was. Datchery, if our +supposition is right, was an expert in disguise, and could have carried +it off. I find in the pleasant _Recollections and Impressions_ of Mrs. +Sellar that she had no difficulty in deceiving her nearest friends. She +tells us how one day, when Sir David and Lady Brewster were dining with +the Sellars at St. Andrews, after dinner Lady Brewster begged her to +dress up and take in Sir David: + +‘“But what will account for my absence?” + +‘“Oh, you have been obliged to go to bed with one of your headaches; and +I’ll introduce the stranger.” + +‘So I went upstairs, put on a false front, and was announced as Miss +Craig. On the gentlemen coming in I was specially introduced to Sir +David, but not being at all attractive-looking, he soon left me for +younger and fairer friends! Determined he should take some notice of me, +I said I would not play the piano unless Sir David asked me; and on this +being told him he muttered: “God bless the woman! what does she mean! I +don’t know her.”’ {163} + +Mr. Lang says: ‘A young lady of my acquaintance successfully passed +herself off on her betrothed as her own cousin—also a young lady—and +Dickens had not to imagine anything so unlikely as that.’ + +To this I may add that Scott tells a story of Garrick and his wife. Mrs. +Garrick was an accomplished actress, but once she witnessed an +entertainment in which was introduced a farmer giving his neighbours an +account of the wonders seen on a visit to London. The character was +received with such peals of applause that Mrs. Garrick began to think it +rivalled those which had been so lately lavished on Richard the Third. +At last she observed her little spaniel dog was making efforts to get +towards the balcony which separated him from the facetious farmer. Then +she became aware of the truth. ‘How strange,’ she said, ‘that a dog +should know his master, and a woman, in the same circumstances, should +not recognise her husband!’ {164a} + + +THE ORIGIN OF DICKENS’S IDEA + + +So strong is the evidence for Helena Landless being Datchery that even +the chief advocates of the Proctor theory have fully admitted its force. +Dr. M. R. James says: ‘I will go as far as this: if Edwin is dead, then +Datchery is Helena.’ {164b} Mr. Andrew Lang over and over again admitted +that Datchery might be Helena. But he contended that, if so, the idea of +Dickens is improbable with the worst sort of improbability, is terribly +far-fetched, and fails to interest. ‘It is the idea of a bad sixpenny +novel. We are asked to credit Dickens with the highest scientific skill, +and this egregious invention is the result of his science. The idea +would have been rejected by Mr. Guy Boothby. But it does not follow that +Mr. Walters has not hit on Dickens’s idea. If he has, _Edwin Drood_ is +far below _Count Robert of Paris_ in its first uncorrected state, as the +public will never know it.’ + +There is something in this argument, and it has never yet been fairly +met, but I believe that I can show that the idea was probably suggested +to Dickens by one figure in real life, and another figure in fiction. So +far as I am aware these suggestions are made for the first time. + +In the _Bancroft Recollections_, Lady Bancroft writes on page 31: + + My first part at the Strand Theatre was Pippo, in his burlesque _The + Maid and the Magpie_, which proved an immense success, and I + established myself as a leading favourite. It was not until the + _Life of Charles Dickens_ was published that I knew his opinion of + this performance. Dickens had written years before, in a letter to + John Forster, these words: + + ‘I went to the Strand Theatre, having taken a stall beforehand, for + it is always crammed. I really wish you would go to see _The Maid + and the Magpie_ burlesque there. There is the strangest thing in it + that ever I have seen on the stage—the boy Pippo, by Miss Wilton. + While it is astonishingly impudent (must be, or it couldn’t be done + at all), it is so stupendously like a boy, and unlike a woman, that + it is perfectly free from offence. I never have seen such a thing. + She does an imitation of the dancing of the Christy + Minstrels—wonderfully clever—which, in the audacity of its + thorough-going, is surprising. A thing that you _cannot_ imagine a + woman’s doing at all; and yet the manner, the appearance, the levity, + impulse, and spirits of it are so exactly like a boy, that you cannot + think of anything like her sex in association with it. I never have + seen such a curious thing, and the girl’s talent is unchallengeable. + I call her the cleverest girl I have ever seen on the stage in my + time, and the most singularly original.’ + +Lady Bancroft adds: ‘Charles Dickens’s being impressed with my likeness +to a boy reminds me that on the first night I acted in _The Middy +Ashore_, one of the staff came up to me at the wings and said: “Beg +pardon, young sir, you must go back to your seat; no strangers are +allowed behind the scenes.”’ From this it must be inferred that Dickens +had there that evening a new idea as to the possibilities of disguise. +Dickens’s letter was written in 1859. + +I believe that Dickens in this Datchery assumption was mainly influenced +by Wilkie Collins. Most writers on Dickens have observed his admiration +for Collins, the way in which he co-operated with him, and the high value +he placed on his work. _The Moonstone_ has been referred to in this +connection, but I venture to think that the novel which led Dickens to +his idea was _No Name_. I have already printed (page 91) Dickens’s +wildly enthusiastic testimony to its merits. He placed it far above _The +Woman in White_, and far above _The Moonstone_. In particular, he +admired the character of Magdalen Vanstone. + +In _No Name_ we are introduced to a charming family—husband, wife, and +two daughters—the Vanstones. Then it turns out that the parents are +unmarried. The husband made a great mistake in marrying a bad woman in +his early youth, and is nearly ruined in consequence. He induces a good +woman to live with him as his wife, and he has a fortune of £80,000. By +a singular mischance both he and the mother die suddenly about the same +time. Vanstone had made a will leaving his property to the daughters, +but just before the death of his wife he discovers that his real wife is +dead, and so they go out and get married. The law is that marriage +abolishes all past wills. The consequence is that the will is not +effective, and the two daughters are left without a penny, and without a +name. What are the girls to do? The younger, Magdalen, has great force +of character, and shows a talent for the stage. She resolves to revenge +herself on her father’s brother who has taken all the money. Instead of +going to work as an ordinary actress, she gives performances of her own. +She is very clever at acting different parts. She disguises herself as +an old woman, and in all sorts of disguises. She is nineteen, almost the +age of Helena Landless. Here is a description of the way in which she +disguises herself: + + I found all the dresses in the box complete—with one remarkable + exception. That exception was the dress of the old north-country + lady; the character which I have already mentioned as the best of all + my pupil’s disguises, and as modelled in voice and manner on her old + governess, Miss Garth. The wig; the eyebrows; the bonnet and veil; + the cloak, padded inside to disfigure her back and shoulders; the + paints and cosmetics used to age her face and alter her + complexion—were all gone. Nothing but the gown remained; a gaudily + flowered silk, useful enough for dramatic purposes, but too + extravagant in colour and pattern to bear inspection by daylight. + The other parts of the dress are sufficiently quiet to pass muster; + the bonnet and veil are only old-fashioned, and the cloak is of a + sober grey colour. But one plain inference can be drawn from such a + discovery as this. As certainly as I sit here, she is going to open + the campaign against Noel Vanstone and Mrs. Lecount, in a character + which neither of those two persons can have any possible reason for + suspecting at the outset—the character of Miss Garth. + + What course am I to take under these circumstances? Having got her + secret, what am I to do with it? These are awkward considerations; I + am rather puzzled how to deal with them. + + It is something more than the mere fact of her choosing to disguise + herself to forward her own private ends that causes my present + perplexity. Hundreds of girls take fancies for disguising + themselves; and hundreds of instances of it are related year after + year, in the public journals. But my ex-pupil is not to be + confounded, for one moment, with the average adventuress of the + newspapers. She is capable of going a long way beyond the limit of + _dressing herself like a man_, _and imitating a man’s voice and + manner_. She has a natural gift for assuming characters, which I + have never seen equalled by a woman; and she has performed in public + until she has felt her own power, and trained her talent for + disguising herself to the highest pitch. A girl who takes the + sharpest people unawares by using such a capacity as this to help her + own objects in private life; and who sharpens that capacity by a + determination to fight her way to her own purpose which has beaten + down everything before it, up to this time—is a girl who tries an + experiment in deception, new enough and dangerous enough to lead one + way or the other, to very serious results. This is my conviction + founded on a large experience in the art of imposing on my + fellow-creatures. I say of my fair relative’s enterprise what I + never said or thought of it till I introduced myself to the inside of + her box. The chances for and against her winning the fight for her + lost fortune are now so evenly balanced that I cannot for the life of + me see on which side the scale inclines. All I can discern is, that + it will, to a dead certainty, turn one way or the other on the day + when she passes Noel Vanstone’s doors in disguise. + +I am not prepared to criticise Dickens’s plot as Mr. Lang has done. If +Wilkie Collins made an admirable heroine of Magdalen Vanstone disguising +herself variously, why should not Dickens succeed in making a character +as wonderful and more attractive of Helena Landless? There is nothing to +be condemned in the idea itself. It has been used by masters, and used +successfully. There would have been nothing to condemn, I believe, in +Dickens’s way of working it out if he had lived to complete his book. +The comparison with Guy Boothby is singularly inept. + + +OBJECTIONS + + +The objections that have been made to the Datchery-Helena theory turn +mainly on the supposed disgracefulness of Dickens deceiving his readers +as he did, and working out a melodramatic idea. These objections might +have been, and, I believe, would have been, scattered to the winds by the +complete story. + +The most serious objection to the identification of Datchery as Helena is +the confusion in the chronology. This is admirably stated by Dr. +Jackson, who examines in a masterly way the arrangement of the chapters. +He comes to the conclusion that chapter xviii. has been introduced +prematurely. It ought to have followed chapter xxii. If Dickens had +lived to issue the fifth and sixth monthly instalments, he would have +placed our chapter xviii. without the alteration of a single word after +chapter xxii., next before chapter xxiii. We know that Dickens told his +sister-in-law that he was afraid the Datchery assumption in the fifth +number was premature. Dr. Jackson gives us a full and valuable +examination of the manuscript so far as its arrangement is concerned. I +have tested his statements in every point, and can only confirm them. To +Dr. Jackson’s chapter ix., ‘The Manuscript,’ I refer the reader. + +There are other objections. In particular, some are troubled by +Datchery’s masculine ways. They ask how Helena, fresh from Ceylon, +should have known the old tavern way of keeping scores. There is not +much in this. In fact, these scores, which could have served no purpose, +seem to me the natural expression of a buoyant girl rejoicing in her +achievements. A cool-headed, middle-aged detective would never have +expressed himself in such a way. Why should not Helena have known about +tavern scoring? She was accustomed to walk with her brother Neville, and +in the course of their walks they may very likely have visited a tavern +now and then. We read of Neville finding his way to a tavern when he +walked away that dark night. In _Phineas Finn_, at the end of chapter +lxxi., Trollope, reporting the conversation of two high-born ladies, Lady +Laura Kennedy and Miss Violet Effingham, has this: + + ‘Was I not to forgive him—I who had turned myself away from him with + a fixed purpose the moment that I found that he had made a mark upon + my heart? I could not wipe off that mark, and yet I married. Was he + not to try to wipe off his mark?’ + + ‘It seems that he wiped it off very quickly; and since that he has + wiped off another mark. One doesn’t know how many marks he has wiped + off. They are like the innkeeper’s score which he makes in chalk. A + damp cloth brings them all away, and leaves nothing behind.’ + +This shows, at least, that chalk-marking is not a matter of esoteric +knowledge in England, but is known to high and low. I may note that +Dickens inserted the adjective ‘uncouth’—‘a few uncouth, chalked +strokes’—over his original manuscript, to make it clear no doubt that the +scorer was an amateur at the business. + +Then there are objections to Datchery’s masculine fare—fried sole, veal +cutlet, and pint of sherry; bread and cheese, and salad and ale. It must +be remembered that Helena was in disguise. This was not a mere disguise +of dress, but it was a disguise of everything. She was assuming a +character and carrying it out. She had all the ability and all the will +for accomplishing this. In doing masculine things she was simply +carrying out her disguise. A woman passing for a man must do what a man +would do or she will fail, and be found out. + +It has been suggested that if Datchery is Helena, and therefore knows the +Gatehouse, why does she give it ‘a second look of some interest’? Dr. +Jackson replies very well that the house for her has now a new +importance, and is the object upon which her thoughts are to be +concentrated for weeks, and perhaps for months. But Dickens did not mean +this passage to be printed, for good reasons of his own. + + +WHAT DICKENS DID NOT MEAN US TO READ + + +This leads us to note that certain passages which have been much +discussed were not meant for publication by Dickens. That is, he struck +them out in proof. Dr. Jackson points out that in chapter xviii., when +Datchery consults the waiter at the Crozier about ‘a fair lodging for a +single buffer,’ he is obviously asking to be recommended to Tope’s. The +waiter is puzzled at first. When Mr. Datchery asks for ‘something +venerable, architectural, and inconvenient,’ the waiter shakes his head. +‘Anything cathedraly, now?’ Mr. Datchery suggested. Then comes the +mention of Tope. Datchery boggles about the cathedral tower seeking for +lodgings, but Dickens did not mean us to read the words: ‘With a general +impression on his mind that Mrs. Tope’s was somewhere very near it, and +that, like the children in the game of hot boiled beans and very good +butter, he was warm in his search when he saw the tower, and cold when he +didn’t see it.’ + +When the Deputy pointed out Jasper’s, first Dickens wrote ‘“Indeed?” said +Mr. Datchery, with an appearance of interest.’ Then he wrote: +‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with a second look of some interest.’ Then +he struck out the sentence entirely. + +Dickens also struck out the sentence which describes Datchery after the +Deputy left him: ‘Mr. Datchery, taking off his hat to give that shock of +white hair of his another shake, seemed quite resigned, and betook +himself whither he had been directed.’ He also struck out the passage in +which Mrs. Tope and Datchery talk of what occurred last winter: + + Perhaps Mr. Datchery had heard something of what had occurred there + last winter? + + Mr. Datchery had as confused a knowledge of the event in question, on + trying to recall it, as he well could have. He begged Mrs. Tope’s + pardon when she found it incumbent on her to correct him in every + detail of his summary of the facts, but pleaded that he was merely a + single buffer getting through life upon his means as idly as he + could, and that so many people were so constantly making away with so + many other people as to render it difficult for a buffer of an easy + temper to preserve the circumstances of the several cases unmixed in + his mind. + +Nearly all the conversation between the Mayor and Datchery is deleted. +See page 9. + +Also Dickens erases the little talk between the Deputy and Datchery +beginning: ‘Master Deputy, what do you owe me?’ See page 11. + +It may not be possible to deduce any assured inference from these +omissions, but they are worth pondering, and may be referred to again. + + + +CHAPTER VII—OTHER THEORIES + + +THE DROOD-DATCHERY THEORY + + +One opposing theory is that Datchery was Drood. With all respect for the +scholars who have propounded it, this appears to me a purely comic +notion. It is the most fantastical of all fancies as to who was +Datchery. As Dr. Blake Odgers points out, every one at Cloisterham knew +the murdered man: a mere white wig would be no disguise at all. I may +add that if Jasper had discovered him he would almost be justified in +finishing the murder this time. For what would be Drood’s object? The +theory is that, in spite of his being drugged, throttled, perhaps thrown +from a tower, at all events buried in quicklime, and in all probability +locked up in the tomb, Drood got away when his uncle was triumphantly +flinging his watch and scarf-pin into the river. Supposing it were so, +what was Drood doing while he watched his uncle? Is it said that he was +so bemused by the opium that he did not know who had handled him in such +a murderous fashion? This is very hard to believe. Mr. Andrew Lang +himself says: ‘Fancy can suggest no reason why Edwin Drood, if he escaped +from his wicked uncle, should go spying about instead of coming openly +forward.’ Mr. Archer says the flaw is that the theory provides no motive +whatever for Drood’s disguising himself as Datchery. Why should Drood +devote himself to an elaborate scheme of revenge upon his near kinsman +and friend? He would want to hush the matter up, and save Jasper from +himself. Why did Drood let Neville lie under the suspicion of murder, +and why was not Rosa let into the secret? It is hardly worth while to +point out that there is nothing in Drood’s character as given us which +could have enabled him to show the ability, the composure, and the +self-control of Datchery. Who could have supplied him with money to live +idly at Cloisterham? His money was all locked up till he came of age, +and Jasper was his guardian and trustee. If Grewgious supplied the +money, why did not Grewgious make an end of Neville’s misery? + + +THE BAZZARD-DATCHERY THEORY + + +A far more plausible theory is that Datchery was Bazzard. Dickens almost +invites readers to connect Bazzard with Datchery when he makes Grewgious +say to Rosa when she came up to London that Bazzard ‘was off duty here +altogether just at present, and a firm downstairs with whom I have +business relations lend me a substitute.’ (The words ‘here altogether’ +were added by Dickens.) + +I have no doubt that Dickens in some way meant to explain Bazzard’s +business. But that Bazzard should have been Datchery will appear a sheer +impossibility to careful students of Dickens. Proctor, whose side +remarks are often excellent, puts the point briefly as follows: ‘No one +at all familiar with Dickens’s method would for a moment imagine that +Datchery is Bazzard, Mr. Grewgious’s clerk. Bazzard was as certainly +intended to come to grief, and be exposed in the sequel as was Silas Wegg +in _Our Mutual Friend_.’ + +Mr. Cuming Walters says: ‘Literary art rebels against the idea. Bazzard +was one of Dickens’s favourite low comedy characters.’ + +Dr. James dismisses the Bazzard theory ‘because Buzzard in his first and +principal appearance has too much both of the fool and of the knave about +him to develop into the Datchery whom we are intended to admire.’ + +Dr. Jackson says: ‘Capacity can ape incapacity, but incapacity cannot ape +capacity. This being so, I am sure that Bazzard, who is not only +“particularly angular, but also somnolent, dull, incompetent, +egotistical, is wholly incapable of playing the part of the supple, +quick-witted, resolute, dignified Datchery.”’ In these judgments I +agree. Bazzard has no ethical quality. He has not the smallest personal +interest in the discovery. How could it be said of Bazzard that his +‘wistful gaze is directed to this beacon, and beyond?’ + +As the theory is obvious and popular, it may be worth while to say +something more, and Dr. Hugo Eick’s words, as previously quoted, may help +us. Helena Landless had the elemental qualities needed for the Datchery +role. Note that among Shakespeare’s heroines who masquerade as men, +Rosalind, in _As you Like It_, and Julia, in _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, +have not these elemental qualities and are suspected. Portia has them, +and even her own husband does not know her in her doctor’s robes. She is +recognised by all as a young doctor, but not one person in court thinks +‘There is a woman!’ Bazzard might have imitated depressive and negative +conditions, but he could not have imitated the qualities of positive +life. ‘Fulness of life and the sap which quickens it cannot be replaced +by any dissimulation.’ + +It should also be noted that if Bazzard was Datchery, he had no occasion +to disguise himself in a huge white wig, for he was not known in +Cloisterham. + + +THE GREWGIOUS-DATCHERY THEORY + + +The theory that Datchery was Grewgious may be dismissed in a sentence. +Grewgious with his ‘awkward and hesitating manner,’ his ‘shambling walk,’ +his ‘scanty flat crop of hair,’ his ‘smooth head,’ his ‘short sight,’ his +general angularity fits in no way the watchful, courtly, adroit, fluent, +and versatile Datchery. + + +THE DATCHERY-NEVILLE THEORY + + +Mr. Lang has a wild conjecture somewhere that Neville was Datchery, and +that Helena was disguised as Neville. It is difficult to treat this +seriously. Neville would inevitably have been found out. His cause was +undertaken by his friends, and his business was to study and wait. Why +on earth should Helena disguise herself as Neville? + + +THE TARTAR-DATCHERY THEORY + + +There is something more attractive about this theory, and it has been +very well argued by Mr. G. F. Gadd in the _Dickensian_, vol. ii. p. 13. +Mr. Gadd uses the argument ‘with a second look of some interest,’ as +showing Datchery’s ignorance of Cloisterham. He quotes Tartar’s phrase +‘being an idle man,’ as corresponding with the ‘idle buffer living on his +means.’ He suggests that Dickens at this point of his story avails +himself of the licence not unfrequent in fiction of temporarily +abandoning the strictly chronological order. He suggests that Tartar as +a seafaring man might know something of opium smoking, and compares the +wistful gaze directed to this beacon and beyond, to what is said about +Tartar as he and Rosa entered his chambers at Staple Inn. ‘Rosa thought +. . . that his far-seeing eyes looked as if they had been used to watch +danger afar off, and to watch it without flinching, drawing nearer and +nearer.’ + +But, as Dr. Jackson points out, Tartar has his duties assigned to him. +He has to watch over Neville and see him almost daily. Again, Tartar +does not know about Cloisterham and the Drood mystery what Datchery knows +and needs to know. ‘Thirdly, I doubt whether the cheery, +straightforward, simple-minded Tartar is capable of Datchery’s +versatility, subtlety, and address.’ To this I add that Tartar’s heart +is not engaged in the business as Helena’s is. Also what need is there +for his disguise? He has never been in Cloisterham, and nobody there +knows him. + + * * * * * + +For these reasons we conclude that Helena and no other is Datchery. I +have taken no account of the theory that Datchery is an unknown person. +An unknown person could not possess the necessary qualities of heart. + + + +CHAPTER VIII—HOW WAS ‘EDWIN DROOD’ TO END? + + +How _Edwin Drood_ was to end is a problem which can only be solved to a +certain extent. We find we are left in the middle, and as much mystery +remains as fully justifies the title. We do not know the precise manner +in which the murder was accomplished. In particular, we are left +ignorant as to the way in which the crime is to be brought home to the +victim. We cannot define the relations of the opium woman to Drood and +Jasper and the Landlesses. We do not know the history of Jasper’s early +years. We can do no more than speculate, and the speculations must be +confined within strict limits. The first question is, whether Dickens +himself knew how he was going to extricate and complete his narrative. + +Scott has left us the astonishing statement {184} that ‘I have generally +written to the middle of one of these novels without having the least +idea how it was to end.’ Mr. Skene, a true friend of Sir Walter Scott, +tells us {185} that when Scott described to him the scheme which he had +formed for _Anne of Geierstein_, he suggested to him that he might with +advantage connect the history of René, king of Provence, in which subject +Skene had special means of helping him. Scott accepted the suggestion, +‘and the whole _dénouement_ of the story of _Anne of Geierstein_ was +changed, and the Provence part woven into it, in the form in which it +ultimately came forth.’ + +Was Dickens in the same case when death interrupted him in his work? + +Was this an ‘apoplectic’ novel? + +Scott speaks frankly of _Count Robert of Paris_ and _Castle Dangerous_ +being his ‘apoplectic books.’ Does _Edwin Drood_ bear the same relation +to the body of Dickens’s work as _Count Robert of Paris_ and _Castle +Dangerous_ bear to the Waverley Novels? Mr. Lang, whose views on this +subject varied much, in one of his later writings takes the view that +Dickens was deeply embarrassed. He says: ‘It is melancholy to think of +this great and terribly overtasked genius tormented by fears that were +only too real.’ He finds the story wandering on, living from hand to +mouth, full of absurdities. He thinks that Dickens was very capable of +changing his original purpose, and saving the life of Edwin. + +There is no doubt that Dickens was puzzled about the order of his +chapters. Forster tells us that Dickens ‘became a little nervous about +the course of the tale from a fear that he might have plunged too soon +into the incidents leading on to the catastrophe such as the Datchery +assumption (a misgiving he had certainly expressed to his +sister-in-law).’ I have already expressed agreement with Dr. Jackson in +his plan for renumbering the chapters. Unless this plan is adopted there +is chronological confusion. Also there is no doubt that Dickens had been +working under terrific strain. But the testimony of those who knew him +best is that his faculties were never brighter and stronger than they +were in his last months. + +The same impression is left upon me by his unfinished novel. Those who +dislike Dickens’s later manner may easily find faults. They may say that +Honeythunder is grotesque rather than amusing. They may say that +Jasper’s courtship of Rosa is melodramatic and wolfish. I confess to +being perpetually puzzled by the account of Neville’s capture on the +morning after the murder. Why was he pursued in that manner? All that +was known against him was that he had been with Edwin on the previous +night. He is only eight miles away from Cloisterham, and stopping at a +roadside tavern to refresh. He starts again on his journey, and becomes +aware of other pedestrians behind him coming up at a faster pace than +his. He stands aside to let them pass, but only four pass. Other four +slackened speed, and loitered as if intending to follow him when he +should go on. The remainder of the party (half a dozen, perhaps) turn +and go back at a great rate. Among those who go back is Mr. Crisparkle. +Nobody speaks, but they all look at him. Four walk in advance and four +in the rear. Thus he is beset, and stops as a last test, and they all +stop. He asks: + + ‘Why do you attend upon me in this way? . . . Are you a pack of + thieves?’ + + ‘Don’t answer him,’ said one of the number. . . . ‘Better be quiet. + . . .’ + + ‘I will not submit to be penned in,’ says Neville; ‘I mean to pass + those four in front.’ + +They all stand still, and he shoulders his heavy stick and quickens his +pace. The largest and strongest man of the number dexterously closes +with him and goes down with him, but not before the heavy stick has +descended smartly. Naturally Neville is utterly bewildered. Two of them +hold his arms and lead him back into a group whose central figures are +Jasper and Crisparkle. Why on earth did not Crisparkle speak to him at +the beginning, and tell him what had happened? All this is +somnambulistic. + +There seems to be a slight slip in chapter ii. + +Jasper’s room at the Gatehouse is described. It has an unfinished +picture of a blooming schoolgirl hanging over the chimneypiece. At the +upper end of the room Mr. Jasper opens a door and discloses a small inner +room pleasantly lighted and prepared for supper. + +‘Fixed as the look the young fellow meets is, there is yet in it some +strange power of suddenly including the sketch over the chimneypiece.’ +They dine in the inner room. The cloth is drawn, and a dish of walnuts +and a decanter of rich coloured sherry are placed upon the table. + +‘How’s she looking, Jack?’ + +Mr. Jasper’s concentrated face again includes the portrait as he returns: +‘Very like your sketch indeed.’ + +‘I am a little proud of it,’ says the young fellow, glancing up at the +sketch with complacency, and then shutting one eye, and taking a +corrected prospect of it over a level bridge of nut-crackers in the air. + +Dickens seems to have forgotten that the sketch is in the other room. + +It seems to me that these are slips, but I do not find any other readers +have taken the same view. With these exceptions, the story seems to be +one of Dickens’s best books. Its grasp of local colour and detail is as +strong as ever it was. There is much of his old humour in the Mayor, in +Miss Twinkleton’s Girls’ School, in Billickin, in Durdles and his +attendant imp. Also the story is constructed with the greatest care and +ingenuity. Any one who carefully goes over the manuscript and the proofs +will see that Dickens had a plan in his mind that he half revealed and +half concealed, that his phrases and details are chosen with the nicest +care, and that he meant to reward those who at the end could take a +‘backward look’ by the delight they would experience in seeing how +everything had been scrupulously planned and artistically conducted to a +climax. We cannot do justice to the book in its present state. But +Dickens’s royal genius was at its full, and would have vindicated itself. +He had set himself deliberately to carrying out a plot far more exact +than he had ever attempted, and the end was in view from the beginning. + +This is not to say that the reason of every incident and every +description was disclosed from the first. I have previously discussed +Edgar Allan Poe’s reading of _Barnaby Rudge_, and shown that his +perception, keen as it was, yielded him less than he thought. I have +shown how Dickens prepared the plan for _Little Dorrit_ from the start of +his book. It may be traced now, but without the ‘backward glance’ it +would not have been easy to trace it. + +We may also say with some confidence that no new characters of importance +would have been introduced to us in the second half. In the chapter +‘Half Way with Dickens’ I have shown that this is the case with five of +his principal books. The conclusion is not stringent, for Dickens was +free to change his method. But it may be said to be highly probable; if +it is true we are left to conjecture the part that the various characters +would have played in the winding up of the tale. + +The book was to end with the capture and conviction of Jasper. I have +already written of the part played and to be played by Grewgious. +Another hunter of Jasper was Durdles. The task assigned to Durdles among +the hunters is fairly clear. Sooner or later, by tapping round the +Sapsea monument he is to discover the presence of ‘a wheen banes,’ or at +least of some unsuspected ‘rubbish.’ He had put the inscription on the +monument before Christmas, and had no doubt satisfied himself then that +all was safe. ‘When Durdles puts a touch or a finish upon his work, no +matter where, inside or outside, Durdles likes to look at his work all +round, and see that his work is a-doing him credit.’ + +Having made his inspection when the epitaph was put on, Durdles would +have no further curiosity about the tomb until, in the following summer, +he took Mr. Datchery on a rambling expedition as he had taken Jasper. +His peculiar gift, like that of the bloodhound, is to aid in tracking +down the quarry. + +Deputy has also his part to play. From the first Jasper hates and fears +Deputy, and there are signs near the close of _Edwin Drood_ that this +strange boy, who has some characteristics in common with Dickie Sludge, +of _Kenilworth_, is to form a close alliance with Datchery. The ugliest +side of Jasper’s character displays itself in his treatment of the ‘young +imp employed by Durdles.’ The chanting of the line, ‘Widdy Widdy +Wake-cock warning,’ has for him a note of menace. With the fury of a +devil he leaps upon the boy when he emerges from the crypt with Durdles, +and hears a sharp whistle rending the silence. ‘I will shed the blood of +that impish wretch!’ he cries; ‘I know I shall do it.’ Durdles has to +appeal to him not to hurt the boy. ‘He followed us to-night, when we +first came here,’ says Jasper. ‘He has been prowling near us ever +since.’ + +Deputy denies both accusations. ‘I’d only just come out for my ’elth +when I see you two a-coming out of the Kinfreederal.’ + +What has Deputy actually seen? He may have testimony to give of the most +vital consequence, but even if he has seen nothing of Jasper’s movements +while Durdles lies asleep, or of his approach to the Sapsea monument, he +will tell Mr. Datchery of that furious onslaught when Jasper clutched his +throat and threatened to kill him. He will prove a very useful ally of +the hunters. + +It seems quite inconceivable that either Durdles or Deputy could have +known the whole secret and kept it. Neither of them was capable of +keeping a secret long. But they might have suspicions, and they might +and would know circumstances which when rightly interpreted led to the +inevitable conclusion. + +I cannot but think that the chief part in the coming narrative was to be +played by the opium woman. The novel from the very first page has a +touch of the East. In Wilkie Collins’s _The Moonstone_ the Indians did +their part, and then vanished from the scene. But in _Edwin Drood_ we +have the Landlesses from Ceylon with a touch of dark blood, or at least +of the Eastern spirit. Mr. Lang is in excess of the facts when he calls +them Eurasians, and Dickens hesitates in ascribing black blood to them. +They are more probably gypsies. We have also the connection of Edwin +Drood with the East. There is more than a suggestion of dark blood in +John Jasper. Above all, we have the opium woman. What was the +connection between John Jasper and the opium woman? What was John +Jasper’s history before he came to Cloisterham? + +We do not know, but conjectures have been hazarded. Mr. Cuming Walters +thinks that the opium woman’s hatred of Jasper may be due to the fact +that Jasper has wronged a child of the woman’s. He also conjectures that +Jasper may be the son of the opium woman. Dr. Jackson conjectures that +Jasper seduces a young girl who had treated the old woman kindly, that he +neglected this girl for Rosa, that the girl committed suicide, and that +the old woman devoted herself to the pursuit of the betrayer. All this +is mere speculation. We have really no means of judging whether the +speculation is true or not. It does seem that the woman’s peculiar +hatred of Jasper must have an origin and a grave cause. Miss Stoddart +suggests that the opium woman was not wholly degraded, and that she is +horrified by Jasper’s continually repeated threatenings while under the +influence of opium; that her sympathies have been wakened for that +hapless Ned who bears a threatened name, and she resolves to do her best +to serve him. With an honest purpose she makes her way before Christmas +to Cloisterham. She loses sight of Jasper, but actually meets Edwin +Drood. The kind act of that young stranger causes her to unload her +conscience, and she bids him be thankful that his name is not Ned. At +her second visit in the summer she knows from Jasper’s confessions under +her own roof that the long premeditated crime has actually taken place, +and her object in visiting Cloisterham is to gather evidence that may +serve the ends of justice. This sunken creature has a task assigned to +her, and she fulfils it. + +I am not sure that Dickens means to throw any redeeming light on the +character of the opium woman. She has been wronged; she is seeking +vengeance, and at last, she finds it. How this comes to pass Dickens +meant to tell us, but he meant, no doubt, to surprise us in the telling. + +My own belief is that Dickens intended to surprise his readers by telling +them of some unsuspected blood relationship between his characters. +Surprises of this kind are given in his novels. No reader of _Oliver +Twist_ could have guessed from the first part Oliver’s relationship to +Monks and the Maylies. Who would have supposed from the first half of +_Nicholas Nickleby_ that Smike was the son of Ralph? + + ‘That, boy,’ repeated Ralph, looking vacantly at him. + + ‘Whom I saw stretched dead and cold upon his bed, and who is now in + his grave—’ + + ‘Who is now in his grave,’ echoed Ralph, like one who talks in his + sleep. + + The man raised his eyes, and clasped his hands solemnly together: + + ‘—Was your only son, so help me God in heaven!’ + + In the midst of a dead silence Ralph sat down, pressing his two hands + upon his temples. He removed them after a minute, and never was + there seen, part of a living man undisfigured by any wound, such a + ghastly face as he then disclosed. + +Again, who would have supposed from the early part of _Great +Expectations_ that Estella was the daughter of Abel Magwitch? {196} + +In _Barnaby Rudge_, Maypole Hugh turns out to be an illegitimate son of +Sir John Chester. In _The Old Curiosity Shop_, ‘The Stranger’ is found +to be the brother of the Grandfather. In _Bleak House_, Esther Summerson +is revealed as a daughter of Lady Dedlock. In _Our Mutual Friend_, John +Rokesmith turns out to be John Harmon. + +That the action of opium had a part to play in the revelation can hardly +be doubted. The whole book is drenched in opium. In _The Moonstone_ the +problem is who stole the jewels. It is solved by opium. The jewels are +stolen by a man under the influence of opium surreptitiously +administered. He is quite unconscious of what he has done, and remains +unconscious. Afterwards he is discovered by a fresh administration of +opium. When the opium has completely done its work the man repeats his +deed, and the experiment is conclusive. + +I do not think that any one reading right on would name the perpetrator +of the theft, and yet when we take a backward glance we find an account +of a dinner-party about the seventieth page which gives the clue. I +doubt whether any one on first reading it would see in it anything that +mattered, and yet it contains everything that matters. The height of art +in work like this is to conceal art. You may be able at an early stage +to introduce facts which contain the ultimate solution of your problem, +and yet appear important enough to be stated for their own sake. The +solution of the problem, or rather the materials of the solution, should +be given, and yet the reader should be unable to detect the full +significance of the preliminary statement till the complete clearing +arrives. At the same time the book will not be satisfactory if details +are superfluous, if they do nothing to carry one on to the dissipation of +the mystery. + +It is not to be denied that this fitting of everything into its place is +at times a little wearisome. ‘The construction is most minute and most +wonderful,’ wrote Anthony Trollope of Wilkie Collins. ‘I can never lose +the taste of the construction. The author seems always warning me to +remember that something happened at exactly half-past two on Tuesday +morning, or that a woman disappeared from the road just fifteen yards +beyond the fourth milestone.’ There is truth in this, but if Anthony +Trollope had written a novel of mystery, which perhaps he could never +have done, he would have had to take the same path. + +Another doctor in _The Moonstone_ tells us that the ignorant distrust of +opium in England spreads through all classes, so much so, that every +doctor in large practice finds himself every now and then obliged to +deceive his patients by giving them opium under a disguise. He himself +claims that opium saved his life. He suffered from an incurable internal +complaint, but he was determined to live in order to provide for a person +very dear to him. ‘To that all-potent and all-merciful drug I am +indebted for a respite of many years from my sentence of death.’ + +Like Collins, Dickens was keenly interested in the possibilities of +opium. Collins himself was a lavish consumer of the drug, but I do not +think it has been suggested that Dickens himself ever touched it. Nor is +it likely, for Dickens with all his tenseness of nerve was an eminently +self-controlled and temperate man. But in _Edwin Drood_ he has inserted +a sentence in praise of opium. The opium woman says to Datchery: ‘It’s +opium, deary. Neither more nor less. And it’s like a human creetur so +far, that you always hear what can be said against it, but seldom what +can be said in its praise.’ The last sentence was an afterthought on the +part of Dickens. It has been written in. + +As to whether Jasper was made ultimately to repeat his crime in any +fashion under the influence of opium, it is impossible to say. He was +unquestionably more or less under the influence of the drug when he +committed it. + +The literary men of Dickens’s period were much interested in the action +of drugs, in mesmerism, and the like. Elliotson, to whom _Pendennis_ is +dedicated, was on intimate terms with Dickens. Dickens plainly implies +that Crisparkle went to the weir because Jasper willed him to do so. +Collins and Dickens were both addicted to calling witnesses to their +accuracy. At the close of _Armadale_, Collins says: ‘Wherever the story +touches on questions connected with law, medicine, or chemistry, it has +been submitted before publication to the experience of professional men. +The kindness of a friend supplied me with a plan of the doctor’s +apparatus—I saw the chemical ingredients at work before I ventured on +describing the action of them in the closing scenes of this book.’ Every +one remembers the ‘spontaneous combustion’ preface to Bleak House. I do +not know whether any medical man can be found to confirm the science of +_Armadale_, or of _Bleak House_, or of _The Moonstone_. But that is not +the question before us. We have only to do with what the novelist +himself believed to be a scientific possibility. In _Kenilworth_ {200} +Wayland compounds ‘the true Orvietan, that noble medicine which is so +seldom found genuine and effective within these realms of Europe.’ Scott +adds a note: ‘Orvietan, or Venice treacle, as it is sometimes called, was +understood to be a sovereign remedy against poison; and the reader must +be contented, for the time he peruses these pages, to hold the same +opinion, which was once universally received by the learned as well as +the vulgar.’ Dickens’s science must be received in the same manner. + +Mr. Crisparkle has one piece of evidence in his memory. ‘Long afterwards +he had cause to remember’ how, when he entered Jasper’s rooms and found +him asleep by the fire, the choirmaster ‘sprang from the couch in a +delirious state between sleeping and waking, and crying out, “What is the +matter? Who did it?”’ + +As we have already seen, the gathering of the threads is in the strong +hands of Datchery. + +As we know, Forster adds that Neville Landless was to have perished in +assisting Tartar finally to unmask and seize the murderer. It will be +seen that this part of his testimony is more doubtful than the rest, and +cannot, therefore, be so implicitly accepted, but it may well be true. +Melancholy seems to mark Neville Landless for its own, and his passion +for Rosa is hopeless. If he dies, it is a heavy blow for his devoted +sister, who finds her triumph marred by the death of her brother. +Singularly enough, some writers who have hesitated to accept Forster’s +more expressed testimony make much of the death of Neville Landless and +its circumstances. It need only be pointed out that all this is pure +conjecture, however ingenious it may be. + +I find no difficulty in believing that Dickens carried out his plan of +making Jasper give in prison a review of his own career. This has been +called a poor and conventional idea, but as worked out by Dickens it +would neither have been poor nor conventional. What remains to be told +is, I repeat, largely the story of John Jasper’s earlier life. + + + + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD +A BIBLIOGRAPHY COMPILED BY B. W. MATZ + + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By Charles Dickens. Parts 1–6. With 12 +illustrations by Sir Luke Fildes, R.A. 1870. + +HOW MR. SAPSEA CEASED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE EIGHT CLUB. Fragment found +by John Forster. See his _Life_ of the Novelist. Added to the +‘Biographical,’ ‘National,’ and ‘Centenary’ editions of the novel. + +THE CLOVEN FOOT: An Adaptation of the English Novel to American Scenes, +Characters, Customs and Nomenclature. By Orpheus C. Kerr (R. H. Newell). +New York: Carleton. 1870. + +THE MYSTERY OF MR. E. DROOD. By Orpheus C. Kerr. An English edition of +foregoing, with several minor alterations. London: _The Piccadilly +Annual_. 1870. + +JOHN JASPER’S SECRET: A Sequel to Charles Dickens’s Unfinished Novel, +_The Mystery of Edwin Drood_. By Henry Morford, of New York, and his +wife. Issued in parts in America by T. B. Peterson and Bros., +Philadelphia, from October 1871 to March 1872; and in England +anonymously. An edition of the same work was published in 1901 with the +astoundingly false announcement on the title-page that the book is by +Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens the Younger. New York: R. F. Fenno +and Co. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. A Play by Walter Stephens. Performed at the +Surrey Theatre, 4th November 1871. Chapman and Hall. 1871. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. A drama by G. H. Macdermott. Performed at +the Britannia Theatre, 22nd July 1872. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD COMPLETE. Part the Second. ‘By the Spirit +Pen of Charles Dickens, through a Medium.’ Published at Brattleborough, +Vermont, U.S.A. 1873. + +THE GREAT MYSTERY SOLVED: Being a Sequel to _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_. +By Gillan Vase. 3 vols. London: Remington and Co. 1878. + +LE CRIME DE JASPER. Traduit de l’Anglais. Dentu. Paris: 1879. + +ALIVE OR DEAD: A Drama. By Robert Hall. Performed at the Park Theatre, +Camden Town, 3rd May 1880. + +WATCHED BY THE DEAD: A Loving Study of Dickens’s Half-Told Tale. By +Richard A. Proctor. London: W. H. Allen and Co. 1887. (The genesis of +this ‘loving study’ appeared as articles in the _Belgravia Magazine_, +June 1878; _Leisure Readings_, 1882; and _Knowledge_, 1884; over the +pseudonym of ‘Thomas Foster.’) + +HOW ‘EDWIN DROOD’ WAS ILLUSTRATED. By Alice Meynell. _Century +Magazine_, February 1884. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD: Suggestions for a Conclusion. _Cornhill +Magazine_, March 1884. + +THE WELFLEET MYSTERY (An Outgrowth of Dickens’s Last Work). By Mrs. C. +A. Read. _The Weekly Budget_, 1885. + +A NOVELIST’S FAVOURITE THEME. _Cornhill Magazine_, January 1886. + +MYSTERY ON MYSTERY. By Edward Salmon. _Belgravia_, September 1887. + +THE DROOD MYSTERY AGAIN. By Robert Allbut. _Daily Union_, U.S.A. +(letter dated 21st August 1893). + +CLUES TO THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By J. Cuming Walters. London: +Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 2s. 6d. 1905. + +SOLVING ‘THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD.’ By B. W. Matz. _Dickensian_, July +1905. + +THE MYSTERY OF DATCHERY. By William Archer. _Morning Leader_, 15th, +22nd and 29th July. Replies by J. Cuming Walters, 17th and 26th July +1905. + +THE DROOD CASE. By Andrew Lang. _Morning Post_, 28th July 1905. + +THE PLOT OF EDWIN DROOD. By Andrew Lang. _Academy_, 29th July 1905. +Reply by J. Cuming Walters, 12th August 1905. + +THE CLEARING OF A MYSTERY. By Harry Beswick. _Clarion_, 28th July 1905. + +THE DROOD CASE. By J. Cuming Walters. _Morning Post_, 8th August 1905. + +THE HISTORY OF A MYSTERY: A Review of the Solutions to ‘Edwin Drood.’ By +George F. Gadd. _Dickensian_, September to December 1905. + +INTERVIEW BETWEEN DR. WATSON AND SHERLOCK HOLMES ON THE DROOD MYSTERY. +By Andrew Lang. _Longman’s Magazine_ (At the Sign of the Ship), +September 1905. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By Hammond Hall. _Dickensian_, September +1905. + +MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By H. H. F. _Academy_, 26th August. By J. +Cuming Walters and Andrew Lang, 9th September 1905. + +BAZZARD AND HELENA. By H. H. F. _Academy_, 9th September 1905. + +DICKENS MEMORIES, WITH SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE EDWIN DROOD MYSTERY. By +Percy Fitzgerald. _Daily Chronicle_, 20th September 1905. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD: More Opinions Regarding the Identity of +Datchery. By Dr. Blake Odgers, J. Cuming Walters, Willoughby Matchett +and A. Bawtree. _Daily Chronicle_, 23rd September 1905. + +EDWIN DROOD MYSTERY. By J. Cuming Walters. _Daily Chronicle_, 27th +September 1905. + +THE PUZZLE OF DICKENS’S LAST PLOT. By Andrew Lang. London: Chapman and +Hall, Ltd. 2s. 6d. net. 1905. + +A DICKENS MYSTERY: Mr. Andrew Lang’s Adventures with Edwin Drood. By J. +Cuming Walters. _Daily Chronicle_, 14th October 1905. + +THE MYSTERIES OF EDWIN DROOD. _Times_, 27th October. Letters on the +same by Sir Luke Fildes, R.A., 3rd November (reprinted in _Dickensian_, +December 1905); Andrew Lang, 10th November 1905; and J. W. T. Ley, 21st +November 1905. + +EDWIN DROOD AGAIN. By J. Cuming Walters. _Academy_, 28th October 1905. + +MR. LANG THE DISENTANGLER. By Walter Herries Pollock. _Evening +Standard_, 30th October 1905. + +MR. LANG DETECTING AGAIN. By G. K. Chesterton. _Daily News_, 2nd +November 1905. + +EDWIN DROOD: Solutions to the Mystery. By Henry Smetham. _Rochester and +Chatham Journal_, 18th November 1905. (Reprinted in pamphlet form for +private circulation.) + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By E. J. S. _The Star_, 25th November 1905. + +THE LITERARY CORRESPONDENCE OF EDWARD HONEY CONCERNING THE FATE OF EDWIN +DROOD. _The Scottish Review_, 30th November 1905. + +MR. LUKE FILDES, THE ‘DROOD’ MYSTERY, AND MR. LANG. By J. Cuming +Walters. _Dickensian_, December 1905. + +EDWIN DROOD, DEAD OR ALIVE. By J. Cuming Walters. _Westminster +Gazette_, 23rd December 1905. + +DATCHERY THE ENIGMA: The Case for Tartar. By George F. Gadd. +_Dickensian_, January 1906. + +EDWIN DROOD. By Andrew Lang. _Westminster Gazette_, 15th January 1906. + +THE EDWIN DROOD SYNDICATE. _The Cambridge Review_, Nos. 668–673, 1906. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By the Rev. Wilfrid Lescher, O.P. _Catholic +Times_, 9th February 1906. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By A. M. P. _The L.C.C. Staff Gazette_, +April 1906. + +LYTTON’S ‘JOHN ACLAND.’ By J. Cuming Walters. _Athenæum_, 14th April +1906. + +EDWIN DROOD AND DICKENS’S LAST DAYS. By Kate Perugini (Dickens’s +daughter). (Illus.) _Pall Mall Magazine_, June 1906. + +MRS. PERUGINI AND EDWIN DROOD. By Andrew Lang. _Times_, 1st June 1906. + +THE DISSECTION OF DROOD. By J. Meredith Bird. _Pall Mall Gazette_, 11th +June 1906. + +MR. DATCHERY. By Willoughby Matchett. _Dickensian_, January 1907. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. Interview with Mr. H. Beerbohm Tree and Mr. +J. Comyns Carr. By Raymond Blathwayt. _Cardiff_, _South Wales Daily +News_, 14th November 1907. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD: A Drama in Four Acts. By J. Comyns Carr. +Performed at His Majesty’s Theatre, 4th January 1908. (First played at +Cardiff, November 1907.) + +EDWIN DROOD. Criticism of Mr. Comyn Carr’s play by J. Cuming Walters. +_Daily Chronicle_, 1st January 1908. + +KEYS TO THE DROOD MYSTERY. By Edwin Charles. (Illus.) London: Collier +and Co. 1s. net. 1908. + +A CHAT WITH MR. TREE. _Daily Telegraph_, 2nd January 1908. + +THE REAL EDWIN DROOD. By Haldane Macfall. _Daily Chronicle_, 8th +January 1908. + +THE SECRET OF EDWIN DROOD. Interview with Mr. Comyns Carr. _Daily +Chronicle_, 9th January 1908. + +THE DROOD MYSTERY. Mr. Hall Caine’s reply to Mr. Tree. _Daily +Chronicle_, 14th January 1908. + +THE GREAT DROOD CASE. By Andrew Lang. _Morning Post_, 24th January +1908. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By T. P. _P.T.O._, 25th January 1908. + +EDWIN DROOD AT HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE. By J. W. T. Ley. _Dickensian_, +February 1908. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD: Its ‘Completions’ and ‘Solutions.’ By B. W. +Matz. _The Bookshelf_, February 1908. + +EDWIN DROOD: A Theory. By Albert F. Fessenden. Boston (U.S.A.) +_Evening Transcript_, 7th and 29th February, 7th, 14th, and 21st March +1908. + +DESULTORY THOUGHTS ON DROOD. By J. Cuming Walters. _Dickensian_, March +1908. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By B. W. Matz. (Illus.) _Bookman_, March +1908. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD: A Drama. By C. A. Clarke and S. B. Rogerson. +Osborne Theatre, Manchester, March 1908. See _Stage_, 5th March 1908. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. With Illustrations. By W. _Manchester City +News_, 10th March 1908. + +LAST WORDS ON THE DROOD MYSTERY. By various writers. _Dickensian_, +April 1908. + +ARE THE DROODISTS ALL AT SEA? By W. Teignmouth Shore. _T. P.’s Weekly_, +21st August 1908. + +THOUGHTS ON THE DROOD MYSTERY. By Henry Leffmann, A.M., M.D. _About +Dickens_ (a privately printed volume). Philadelphia. 1908. + +DICKENS AND THE DRAMA (chapter devoted to Plays on Edwin Drood). By S. +J. Adair FitzGerald. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 5s. net. 1910. + +ABOUT ‘EDWIN DROOD.’ By H. J. Cambridge University Press. 4s. net. +1911. + +DROOD AND DATCHERY. By J. Cuming Walters. _Dickensian_, March 1911. + +ABOUT ‘EDWIN DROOD.’ Reviews by Andrew Lang, _Morning Post_, 24th +February, and _Illustrated London News_, 4th March; by B. W. Matz in +_Daily Chronicle_, 24th February; by ‘M. R. J.’ in _Cambridge Review_, +9th March; by C. K. S. in _The Sphere_, 11th March; _Athenæum_, 1st April +1911; _The Author_, April 1911. + +THE DROOD MYSTERY SOLVED. By J. Cuming Walters. _T. P.’s Weekly_, 3rd +and 24th March 1911. + +MR. CUMING WALTERS ON ‘EDWIN DROOD.’ By Andrew Lang. _T. P.’s Weekly_, +17th and 31st March 1911. + +THE CLAIMS OF BAZZARD. _Birmingham Daily Post_, 11th March 1911. + +MYSTERY À LA AMERICO-PARISIENNE. By Andrew Lang. _Morning Post_, 10th +March 1911. + +CRITICISMS AND APPRECIATIONS OF CHARLES DICKENS’S WORKS. By G. K. +Chesterton. London: J. M. Dent and Co. 7s. 6d. net. 1911. + +ABOUT EDWIN DROOD. By Andrew Lang. _Dickensian_, April 1911. + +DROOD AND DATCHERY. By Wilkins Micawber, Junr. _Dickensian_, April +1911. + +DROP IT. By J. Cuming Walters. _Dickensian_, May 1911. + +EDWIN DROOD AND SOME QUERIES. By A. B. Stedman. _Dickensian_, May 1911. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By Andrew Lang. _Blackwood’s Magazine_, May +1911. + +PHASES OF DICKENS (chapter on His Last Mystery). By J. Cuming Walters. +London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 5s. net. 1911. + +DICKENS AND HIS LAST BOOK: A New Theory. By S. Y. E. _Nottingham +Guardian_, 9th January 1912. + +EDWIN DROOD RE-EXAMINED. By ‘K.’ _The Eye-Witness_, 18th and 25th +January, 1st and 8th February 1912. + +THE DROOD MYSTERY. By J. Cuming Walters. _The Eye-Witness_, 22nd +February, 7th and 14th March 1912. + +DROOD AND DATCHERY. By ‘K.’ _The Eye-Witness_, 29th February 1912. + +IN DICKENS STREET (chapter entitled A Dickens Mystery). By W. R. +Thomson. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 3s. 6d. net. 1912. + +THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. By Dr. J. B. Hellier. _British Weekly_, 4th +April 1912. + +THE DROOD DEBATE IN BIRMINGHAM. By J. Cuming Walters and Willoughby +Matchett. _Dickensian_, June 1912. + +ANDREW LANG AND DICKENS’S PUZZLE. By J. Cuming Walters. _Dickensian_, +September 1912. + +THE DROOD MYSTERY: Extracts from an Unpublished Article by Andrew Lang. +By Arthur Eckersley. _Book Monthly_, September 1912. + + + + +INDEX + + +_A Tale of Two Cities_, 71, 83, 88, 92. + +_Abbot_, _The_, 137. + +_About Edwin Drood_, x, 56, 80. + +_Academy_, _The_, xi. + +_Anne of Geierstein_, 185. + +Archer, William, 119, 178. + +_Armadale_, 200. + +_As You like It_, 180. + +_Athenæum_, ix, xviii. + + * * * * * + +BANCROFT, LADY, 165–6. + +Bancroft Recollections, xii, 165. + +_Barnaby Rudge_, 83, 89, 93, 95, 103, 117, 190, 196. + +_Berliner Tageblatt_, 146. + +_Blackwood_, 113, 122, 127. + +_Bleak House_, xviii, 73, 83, 196, 200. + +_Bookman_, xi. + +Boothby, Guy, 165, 170. + +Boucicault, Dion, 44. + +Brewster, Sir David, 162. + + * * * * * + +_Cambridge Review_, xi, 77, 122, 164. + +_Castle Dangerous_, 185. + +Cattermole, Mr., 103. + +Chapman and Hall, xiv. + +Chappell, Messrs., 21. + +Charles, Edwin, 129–30. + +_Clues to Dickens’s Mystery of Edwin Drood_, ix, 149. + +Collins, Charles Allston, 20, 27, 39, 41, 54, 70, 73, 75, 90, 111, 127–8. + +Collins, Wilkie, 141, 149, 170, 193; collaboration with Dickens, 90; +Dickens praises _No Name_, 91; letter from Dickens, 92; collaborates in +_No Thoroughfare_, 124; influence on Dickens, 166; _The Moonstone_, 193; +criticised by Anthony Trollope, 198; interested in effects of opium, +199–200. + +_Count Robert of Paris_, 165, 185. + + * * * * * + +_Daily Mail_, 160. + +_David Copperfield_, 83. + +_Dickens_, _Life of Charles_, 20, 36, 165. + +Dickens, the younger, Charles, xii, 20, 35, 43, 70, 110–11. + +_Dombey and Son_, 71. + + * * * * * + +_Edinburgh Review_, 104–5, 151. + +_Edwin Drood_, ix, xii, xvii-xviii, 3, 20, 83, 117, 165; Forster on how +it was written, 22–8; Madame Perugini’s testimony, 28–41; the cover, 40, +54, 69, 71–81, 111; the play, 44; plans for novel, 57–68; compared with +_No Thoroughfare_, 124. + +Eick, Dr. Hugo, 146, 180. + +Elliotson, 199. + + * * * * * + +FILDES, SIR LUKE, 20, 26, 41, 44, 46, 53–4, 70, 73, 77, 111–12, 128. + +Forster, John, 3, 4, 20, 28–42, 53, 103, 202; on _Edwin __Drood_, 22–8; +on Drood being murdered, 109–10. + + * * * * * + +GADD, MR. G. F. xi, 182. + +Garrick, David, 163. + +Garrick, Mrs., 164. + +Gladstone, xv. + +Graeme, Miss Stirling, 159. + +_Great Expectations_, xviii, 83, 88, 196. + + * * * * * + +HATTON, MISS BESSIE, xii, 20. + +Hatton, Joseph, xii, 20, 43–4, 111. + +Hogarth, Miss, 42. + +Homer, xv. + +_Household Words_, 105, 115. + +_Hunted Down_, 114. + + * * * * * + +INGRAM, MR. J. H., xiv, 95. + +Irving, Mr. H. B., 80. + + * * * * * + +JACKSON, MR. HARRY, 44. + +Jackson, Professor Henry, x, 56, 78, 113, 173–4, 186, 194; his reading of +the cover of _Edwin Drood_, 72–5; how Edwin was murdered, 131–40; +chronology of the chapters, 171; on Bazzard, 180; the Tartar-Datchery +theory, 182. + +James, Dr. M. R., xi, 73, 129; his interpretation of the cover of _Edwin +Drood_, 77–8; was Edwin murdered?, 121–2; on Datchery, 164; the +Bazzard-Datchery theory, 179. + +Journal of Sir Walter Scott, The, 164, 184–5. + + * * * * * + +_Kenilworth_, 191, 200. + + * * * * * + +LANG, MR. ANDREW, x, 73, 113, 130, 139, 163–4, 170, 178, 185, 193; on the +cover of _Edwin Drood_, 70, 75–7, 80, 127–8; his theory of the murder of +Edwin, 120–3, 132; the Datchery-Neville theory, 181. + +_Leisure Readings_, ix, 118. + +_Little Dorrit_, 71, 87, 104–5, 190. + + * * * * * + +_Macbeth_, 129–30. + +_Martin Chuzzlewit_, 25, 71. + +_Master Humphrey’s Clock_, 95. + +Matz, Mr. B. W., xii, xiv, 71. + +Millais, Sir John, 26. + +_Moonstone_, _The_, 90, 92, 167, 193, 197–8, 200. + +_Morning Leader_, 119. + +_Morning Post_, 72, 130. + +_Mystifications_, 159. + + * * * * * + +_Nickleby_, _Nicholas_, 195. + +_No Name_, xii, 90, 92, 167. + +_No Thoroughfare_, 90, 124. + + * * * * * + +ODGERS, DR. BLAKE, 177. + +_Old Curiosity Shop_, _The_, 196. + +_Oliver Twist_, 21, 25, 71, 195. + +_Our Mutual Friend_, xviii, 25, 72, 83, 86, 179, 196. + + * * * * * + +_Pall Mall Magazine_, 28. + +_Pendennis_, 199. + +_People_, _The_, 43. + +Perugini, Madame, 20, 28, 43, 70, 109–11, 127–8. + +Philadelphia _Saturday Evening Post_, 94, 100. + +_Phineas Finn_, 172. + +_Pickwick_, 71. + +Poe, Edgar Allan, xiv, 93–103, 190. + +Proctor, Mr. R. A., ix, x, 118, 164; on the cover of Edwin Drood, 74, 77; +was Drood murdered?, 114, 120, 131–2; the Bazzard-Datchery theory, 179. + +_Puzzle of Dickens’s Last Plot_, _The_, x, 75, 139. + + * * * * * + +_Recollections and Impressions_, 162. + +Rosebery, Lord, xiii. + + * * * * * + +SCOTT, SIR WALTER, 159, 163, 184, 200. + +Sellar, Mrs., 162. + +Shakespeare, 180. + +Shorter, Mr. Clement, xiv. + +Skene, Mr., 185. + +_Sketches by Boz_, 71. + +_Spectator_, _The_, 69. + +Stoddart, Miss J. T., xiv, 133, 139, 194. + +Stone, R.A., Mr. Marcus, 72. + +_Studies in Prose and Poetry_, 92, 104. + +Swinburne, Mr., 91, 104. + + * * * * * + +THACKERAY, 23. + +Thomson, Mr. Hugh, xii, 73, 78, 128. + +_Times_, _The_, 53, 127. + +Trollope, Anthony, 198. + +_Two Gentlemen of Verona_, _The_, 180. + + * * * * * + +VASE, GILLAN, xi, 123. + + * * * * * + +WALTERS, MR. CUMING, ix, x, xvii, 73, 123, 193; on the cover of _Edwin +Drood_, 80; how Edwin was murdered, 132; Helena as Datchery, 149, 158; +the Bazzard-Datchery theory, 179. + +_Watched by the Dead_, ix. + +Whitty, Mr. J. H., 95. + +Willard, Mr., 45. + +_Woman in White_, _The_, 90, 92, 167. + + + + +NOTES. + + +{63} This was originally marked IX. + +{67a} Scored out in Dickens’s MS. + +{67b} Scored out in Dickens’s MS. + +{67c} Scored out in Dickens’s MS. + +{67d} Scored out in Dickens’s MS. + +{90} Charles Dickens as Editor, p. 386. + +{91} Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins, p. 123. + +{92a} _Studies in Prose and Poetry_. + +{92b} _Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins_, p. 103. + +{104} It was known to that thorough scholar, Mr. Swinburne. See +_Studies in Prose and Poetry_, p. 114. + +{113} _Blackwood_, May 1911, p. 672. + +{119} _Morning Leader_, 15th July 1905. + +{122} _Cambridge Review_, 9th March 1911. + +{127} 1st June 1906. + +{130} 24th February 1911. + +{139} _The Puzzle of Dickens’s Last Plot_, p. 10. + +{163} _Recollections and Impressions_, by E. M. Sellar, p. 64. + +{164a} _Journal of Sir Walter Scott_, vol. ii. p. 422. + +{164b} _Cambridge Review_, 9th March 1911. + +{184} _Sir Walter Scott’s Journal_, vol. ii. p. 131. + +{185} _Sir Walter Scott’s Journal_, vol. ii. p. 236. + +{196} The following may be quoted from _Pickwick_: + + ‘“Dismal Jenny?” inquired Jingle. + + ‘“Yes.” + + ‘Jingle shook his head. + + ‘“Clever rascal—queer fellow, hoaxing genius—Job’s brother.” + + ‘“Job’s brother!” exclaimed Mr. Pickwick. “Well, now I look at him + closely, there is a likeness.”’ + +{200} Chapter xiii. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEM OF 'EDWIN DROOD'*** + + +******* This file should be named 36311-0.txt or 36311-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/3/1/36311 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Robertson Nicoll</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Problem of 'Edwin Drood', by W. Robertson +Nicoll + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Problem of 'Edwin Drood' + A Study in the Methods of Dickens + + +Author: W. Robertson Nicoll + + + +Release Date: June 3, 2011 [eBook #36311] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEM OF 'EDWIN DROOD'*** +</pre> +<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/wrapperb.jpg"> +<img alt= +"An Original Wrapper of “Edwin Drood” Designed by +Charles Allston Collins. (By permission of Messrs. Chapman & +Hall)" +title= +"An Original Wrapper of “Edwin Drood” Designed by +Charles Allston Collins. (By permission of Messrs. Chapman & +Hall)" +src="images/wrappers.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1>THE PROBLEM OF<br /> +‘EDWIN DROOD’</h1> +<p style="text-align: center">A STUDY IN THE METHODS OF +DICKENS<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">BY</span><br /> +W. ROBERTSON NICOLL</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">LONDON NEW YORK +TORONTO</span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. iv</span>PRINTED IN 1912</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pagev"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. v</span><span class="GutSmall">TO THE RIGHT +HONOURABLE</span><br /> +THE EARL OF ROSEBERY<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">K.G.</span></p> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>PREFACE</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>INTRODUCTION</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexvii">xvii</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">PART I.—THE +MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">THE TEXT OF ‘EDWIN +DROOD’</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">NOTES FOR THE NOVEL</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page56">56</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE +WRAPPER</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page69">69</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">THE METHODS OF DICKENS</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page82">82</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. viii</span>PART +II.—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">WAS EDWIN DROOD +MURDERED?</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page109">109</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">WHO WAS DATCHERY?</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page141">141</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">OTHER THEORIES</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page177">177</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="GutSmall">HOW WAS ‘EDWIN DROOD’ +TO END?</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page184">184</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>BIBLIOGRAPHY</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page203">203</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +ix</span>PREFACE</h2> +<p>The first serious discussion of <i>The Mystery of Edwin +Drood</i> came from the pen of the astronomer, Mr. R. A. +Proctor. Mr. Proctor wrote various essays on the +subject. One appears in his <i>Leisure Readings</i>, +included in Messrs. Longmans’ ‘Silver +Library.’ A second was published in 1887, and +entitled <i>Watched by the Dead</i>. There were, I believe, +in addition some periodical articles by Mr. Proctor; these I have +not seen. Mr. Proctor modified certain positions in his +earlier essay included in <i>Leisure Readings</i>, so that the +paper must not be taken as representative of his final +views. Whatever may be thought of Mr. Proctor’s +theory, all will admit that he devoted much care and ingenuity to +the study, and that he had an exceptional knowledge of +Dickens’s books.</p> +<p>In 1905 Mr. Cuming Walters published his <i>Clues to +Dickens’s Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>. The +<i>Athenæum</i> expressed its conviction ‘that in +these hundred pages or so he has found the <a +name="pagex"></a><span class="pagenum">p. x</span>clue, the main +secret which had baffled all previous investigators, and so has +secured permanent association with one of the +immortals.’ Mr. Cuming Walters’s book was +immediately followed by Mr. Andrew Lang’s <i>The Puzzle of +Dickens’s Last Plot</i>. In this Mr. Lang adopted +with modifications the theory of Mr. Proctor. The subject +continued to interest this lamented author to the end of his +life. He wrote many letters and articles on the theme, +coming ultimately to the conclusion that Dickens did not know +himself how his story was to be ended.</p> +<p>In 1910 Professor Henry Jackson of Cambridge published a +volume, <i>About Edwin Drood</i>. It is a work of sterling +merit, and particularly valuable for its study of the chronology +of the story. Dr. Jackson was the first to examine the +manuscript in a scholarly way, and to give some of the chief +results. His conclusions are in the main those of Mr. +Cuming Walters, but they are supported by fresh arguments and +criticisms.</p> +<p>There have been many articles on the subject, particularly in +that excellent periodical, the <i>Dickensian</i>, edited by Mr. +B. W. Matz. Of this magazine it may be said that every +number <a name="pagexi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xi</span>adds something to our knowledge of the great author.</p> +<p>By far the most successful attempt to finish the book is that +of Gillan Vase, which was published in 1878. It is the only +continuation worth looking at.</p> +<p>Among the best of the periodical contributions are those by +Dr. M. R. James of Cambridge, published in the <i>Academy</i>, +and in the <i>Cambridge Review</i>. The papers of Mr. G. F. +Gadd in the <i>Dickensian</i> deserve special praise. In +the <i>Bookman</i> Mr. B. W. Matz, whose knowledge of Dickens is +unsurpassed, has declared for the view that Edwin Drood was +murdered, but has not committed himself to any theory of +Datchery.</p> +<p>I should not have been justified in publishing this volume if +I had been able to add no new material. But I venture to +think it will be found that while I have freely used the +arguments and the discoveries of previous investigators, I have +made a considerable addition to the stores. In particular, +I have brought out the fact that Forster declined to accept +Dickens’s erasures in the later proofs, and I have printed +the passages which Dickens meant to have omitted. The +effect of the omissions is also traced to a certain extent, +though not fully. <a name="pagexii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xii</span>The more one studies them, the more +significant they appear.</p> +<p>I have printed completely for the first time the Notes and +Plans for the novel. I have also published some notes on +the manuscript based on a careful examination. These notes +are not by any means complete, but they include perhaps the more +important facts. Through the kindness of Miss Bessie Hatton +and Mr. B. W. Matz I have been able to give an account of the +unacted play by Charles Dickens the younger and Joseph Hatton on +<i>Edwin Drood</i>.</p> +<p>I have also put together for the first time the external +evidence on the subject. It is particularly important that +this evidence should be read in full, and much of it is now +inaccessible to the general reader. In the discussion of +the main problems it will, I believe, be found that certain new +arguments have been brought forward. In particular I ask +attention to the quotations from the Bancroft <i>Memoirs</i> and +from <i>No Name</i>. I have also given certain studies of +the methods of Dickens which may be useful.</p> +<p>I have to acknowledge with warm thanks the kindness of Mr. +Hugh Thomson in sending me his reading of the Wrapper.</p> +<p><a name="pagexiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xiii</span>It +will thus, I hope, be found that the study is a contribution to +the subject, and not a mere repetition or paraphrase of what has +been advanced.</p> +<p>I have made no attempt at summarising the novel. No one +can possibly attack the problem with any hope of success who has +not read the book over and over again. A hasty perusal will +serve no purpose. The fragment deserves and repays the very +closest study.</p> +<p>There are questions that have been raised and arguments that +have been stated which are not mentioned here. This is not +because of ignorance. I have read, I believe, practically +all that has been published on the theme. What I have +omitted is matter that seems to me trivial or irrelevant.</p> +<p>While fully believing in the accuracy of the conclusions I +have reached, I desire to avoid dogmatism. There is always +the possibility that a writer may be diverted from his +purpose. He may come to difficulties he cannot +surmount. The fact that scholarly students of Dickens have +come to different conclusions is a fact to be taken into +account.</p> +<p>My thanks are due to Lord Rosebery for kindly accepting the +dedication of the volume. <a name="pagexiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>Lord Rosebery is, however, in no way +responsible for my arguments or my conclusions.</p> +<p>In preparing this study I have had the constant assistance and +counsel of my accomplished colleague, Miss Jane T. +Stoddart. Miss Stoddart’s accuracy and learning and +acuteness have been of the greatest use to me, and there is +scarcely a chapter in the volume which does not owe much to +her.</p> +<p>Mr. J. H. Ingram has most kindly furnished me with information +about Poe.</p> +<p>Mr. Clement Shorter has allowed me to use his very valuable +collection of newspaper articles.</p> +<p>Mr. B. W. Matz has very courteously answered some inquiries, +and he has permitted me to use his valuable bibliography.</p> +<p>Messrs. Chapman & Hall have kindly given me permission to +use the Wrapper, etc.</p> +<p>Mr. Cuming Walters has been so kind as to read the proofs.</p> +<p>If there are those who think that the problem does not deserve +consideration, I am not careful to answer them. It is a +problem which will be discussed as long as Dickens is read. +Those who believe that Dickens is the greatest humorist and one +of the greatest novelists in English <a name="pagexv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xv</span>literature, are proud to make any +contribution, however insignificant, to the understanding of his +works. Mr. Gladstone, in his ‘Essay on the Place of +Homer in Education,’ mentions the tradition of Dorotheus, +who spent the whole of his life in endeavouring to elucidate the +meaning of a single word in Homer. Without fully justifying +this use of time, we may agree in Mr. Gladstone’s general +conclusion ‘that no exertion spent upon any of the classics +of the world, and attended with any amount of real result, is +thrown away.’</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Bay Tree Lodge</span>, <span +class="smcap">Hampstead</span>,<br /> + + +<i>Sept.</i> 1912.</p> +<h2><a name="pagexvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xvii</span>INTRODUCTION</h2> +<p>The three mysteries of <i>Edwin Drood</i> are thus stated by +Mr. Cuming Walters:</p> +<p>‘The first mystery, partly solved by Dickens himself, is +the fate of Edwin Drood. Was he murdered?—if so, how +and by whom, and where was his body hidden? If not, how did +he escape, and what became of him, and did he reappear?</p> +<p>‘The second mystery is—Who was Mr. Datchery, the +“stranger who appeared in Cloisterham” after +Drood’s disappearance?</p> +<p>‘The third mystery is—Who was the old opium woman, +called the Princess Puffer, and why did she pursue John +Jasper?’</p> +<p>It is with the first two of these mysteries that this book is +concerned. In the concluding chapter some hints are offered +as to the third, but in my opinion there are no sufficient +materials for any definite answer.</p> +<p>The problem before us is to decide with one <a +name="pagexviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xviii</span>half of +Dickens’s book in our possession what the course of the +other half was likely to be.</p> +<p>It is important to lay stress upon this. An able +reviewer in the <i>Athenæum</i>, 1st April 1911, says: +‘The book is still in its infancy. Its predecessor, +<i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, attained to some sixty-seven chapters, +<i>Great Expectations</i> to fifty-nine, <i>Bleak House</i> to +sixty-six. There is no strain on probability in supposing +that <i>Edwin Drood</i> might, in happier circumstances, have +reached something like these proportions.’ The fact +is that the book was to be completed in twelve numbers, and we +have six.</p> +<p>In the first part of this volume I have dealt with the +materials for a solution.</p> +<p>In the second part, I have used the materials and the internal +evidence of the book, and attempted an answer to the +questions.</p> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>PART +I.—THE MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION</h2> +<h3><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>CHAPTER +I—THE TEXT OF EDWIN DROOD</h3> +<p>The materials for the solution of the ‘Edwin +Drood’ problems must first of all be found in the text of +the unfinished volume. Hitherto it has not been observed +that the book we have is not precisely what it was when Dickens +left it. Three parts had been issued by Dickens +himself. After his death the remaining three parts were +issued by John Forster. Dickens had corrected his proofs up +to and including chapter xxi. The succeeding chapters xxii. +and xxiii. are untouched. I discovered to my great surprise +on examining the proofs in the Forster Collection that Forster +had in every case ignored Dickens’s erasures, and had +replaced all the omitted passages in the text. Thus it +happens that we do not read the book as Dickens intended us to +read it. We have passages which on consideration he decided +not to print. It is unnecessary to criticise <a +name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>the action of +Forster, but it seems clear that he should at least have given +warning to the reader. I now print the passages erased by +Dickens and restored by Forster.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h4>SENTENCES AND PARTS OF SENTENCES ERASED BY DICKENS</h4> +<p>In Chapter <span class="smcap">xvii</span>.:—</p> +<blockquote><p><i>an eminent public character</i>, <i>once known +to fame as Frosty faced Fogo</i>,</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>by</i>, <i>always</i>, <i>as it seemed</i>, +<i>on errands of antagonistically snatching something from +somebody</i>, <i>and never giving anything to anybody</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Sir</i>,’ <i>said Mr. +Honeythunder</i>, <i>in his tremendous voice</i>, <i>like a +schoolmaster issuing orders to a boy of whom he had a bad +opinion</i>, ‘<i>sit down</i>.’</p> +<p><i>Mr. Crisparkle seated himself</i>.</p> +<p><i>Mr. Honeythunder having signed the remaining few score of a +few thousand circulars</i>, <i>calling upon a corresponding +number of families without means to come forward</i>, <i>stump up +instantly</i>, <i>and be Philanthropists</i>, <i>or go to the +Devil</i>, <i>another shabby stipendiary Philanthropist</i> +(<i>highly disinterested</i>, <i>if in earnest</i>) <i>gathered +these into a basket and walked off with them</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +5</span><i>when they were alone</i>,</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>Mr. Crisparkle rose</i>; <i>a little heated in +the face</i>, <i>but with perfect command of himself</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>Mr. Honeythunder</i>,’ <i>he said</i>, +<i>taking up the papers referred to</i>: ‘<i>my being +better or worse employed than I am at present is a matter of +taste and opinion</i>. <i>You might think me better +employed in enrolling myself a member of your +Society</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Ay</i>, <i>indeed</i>, <i>sir</i>!’ +<i>retorted Mr. Honeythunder</i>, <i>shaking his head in a +threatening manner</i>. ‘<i>It would have been better +for you if you had done that long ago</i>!’</p> +<p>‘<i>I think otherwise</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Or</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Honeythunder</i>, +<i>shaking his head again</i>, ‘<i>I might think one of +your profession better employed in devoting himself to the +discovery and punishment of guilt than in leaving that duty to be +undertaken by a layman</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Perhaps I expect to retain it +still</i>?’ <i>Mr. Crisparkle returned</i>, +<i>enlightened</i>; ‘<i>do you mean that +too</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>Well</i>, <i>sir</i>,’ <i>returned the +professional Philanthropist</i>, <i>getting up and thrusting his +hands down into his trousers pockets</i>, ‘<i>I don’t +go about measuring people for caps</i>. <i>If people find I +have </i><a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +6</span><i>any about me that fit ’em</i>, <i>they can put +’em on and wear ’em</i>, <i>if they like</i>. +<i>That’s their look out</i>: <i>not mine</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>It seems a little hard to be so tied to a +stake</i>, <i>and innocent</i>; <i>but I don’t +complain</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>And you must expect no miracle to help you</i>, +<i>Neville</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Crisparkle</i>, +<i>compassionately</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>No</i>, <i>sir</i>, <i>I know that</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>and that of course I am guiding myself by the +advice of such a friend and helper</i>. <i>Such a good +friend and helper</i>!’</p> +<p><i>He took the fortifying hand from his shoulder</i>, <i>and +kissed it</i>. <i>Mr. Crisparkle beamed at the books</i>, +<i>but not so brightly as when he had entered</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>But they were as serviceable as they were +precious to Neville Landless</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>I don’t think so</i>,’ +<i>said the Minor Canon</i>. ‘<i>There is duty to be +done here</i>; <i>and there are womanly feeling</i>, +<i>sense</i>, <i>and courage wanted here</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>I meant</i>,’ <i>explained Neville</i>, +‘<i>that the surroundings are so dull and unwomanly</i>, +<i>and that Helena can have no suitable friend or society +here</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>You have only to remember</i>,’ <i>said Mr. +</i><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +7</span><i>Crisparkle</i>, ‘<i>that you are here +yourself</i>, <i>and that she has to draw you into the +sunlight</i>.’</p> +<p><i>They were silent for a little while</i>, <i>and then Mr. +Crisparkle began anew</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>When we first spoke together</i>, <i>Neville</i>, +<i>you told me that your sister had risen out of the +disadvantages of your past lives as superior to you as the tower +of Cloisterham Cathedral is higher than the chimneys of Minor +Canon Corner</i>. <i>Do you remember that</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>Right well</i>!’</p> +<p>‘<i>I was inclined to think it at the time an +enthusiastic flight</i>. <i>No matter what I think it +now</i>. <i>What I would emphasise is</i>, <i>that under +the head of Pride your sister is a great and opportune example to +you</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Under all heads that are included in the composition +of a fine character</i>, <i>she is</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Say so</i>; <i>but take this one</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>She can dominate it even when it is wounded +through her sympathy with you</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>Every day and hour of her life since Edwin +Drood’s disappearance</i>, <i>she has faced malignity and +folly—for you—as only a brave nature well directed +can</i>. <i>So it will be with her to the end</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +8</span><i>which knows no shrinking</i>, <i>and can get no +mastery over her</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>as she is a truly brave woman</i>,’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>As Mr. Grewgious had to turn his eye up +considerably before he could see the chambers</i>, <i>the phrase +was to be taken figuratively and not literally</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>A watch</i>?’ <i>repeated Mr. +Grewgious musingly</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>I entertain a sort of fancy for having +him under my eye to-night</i>, <i>do you know</i>?’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>In Chapter <span class="smcap">xviii</span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>indeed</i>, <i>I have no doubt that we +could suit you that far</i>, <i>however particular you might +be</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>with a general impression on his mind that Mrs. +Tope’s was somewhere very near it</i>, <i>and that</i>, +<i>like the children in the game of hot boiled beans and very +good butter</i>, <i>he was warm in his search when he saw the +Tower</i>, <i>and cold when he didn’t see it</i>.</p> +<p><i>He was getting very cold indeed when</i>. +‘<i>Until</i>’ <i>is put in here</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Indeed</i>?’ <i>said Mr. +Datchery</i>, <i>with a second look of some interest</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +9</span><i>Mr. Datchery</i>, <i>taking off his hat to give that +shock of white hair of his another shake</i>, <i>seemed quite +resigned</i>, <i>and betook himself whither he had been +directed</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>Perhaps Mr. Datchery had heard something of +what had occurred there last winter</i>?</p> +<p><i>Mr. Datchery had as confused a knowledge of the event in +question</i>, <i>on trying to recall it</i>, <i>as he well could +have</i>. <i>He begged Mrs. Tope’s pardon when she +found it incumbent on her to correct him in every detail of his +summary of the facts</i>, <i>but pleaded that he was merely a +single buffer getting through life upon his means as idly as he +could</i>, <i>and that so many people were so constantly making +away with so many other people</i>, <i>as to render it difficult +for a buffer of an easy temper to preserve the circumstances of +the several cases unmixed in his mind</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Might I ask His Honour</i>,’ +<i>said Mr. Datchery</i>, ‘<i>whether that gentleman we +have just left is the gentleman of whom I have heard in the +neighbourhood as being much afflicted by the loss of a +nephew</i>, <i>and concentrating his life on avenging the +loss</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>That is the gentleman</i>. <i>John Jasper</i>, +<i>sir</i>.’</p> +<p><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +10</span>‘<i>Would His Honour allow me to inquire whether +there are strong suspicions of any one</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>More than suspicions</i>, <i>sir</i>,’ +<i>returned Mr. Sapsea</i>; ‘<i>all but +certainties</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Only think now</i>!’ <i>cried Mr. +Datchery</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>But proof</i>, <i>sir</i>, <i>proof must be built up +stone by stone</i>,’ <i>said the Mayor</i>. +‘<i>As I say</i>, <i>the end crowns the work</i>. +<i>It is not enough that Justice should be morally certain</i>; +<i>she must be immorally certain—legally</i>, <i>that +is</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>His Honour</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Datchery</i>, +‘<i>reminds me of the nature of the law</i>. +<i>Immoral</i>. <i>How true</i>!’</p> +<p>‘<i>As I say</i>, <i>sir</i>,’ <i>pompously went +on the Mayor</i>, ‘<i>the arm of the law is a strong +arm</i>, <i>and a long arm</i>. <i>That is the way I put +it</i>. <i>A strong arm and a long arm</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>How forcible</i>!—<i>And yet</i>, +<i>again</i>, <i>how true</i>!’ <i>murmured Mr. +Datchery</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>And without betraying what I call the secrets of the +prison-house</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Sapsea</i>; ‘<i>the +secrets of the prison-house is the term I used on the +bench</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>And what other term than His Honour’s would +express it</i>?’ <i>said Mr. Datchery</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>Without</i>, <i>I say</i>, <i>betraying them</i>, +<i>I predict to you</i>, <i>knowing the iron will of the +gentleman we have just left</i> (<i>I take the bold step of +calling it </i><a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +11</span><i>iron</i>, <i>on account of its strength</i>), <i>that +in this case the long arm will reach</i>, <i>and the strong arm +will strike</i>. <i>This is our Cathedral</i>, +<i>sir</i>. <i>The best judges are pleased to admire +it</i>, <i>and the best among our townsmen own to being a little +vain of it</i>.’</p> +<p><i>All this time Mr. Datchery had walked with his hat under +his arm</i>, <i>and his white hair streaming</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>In the next sentence the word <i>now</i> is struck out.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘He had an odd momentary appearance upon him +of having forgotten his hat, when Mr. Sapsea <i>now</i> touched +it.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>I shall come</i>. <i>Master +Deputy</i>, <i>what do you owe me</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>A job</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Mind you pay me honestly with the job of showing me +Mr. Durdles’s house when I want to go there</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>In Chapter <span class="smcap">xx</span>.:—</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Yes</i>, <i>you may be sure that the +stairs are fireproof</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Grewgious</i>, +‘<i>and that any outbreak of the devouring element would be +perceived and suppressed by the watchmen</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>In +Chapter <span class="smcap">xxi</span>.:—</p> +<blockquote><p><i>I wished at the time that you had come to +me</i>; <i>but now I think it best that you did as you did</i>, +<i>and came to your guardian</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>I did think of you</i>,’ <i>Rosa told him</i>; +‘<i>but Minor Canon Corner was so near +him</i>—’</p> +<p>‘<i>I understand</i>. <i>It was quite +natural</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>‘<i>Have you settled</i>,’ <i>asked +Rosa</i>, <i>appealing to them both</i>, ‘<i>what is to be +done for Helena and her brother</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>Why really</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Crisparkle</i>, +‘<i>I am in great perplexity</i>. <i>If even Mr. +Grewgious</i>, <i>whose head is much longer than mine</i>, <i>and +who is a whole night’s cogitation in advance of me</i>, +<i>is undecided</i>, <i>what must I be</i>!’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>Am I agreed with generally in the views I +take</i>?’</p> +<p>‘<i>I entirely coincide with them</i>,’ <i>said +Mr. Crisparkle</i>, <i>who had been very attentive</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>As I have no doubt I should</i>,’ <i>added Mr. +Tartar</i>, <i>smiling</i>, ‘<i>if I understood +them</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>Fair and softly</i>, <i>sir</i>,’ <i>said Mr. +Grewgious</i>; ‘<i>we shall fully confide in you +directly</i>, <i>if you will favour us with your +permission</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p><i>I begin to understand to what you +tend</i>,’ <i>said </i><a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span><i>Mr. Crisparkle</i>, ‘<i>and +highly approve of your caution</i>.’</p> +<p>‘<i>I needn’t repeat that I know nothing yet of +the why and wherefore</i>,’ <i>said Mr. Tartar</i>; +‘<i>but I also understand to what you tend</i>, <i>so let +me say at once that my chambers are freely at your +disposal</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>THE MANUSCRIPT</h4> +<p>I make also a few notes based on a careful examination of the +manuscript. Certain passages are rewritten, and the result +pasted over the original page. These passages have been +noted. Also certain sentences have been altered in form, +sometimes by the substitution of one word for another, and +sometimes by the addition of words. It is not necessary to +give every example, but a few may be noted.</p> +<p>Towards the end of the second chapter the passage beginning +‘I have been taking opium for a pain,’ including the +long paragraph which follows, has been entirely rewritten and +pasted on.</p> +<p>In the description of the Landlesses in chapter vi. Dickens +made certain changes. As the sentence stands now it reads +as follows: ‘An <a name="page14"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 14</span>unusually handsome lithe young +fellow, and an unusually handsome lithe girl; much alike; both +very dark, and very rich in colour; she of almost the gipsy type; +something untamed about them both; a certain air upon them of +hunter and huntress; yet withal a certain air of being the +objects of the chase, rather than the followers.’</p> +<p>As originally written it read thus: ‘A handsome young +fellow, and a handsome girl; both dark and rich in colour; she +quite gipsy like; something untamed about them both; a certain +air upon them of hunter and huntress; yet a certain air of being +the objects of the chase, rather than the followers.’</p> +<p>In chapter vii., where Neville is speaking of his sister, as +we have the passage it reads: ‘In a last word of reference +to my sister, sir (we are twin children), you ought to know, to +her honour, that nothing in our misery ever subdued her, though +it often cowed me. When we ran away from it (we ran away +four times in six years, to be soon brought back and cruelly +punished), the flight was always of her planning and +leading. Each time she dressed as a boy, and showed the +daring of a man. I take it we were seven years old when we +first <a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>decamped; but I remember, when I lost the pocket-knife +with which she was to have cut her hair short, how desperately +she tried to tear it out, or bite it off.’</p> +<p>The original version ran thus: ‘In reference to my +sister, sir (we are twin children), you ought to know, to her +honour, that nothing in our misery ever cowed her, though it +often cowed me. When we ran away from it (we ran away four +times in five years, to be very soon brought back and punished), +the flight was always of her planning. Each time she +dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man. I take it +we were eight years old when we first decamped; but I remember, +when I lost the pocket-knife with which she was to have cut her +hair short, that she tried to tear it out, or bite it +off.’</p> +<p>At the beginning of chapter xviii. we read of the stranger in +Cloisterham: ‘Being buttoned up in a tightish blue +surtout.’ This was originally: ‘Being dressed +in a tightish blue surtout.’ A little further on in +the same paragraph we have: ‘He stood with his back to the +empty fireplace.’ Dickens originally wrote: ‘He +stood with his back to the fireplace.’ In the next +paragraph ‘His shock of <a name="page16"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 16</span>white hair’ was originally +‘His shock of long white hair.’</p> +<p>In the same chapter, when Datchery and the boy are standing +looking at Jasper’s rooms we have the following sentence: +‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with a second +look of some interest.’ This was originally written: +‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with an +appearance of interest.’ In the final proofs this +passage was entirely struck out. On the next page we have +this sentence: ‘Mr. Datchery, taking off his hat to give +that shock of white hair of his another shake, seemed quite +resigned, and betook himself whither he had been +directed.’ The original version ran thus: ‘Mr. +Datchery, taking off his hat and giving his shock of white hair +another shake, was quite resigned, and betook himself whither he +had been directed.’</p> +<p>A little further on in the same chapter, when Datchery first +goes into Jasper’s room we have: ‘“I beg +pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, making a leg with his hat under +his arm.’ This was originally written, “I beg +pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, hat in hand.’</p> +<p>In the last paragraph of this chapter we have: ‘Said Mr. +Datchery to himself that night, as he looked at his white hair in +the gas-lighted <a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +17</span>looking-glass over the coffee-room chimney-piece at the +Crozier, and shook it out: “For a single buffer, of an easy +temper, living idly on his means, I have had a rather busy +afternoon!”’ This was originally written: +‘Said Mr. Datchery to himself that night as he looked at +his white hair in the gas-lighted looking-glass over the +coffee-room chimney-piece at the Crozier: “Well, for a +single buffer of an easy temper, living idly on his means, I have +had rather a busy afternoon!”’</p> +<p>In chapter xx., when Grewgious is talking about Bazzard we +have the following: ‘“No, he goes his way, after +office hours. In fact, he is off duty here, altogether, +just at present; and a firm downstairs, with which I have +business relations, lend me a substitute. But it would be +extremely difficult to replace Mr. Bazzard.”’ +Originally Dickens wrote: ‘“No, he goes his ways +after office hours. In fact, he is off duty at present; and +a firm downstairs with which I have business relations, lend me a +substitute. But it would be difficult to replace Mr. +Bazzard.”’</p> +<p>Chapter xxii. is much corrected, and the whole of the second +paragraph is rewritten and pasted on. Chapter xxiii. is +also a good deal <a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +18</span>corrected. Near the beginning we have the +following: ‘The Cathedral doors have closed for the night; +and the Choir-master, on a short leave of absence for two or +three services, sets his face towards London.’ This +was originally written: ‘The Cathedral doors have closed +for the night; and the Choir-master, on leave of absence for a +few days, sets his face towards London.’</p> +<p>The passage beginning: ‘But she goes no further away +from it than the chair upon the hearth,’ and the next two +paragraphs are entirely rewritten and pasted on, and the +following sentences are cancelled: ‘“So far I might +a’most as well have never found out how to set you +talking,” is her commentary. “You are too +sleepy to talk too plain. You hold your secrets right you +do!”’ A little further on we have: +‘“Halloa!” he cries in a low voice, seeing her +brought to a standstill: “who are you looking +for?”’ This was originally +‘“Halloa!” cries this gentleman, “who are +you looking for?”’</p> +<p>On the next page we have: ‘With his uncovered gray hair +blowing about.’ Dickens originally wrote: ‘With +his gray hair blowing about.’</p> +<p><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>On the +same page, when Datchery and the opium woman are talking together +Dickens puts in the following sentence about opium as an +afterthought: ‘“And it’s like a human creetur +so far, that you always hear what can be said against it, but +seldom what can be said in its praise.”’</p> +<p>A little further on we have: ‘Mr. Datchery stops in his +counting, finds he has counted wrong, shakes his money together, +and begins again.’ Originally we had: ‘Mr. +Datchery stops in his counting, finds he has counted wrong, and +begins again.’ Very near the end of this chapter we +have: ‘At length he rises, throws open the door of a corner +cupboard, and refers to a few uncouth chalked strokes on its +inner side.’ Dickens first wrote: ‘At length he +rises, throws open the door of a corner cupboard, and refers to a +few chalked strokes on its inner side.’</p> +<h3><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +20</span>CHAPTER II—EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES</h3> +<p>We now proceed to give such external testimony as exists of +the plans and intentions of Dickens. The chief authority +is, of course, the <i>Life</i> by Forster. We have in +addition the testimony of Madame Perugini, whose first husband, +Charles Allston Collins, designed the wrapper. To this we +add the testimony of Charles Dickens the younger as conveyed to +his sister. Through the kindness of Miss Bessie Hatton I +have been able to read the text of the unacted play written by +Joseph Hatton and Charles Dickens the younger on <i>The Mystery +of Edwin Drood</i>. We have also the important letter of +Sir Luke Fildes, who was chosen by Dickens to illustrate the +story. It seems essential to any complete consideration of +the subject that these testimonies should be given in full, and +this is the more necessary because some of them are now not +readily at hand.</p> +<h4><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 21</span>JOHN +FORSTER’S TESTIMONY</h4> +<p>Dickens in 1868 had been alarming his friends and exhausting +himself by his public Readings. When he was in America on +his last Reading tour he had made a profit of about +£20,000. He entered into an agreement with Messrs. +Chappell to give a final course of Readings in this country, from +which he expected to receive an additional £13,000. +The strain of his work in America had manifestly told upon +him. ‘There was manifest abatement of his natural +force, the elasticity of bearing was impaired, and the wonderful +brightness of eye was dimmed at times.’ Unfavourable +and alarming symptoms of nerve mischief were also noted, but he +drew lavishly on his reserve strength, and thinking that a new +excitement was needed he chose the <i>Oliver Twist</i> murder, +one of the most trying of his public recitals. He suffered +‘thirty thousand shocks to the nerves’ going to +Edinburgh. His Readings and his journeyings exacted from +him the most terrible physical exertion, but no warnings could +arrest his course till his physicians peremptorily ordered him to +desist. Even then, however, he resumed his Readings at a +later date.</p> +<p><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>In this +condition of mental and bodily fatigue Dickens began his last +book. I print almost in full the relative passages from +Forster.</p> +<blockquote><p>The last book undertaken by Dickens was to be +published in illustrated monthly numbers, of the old form, but to +close with the twelfth. It closed, unfinished, with the +sixth number, which was itself underwritten by two pages.</p> +<p>His first fancy for the tale was expressed in a letter in the +middle of July. ‘What should you think of the idea of +a story beginning in this way?—Two people, boy and girl, or +very young, going apart from one another, pledged to be married +after many years—at the end of the book. The interest +to arise out of the tracing of their separate ways, and the +impossibility of telling what will be done with that impending +fate.’ This was laid aside; but it left a marked +trace on the story as afterwards designed, in the position of +Edwin Drood and his betrothed.</p> +<p>I first heard of the later design in a letter dated +‘Friday, the 6th of August 1869,’ in which, after +speaking, with the usual unstinted praise he bestowed always on +what moved him in others, of a little tale he had received for +his journal, he spoke of the change that had occurred to him for +the new tale by himself. ‘I laid aside the fancy I +told you of, and have a very curious and new idea for my new +story. Not a communicable idea (or the interest of the book +would be gone), but a very strong one, though difficult to +work.’ The story, I learnt immediately afterward, was +to be <a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>that +of the murder of a nephew by his uncle; the originality of which +was to consist in the review of the murderer’s career by +himself at the close, when its temptations were to be dwelt upon +as if, not he, the culprit, but some other man, were the +tempted. The last chapters were to be written in the +condemned cell, to which his wickedness, all elaborately elicited +from him as if told of another, had brought him. Discovery +by the murderer of the utter needlessness of the murder for its +object, was to follow hard upon commission of the deed; but all +discovery of the murderer was to be baffled till towards the +close, when, by means of a gold ring which had resisted the +corrosive effects of the lime into which he had thrown the body, +not only the person murdered was to be identified, but the +locality of the crime and the man who committed it. So much +was told to me before any of the book was written; and it will be +recollected that the ring, taken by Drood to be given to his +betrothed only if their engagement went on, was brought away with +him from their last interview. Rosa was to marry Tartar, +and Crisparkle the sister of Landless, who was himself, I think, +to have perished in assisting Tartar finally to unmask and seize +the murderer.</p> +<p>Nothing had been written, however, of the main parts of the +design excepting what is found in the published numbers; there +was no hint or preparation for the sequel in any notes of +chapters in advance; and there remained not even what he had +himself so sadly written of the book by Thackeray also +interrupted by death. The evidence of matured designs never +to be accomplished, intentions planned never <a +name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>to be +executed, roads of thought marked out never to be traversed, +goals shining in the distance never to be reached, was wanting +here. It was all a blank. Enough had been completed +nevertheless to give promise of a much greater book than its +immediate predecessor. ‘I hope his book is +finished,’ wrote Longfellow, when the news of his death was +flashed to America. ‘It is certainly one of his most +beautiful works, if not the most beautiful of all. It would +be too sad to think the pen had fallen from his hand, and left it +incomplete.’ Some of its characters are touched with +subtlety, and in its descriptions his imaginative power was at +its best. Not a line was wanting to the reality, in the +most minute local detail, of places the most widely contrasted; +and we saw with equal vividness the lazy cathedral town and the +lurid opium-eater’s den. Something like the old +lightness and buoyancy of animal spirits gave a new freshness to +the humour; the scenes of the child-heroine and her luckless +betrothed had both novelty and nicety of character in them; and +Mr. Grewgious in chambers with his clerk and the two waiters, the +conceited fool Sapsea, and the blustering philanthropist +Honeythunder, were first-rate comedy. Miss Twinkleton was +of the family of Miss La Creevy; and the lodging-house keeper, +Miss Billickin, though she gave Miss Twinkleton but a sorry +account of her blood, had that of Mrs. Todgers in her +veins. ‘I was put in early life to a very genteel +boarding-school, the mistress being no less a lady than yourself, +of about your own age, or it may be some years younger, and a +poorness of blood flowed from the table which has run through <a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>my +life.’ Was ever anything better said of a school-fare +of starved gentility?</p> +<p>The last page of <i>Edwin Drood</i> was written in the +châlet in the afternoon of his last day of consciousness; +and I have thought there might be some interest in a facsimile of +the greater part of this final page of manuscript that ever came +from his hand, at which he had worked unusually late in order to +finish the chapter. It has very much the character, in its +excessive care of correction and interlineation, of all his later +manuscripts; and in order that comparison may be made with his +earlier and easier method, I place beside it a portion of a page +of the original of <i>Oliver Twist</i>. His greater pains +and elaboration of writing, it may be mentioned, become first +very obvious in the later parts of <i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i>; but +not the least remarkable feature in all his manuscripts is the +accuracy with which the portions of each representing the several +numbers are exactly adjusted to the space the printer has to +fill. Whether without erasure or so interlined as to be +illegible, nothing is wanting, and there is nothing in +excess. So assured had the habit become, that we have seen +him remarking upon an instance the other way, in <i>Our Mutual +Friend</i>, as not having happened to him for thirty years. +Certainly the exceptions had been few and unimportant; but +<i>Edwin Drood</i> more startlingly showed him how unsettled the +habit he most prized had become, in the clashing of old and new +pursuits. ‘When I had written’ (22nd of +December 1869), ‘and, as I thought, disposed of the first +two numbers of my story, Clowes informed me to my horror that +they were, together, <i>twelve printed </i><a +name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span><i>pages too +short</i>! Consequently I had to transpose a chapter from +number two to number one, and remodel number two +altogether. This was the more unlucky, that it came upon me +at the time when I was obliged to leave the book, in order to get +up the Readings’ (the additional twelve for which Sir +Thomas Watson’s consent had been obtained); ‘quite +gone out of my mind since I left them off. However, I +turned to it and got it done, and both numbers are now in +type. Charles Collins has designed an excellent +cover.’ It was his wish that his son-in-law should +have illustrated the story; but this not being practicable, upon +an opinion expressed by Mr. Millais which the result thoroughly +justified, choice was made of Mr. S. L. Fildes.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Forster goes on to explain as follows the discovery of the +manuscript containing the passage ‘How Mr. Sapsea Ceased to +be a Member of the Eight Club.’ This is to be found +in every edition of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, but Forster’s +remarks are important and must be reproduced:</p> +<blockquote><p>This reference to the last effort of +Dickens’s genius had been written as it thus stands, when a +discovery of some interest was made by the writer. Within +the leaves of one of Dickens’s other manuscripts were found +some detached slips of his writing, on paper only half the size +of that used for the tale, so cramped, interlined, and blotted as +to be nearly illegible, which on close inspection proved to be a +scene in which Sapsea the auctioneer is introduced as the +principal <a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>figure, among a group of characters new to the +story. The explanation of it perhaps is, that, having +become a little nervous about the course of the tale, from a fear +that he might have plunged too soon into the incidents leading on +to the catastrophe, such as the Datchery assumption in the fifth +number (a misgiving he had certainly expressed to his +sister-in-law), it had occurred to him to open some fresh veins +of character incidental to the interest, though not directly part +of it, and so to handle them in connection with Sapsea as a +little to suspend the final development even while assisting to +strengthen it. Before beginning any number of a serial, he +used, as we have seen in former instances, to plan briefly what +he intended to put into it chapter by chapter; and his first +number-plan of <i>Drood</i> had the following: ‘Mr. +Sapsea. Old Tory jackass. Connect Jasper with +him. (He will want a solemn donkey by and by)’; which +was effected by bringing together both Durdles and Jasper, for +connection with Sapsea, in the matter of the epitaph for Mrs. +Sapsea’s tomb. The scene now discovered might in this +view have been designed to strengthen and carry forward that +element in the tale; and otherwise it very sufficiently expresses +itself. It would supply an answer, if such were needed, to +those who have asserted that the hopeless decadence of Dickens as +a writer had set in before his death. Among the lines last +written by him, these are the very last we can ever hope to +receive; and they seem to me a delightful specimen of the power +possessed by him in his prime, and the rarest which any novelist +can have, of revealing a character by a touch. Here are a +couple of people, <a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +28</span>Kimber and Peartree, not known to us before, whom we +read off thoroughly in a dozen words; and as to Sapsea himself, +auctioneer and mayor of Cloisterham, we are face to face with +what before we only dimly realised, and we see the solemn +jackass, in his business pulpit, playing off the airs of Mr. Dean +in his Cathedral pulpit, with Cloisterham laughing at the +impostor.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>MADAME PERUGINI’S TESTIMONY</h4> +<p>Madame Perugini’s article appeared in the <i>Pall Mall +Magazine</i> for June 1906. The title is ‘Edwin Drood +and the Last Days of Charles Dickens, by his younger daughter +Kate Perugini.’ Madame Perugini begins by summarising +the evidence of Forster as already given. She proceeds to +make the following instructive comments. It will be +observed also that she makes no additions to the external +evidence, particularly on the vexed question of the wrapper:</p> +<blockquote><p><i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i> is a story, or, +to speak more correctly, the half of a story, that has excited so +much general interest and so many speculations as to its ultimate +disclosures, that it has given rise to various imaginary theories +on the part of several clever writers; and to much discussion +among those who are not writers, but merely fervent admirers and +thoughtful readers of my father’s writings. All these +<a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>attach +different meanings to the extraordinary number of clues my father +has offered them to follow, and they are even more keen at the +present day than they were when the book made its first +appearance to find their way through the tangled maze and arrive +at the very heart of the mystery. Among the numerous books, +pamphlets, and articles that have been written upon <i>Edwin +Drood</i>, there are some that are extremely interesting and well +worth attention, for they contain many clever and possible +suggestions, and although they do not entirely convince us, yet +they add still more to the almost painful anxiety we all feel in +wandering through the lonely precincts of Cloisterham Cathedral, +or along the banks of the river that runs through Cloisterham +town and leads to the Weir of which we are told in the story.</p> +<p>In following these writers to the end of their subtle +imaginings as to how the mystery might be solved, we may +sometimes be inclined to pause for an instant and ask ourselves +whether my father did not perhaps intend his story to have an +ending less complicated, although quite as interesting, as any +that are suggested. We find ourselves turning to John +Forster’s <i>Life of Charles Dickens</i> to help us in our +perplexity, and this is what we read in his chapter headed +‘Last Book.’ Mr. Forster begins by telling us +that <i>Edwin Drood</i> was to be published in twelve illustrated +monthly parts, and that it closed prematurely with the sixth +number, which was itself underwritten by two pages; therefore my +father had exactly six numbers and two pages to write when he +left his little châlet in the shrubbery of Gad’s Hill +Place on 8th June 1870, to <a name="page30"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 30</span>which he never returned. Mr. +Forster goes on to say: ‘His first fancy for the tale was +expressed in July (meaning the July of 1869), in a letter which +runs thus:</p> +<p>‘“What should you think of the idea of a story +beginning in this way?—Two people, boy and girl, or very +young, going apart from one another, pledged to be married after +many years—at the end of the book. The interest to +arise out of the tracing of their separate ways and the +impossibility of telling what will be done with that impending +fate.”’</p> +<p>This idea my father relinquished, although he left distinct +traces of it in his tale; and in a letter to Mr. Forster, dated +6th August 1869, tells him:</p> +<p>‘I laid aside the fancy I told you of, and have a very +curious and new idea for my new story. Not a communicable +idea (or the interest of the book would be gone), but a very +strong one, though difficult to work.’</p> +<p>Mr. Forster then says that he immediately afterwards learnt +that the story was to be ‘the murder of a nephew by his +uncle’; the originality of which was to consist in the +review of the murderer’s career by himself at the close, +when its temptations were to be dwelt upon as if not he, the +culprit, but some other man, were the tempted. The last +chapters were to be written in the condemned cell, to which his +wickedness, all elaborately elicited from him as if told of +another, had brought him. Discovery by the murderer of the +utter needlessness of the murder for its object, was to follow +hard upon commission of the deed; <a name="page31"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 31</span>but all discovery of the murderer was +to be baffled till towards the close, when, by means of a gold +ring which had resisted the corrosive effects of the lime into +which he had thrown the body, not only the person murdered was to +be identified, but the locality of the crime and the man who +committed it.’</p> +<p>Mr. Forster adds a little information as to the marriages at +the close of the book, and makes use of the expression ‘I +think’ in speaking of Neville Landless, as though he were +not quite certain of what he remembered concerning him. +This ‘I think’ has been seized upon by some of Mr. +Forster’s critics, who appear to argue that because he did +not clearly recollect one detail of the story he may therefore +have been mistaken in the whole. But we see for ourselves +that Mr. Forster is perfectly well informed as to the nature of +the plot, and the fate of the two principal characters concerned, +the murdered and the murderer; and the only thing upon which he +is not positive is the ending of Neville Landless, to which he +confesses in the words ‘I think,’ thus making his +testimony to the more important facts the more impressive. +If we have any doubts as to whether Mr. Forster correctly stated +what he was told, we have only to turn to the story of <i>Edwin +Drood</i>, and we find, as far as it goes, that his statement is +entirely corroborated by what we read in the book.</p> +<p>If those who are interested in the subject will carefully read +what I have quoted, they will not be able to detect any word or +hint from my father that it was upon the Mystery alone that he +relied for the interest and originality of his idea. The +originality was to be <a name="page32"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 32</span>shown, as he tells us, in what we may +call the psychological description the murderer gives us of his +temptations, temperament, and character, as if told by another; +and my father speaks openly of the ring to Mr. Forster. +Moreover, he refers to it often in his story, and we all +recognise it, whatever our other convictions may be, as the +instrument by which Jasper’s wickedness and guilt are to be +established in the end. I do not mean to imply that the +mystery itself had no strong hold on my father’s +imagination; but, greatly as he was interested in the intricacies +of that tangled skein, the information he voluntarily gave to Mr. +Forster, from whom he had withheld nothing for thirty-three +years, certainly points to the fact that he was quite as deeply +fascinated and absorbed in the study of the criminal Jasper, as +in the dark and sinister crime that has given the book its +title. And he also speaks to Mr. Forster of the murder of a +nephew by an uncle. He does not say that he is uncertain +whether he shall save the nephew, but has evidently made up his +mind that the crime is to be committed. And so he told his +plot to Mr. Forster, as he had been accustomed to tell his plots +for years past; and those who knew him must feel it impossible to +believe that in this, the last year of his life, he should +suddenly become underhand, and we might say treacherous, to his +old friend, by inventing for his private edification a plot that +he had no intention of carrying into execution. This is +incredible, and the nature of the friendship that existed between +Mr. Forster and himself makes the idea unworthy of +consideration.</p> +<p>Mr. Forster was devotedly attached to my father, <a +name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>but as years +passed by this engrossing friendship made him a little jealous of +his confidence, and more than a little exacting in his demands +upon it. My father was perfectly aware of this weakness in +his friend, and although the knowledge of it made him smile at +times, and even joke about it when we were at home and alone, he +was always singularly tenderhearted where Mr. Forster was +concerned, and was particularly careful never to wound the very +sensitive nature of one who, from the first moment of their +acquaintance, had devoted his time and energy to making my +father’s path in life as smooth as so intricate a path +could be made. In all business transactions Mr. Forster +acted for him, and generally brought him through these troubles +triumphantly, whereas, if left to himself, his impetuosity and +impatience might have spoilt all chances of success; while in all +his private troubles my father instinctively turned to his +friend, and even when not invariably following his advice, had +yet so much confidence in his judgment as to be rendered not only +uneasy but unhappy if Mr. Forster did not approve of the decision +at which he ultimately arrived. From the beginning of their +friendship to the end of my father’s life the relations +between the two friends remained unchanged; and the notion that +has been spread abroad that my father wilfully misled Mr. Forster +in what he told him of the plot of <i>Edwin Drood</i> should be +abandoned, as it does not correspond with the knowledge of those +who understood the dignity of my father’s character, and +were also aware of the perfectly frank terms upon which he lived +with Mr. Forster.</p> +<p><a name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>If my +father again changed his plan for the story of <i>Edwin Drood</i> +the first thing he would naturally do would be to write to Mr. +Forster and inform him of the alteration. We might imagine +for an instant that he would perhaps desire to keep the change as +a surprise for his friend, but what I have just stated with +regard to Mr. Forster’s character renders this supposition +out of the question, as my father knew for a certainty that his +jealousy would debar him from appreciating such a surprise, and +that he would in all probability strongly resent what he might +with justice be allowed to consider as a piece of unnecessary +caution on my father’s part. That he did not write to +Mr. Forster to tell him of any divergence from his second plan +for the book we all know, and we know also that my eldest +brother, Charles, positively declared that he had heard from his +father’s lips that Edwin Drood was dead. Here, +therefore, are two very important witnesses to a fact that is +still doubted by those who never met my father, and were never +impressed by the grave sincerity with which he would have given +this assurance.</p> +<p>It is very often those who most doubt Mr. Forster’s +accuracy on this point who are in the habit of turning to his +book when they are in the search of facts to establish some +theory of their own; and they do not hesitate to do this, because +they know that whatever views they may hold upon the work itself, +or the manner in which it is written, absolute truth is to be +found in its pages. Why should they refuse, therefore, to +believe a statement made upon one page of his three volumes, when +they willingly and gratefully <a name="page35"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 35</span>accept the rest if it is to their +interest to do so? This is a difficult question to answer, +but it is not without importance when we are discussing the +subject of <i>Edwin Drood</i>. On pages 425 and 426 of the +third volume of Mr. Forster’s <i>Life</i> is to be found +the simple explanation of my father’s plot for his story, +as given to him by my father himself. It is true that Mr. +Forster speaks from remembrance, but how often does he not speak +from remembrance, and yet how seldom are we inclined to doubt his +word? Only here, because what he tells us does not exactly +fit in with our preconceived views as to how the tale shall be +finished, are we disposed to quarrel with him, for the simple +reason that we flatter ourselves we have discovered a better +ending to the book than the one originally intended for it by the +author. And so we put his statement aside and ignore it, +while we grope in the dark for a thing we shall never find; and +we obstinately refuse to allow even the little glimmer of light +my father has himself thrown upon the obscurity to help us in our +search. It was not, I imagine, for the intricate working +out of his plot alone that my father cared to write this story; +but it was through his wonderful observation of character, and +his strange insight into the tragic secrets of the human heart, +that he desired his greatest triumph to be achieved.</p> +<p>I do not write upon these things because I have any fresh or +startling theories to offer upon the subject of <i>Edwin +Drood</i>. I cannot say that I am without my own opinions, +but I am fully conscious that after what has been already so ably +said, they would have but little interest for the general public; +so I shrink <a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +36</span>from venturing upon any suggestions respecting the +solution of my father’s last book. My chief object in +writing is to remind the readers of this paper that there are +certain facts connected with this story that cannot lightly be +put aside, and these facts are to be found in John +Forster’s <i>Life of Charles Dickens</i>, and in the +declaration made by my brother Charles. Having known both +Mr. Forster and my brother intimately, I cannot for a moment +believe that either of them would speak or write that which he +did not know to be strictly true; and it is on these grounds +alone that I think I have a right to be heard when I insist upon +the assertion that Edwin Drood was undoubtedly murdered by his +uncle Jasper. As to the unravelling of the mystery, and the +way in which the murder was perpetrated, we are all at liberty to +have our own views, seeing that no explanations were as yet +arrived at in the story; but we should remember that only vague +speculations can be indulged in when we try to imagine them for +ourselves.</p> +<p>It has been pointed out, and very justly, that although Jasper +removed the watch, chain, and scarf-pin from Edwin’s body, +there would possibly remain on it money of some kind, keys, and +the metal buttons on his clothes, which the action of the +quicklime could not destroy, and by which his identity would be +made known. This has been looked upon as an oversight, a +mere piece of forgetfulness on my father’s part. But +remembering, as I do very well, what he often said, that the most +clever criminals were constantly detected through some small +defect in their calculations, I cannot but think it most probable +that this was not <a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +37</span>an oversight, but was intended to lead up to the pet +theory that he so frequently mentioned whenever a murder case was +brought to trial. After reading <i>Edwin Drood</i> many +times, as most of us have read it, we must, I think, come to the +conclusion that not a word of this tale was written without full +consideration; that in this story at least my father left nothing +to chance, and that therefore the money, and the buttons, were +destined to take their proper place in the book, and might turn +out to be a weak spot in Jasper’s well-arranged and +complicated plot, <i>the</i> weak spot my father insisted upon, +as being inseparable from the commission of a great crime, +however skilfully planned. The keys spoken of need not be +taken seriously into account, for Edwin was a careless young +fellow, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that he did not +always carry them upon his person; he was staying with his uncle, +and he may have left them in the portmanteau, which was most +likely at the time of the murder lying unfastened in his room, +with the key belonging to it in the lock. It would be +unfair to suggest that my father wrote unadvisedly of this or +that, for he had still the half of his story to finish, and +plenty of time, as he thought, in which to gather up the broken +threads and weave them into a symmetrical and harmonious whole, +which he was so eminently capable of completing.</p> +<p>That my father’s brain was more than usually clear and +bright during the writing of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, no one who lived +with him could possibly doubt; and the extraordinary interest he +took in the development of this story was apparent in all that he +said or did, and <a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +38</span>was often the subject of conversation between those who +anxiously watched him as he wrote, and feared that he was trying +his strength too far. For although my father’s death +was sudden and unexpected, the knowledge that his bodily health +was failing had been for some time too forcibly brought to the +notice of those who loved him, for them to be blind to the fact +that the book he was now engaged in, and the concentration of his +devotion and energy upon it, were a tax too great for his +fast-ebbing strength. Any attempt to stay him, however, in +work that he had undertaken was as idle as stretching one’s +hands to a river and bidding it cease to flow; and beyond a few +remonstrances now and again urged, no such attempt was made, +knowing as we did that it would be entirely useless. And so +the work sped on, carrying with it my father’s few +remaining days of life, and the end came all too soon, as it was +bound to come, to one who never ceased to labour for those who +were dear to him, in the hope of gaining for them that which he +was destined never to enjoy. And in my father’s grave +lies buried the secret of his story.</p> +<p>The scene of the Eight Club, which Mr. Forster discovered +after his death, in which there figure two new characters, Mr. +Peartree and Mr. Kimber, bears no relation as we read it to the +unfolding of the plot; and although the young man Poker, who is +also introduced in this fragment for the first time, seems to be +of more significance, we see too little of him to be certain that +we may not already have made his acquaintance. In Mr. +Sapsea my father evidently took much pleasure, and we are here +reminded of <a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +39</span>the note made for him in the first number-plan of +<i>Edwin Drood</i>: ‘Mr. Sapsea. Old Tory +jackass. Connect Jasper with him. (He will want a +solemn donkey by and by.)’ My father also wanted the +solemn donkey, and not only brought him in for the purposes of +his story, but because, as in the case of ‘the +Billickin,’ he took delight in dwelling upon the +absurdities of the character.</p> +<p>As to the cover of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, that has been the +subject of so much discussion there is very little to tell. +It was designed and drawn by Mr. Charles A. Collins, my first +husband. The same reasons that prevented me from teasing my +father with questions respecting his story made me refrain from +asking any of Mr. Collins; but from what he said I certainly +gathered that he was not in possession of my father’s +secret, although he had made his designs from my father’s +directions. There are a few things in this cover that I +fancy have been a little misunderstood. In the book only +Jasper and Neville Landless are described as dark young +men. Edwin Drood is fair, and so is Crisparkle. +Tartar is burnt by the sun; but when Rosa asks ‘the +Unlimited head chambermaid’ at the hotel in +Furnival’s Inn if the gentleman who has just called is +dark, she replies:</p> +<p>‘No, Miss, more of a brown gentleman.’</p> +<p>‘You are sure not with black hair?’ asked Rosa, +taking courage.</p> +<p>‘Quite sure of that, Miss. Brown hair and blue +eyes.’</p> +<p>Now in a drawing it would be difficult to make a <a +name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>distinction +between the fair hair of Edwin and the slightly darker hair of +Tartar; and in the picture, where we see a girl—Rosa we +imagine her to be—seated in a garden, the young man at her +feet is, I feel pretty sure, intended for Tartar. Edwin it +cannot be, nor Neville, as has been supposed, for he was +decidedly dark. Besides this, Neville would not have told +his affection to Rosa, for Helena was far too quick-witted not to +understand from Rosa’s first mention of Tartar that she is +already in love with him, and she would have warned and saved the +brother to whom she was so ardently attached from making any such +confession. The figure is not intended for Jasper, because +we know that Jasper did not move from the sun-dial in the scene +where he declares his mad passion for Rosa, and Jasper had black +hair and whiskers. And, again, the drawing cannot be meant +to represent Helena and Crisparkle, for the young man is not in +clerical dress. The figures going up the stairs are still +more difficult to make out; but there can be little doubt that +the active higher one is the same young man we see at +Rosa’s feet, and must therefore be Tartar. Of the +remaining two, one may be Crisparkle, although there is still no +clerical attire, and the other either Grewgious or Neville, +though the drawing certainly bears but little resemblance to +either of those characters.</p> +<p>The lower and middle picture is, of course, the great scene of +the book; but whether the young man standing calm, and inexorable +as Fate, is intended to be the ghost of Edwin as seen by Jasper +in his half-dazed and drugged condition, or whether it is <a +name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>Helena +dressed as Datchery, as one writer has ingeniously suggested +(although there are reasons in the story against the supposition +that Helena is Datchery, and many to support the theory that the +‘old buffer’ is Bazzard),—these are puzzles +that will never be cleared up, except to the minds of those who +have positively determined that they hold the clue to the +mystery, and can only see its interpretation from one point of +view. The girl’s figure with streaming hair, in the +picture where the word ‘Lost’ is written, has been +supposed to represent Rosa after her parting from Edwin; but it +may more likely, I think, indicate some scene in the book which +has yet to be described in the story. This is another +enigma; but my father, it may be presumed, intended to puzzle his +readers by the cover, and he had every legitimate right to do so, +for had his meaning been made perfectly clear ‘the interest +of the book would be gone.’ Some surprise has been +expressed because Mr. Forster did not ask Mr. Collins for the +meaning of his designs; but if he already knew the plot, why +should he seek information from Mr. Collins? particularly as my +father may have told him that he had not disclosed the secret of +his story to his illustrators, for I believe I am right in +affirming that Mr. Luke Fildes was no better informed as to the +plan of the book than was Mr. Collins.</p> +</blockquote> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<blockquote><p>I am unfortunately not acquainted with much that +has been written about <i>Edwin Drood</i>, for the story was so +painfully associated with my father’s death and the sorrow +of that time that after first reading it I <a +name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>could never +bear to look into the book again till about two months ago, when +I found myself obliged to do so; and then my thoughts flew back +to the last occasion when my father mentioned it in my +hearing.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">. +. . +. .</p> +<p>There is one other fact connected with my father and <i>Edwin +Drood</i> that I think my readers would like to know, and I must +be forgiven if I again speak from my own experience in order to +relate it. Upon reading the book once more, as I have +already told, after an interval of a great number of years, the +story took such entire possession of me that for a long time I +could think of nothing else; and one day, my aunt, Miss Hogarth, +being with me, I asked her if she knew anything more definite +than I did as to how the ending was to be brought about. +For I should explain that when my father was unusually reticent +we seldom, if ever, attempted to break his silence by remarks or +hints that might lead him to suppose that we were anxious to +learn what he had no doubt good reasons for desiring to keep from +us. And we made it a point of honour among ourselves never, +in talking to him on the subject of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, to show +the impatience we naturally felt to arrive at the end of so +engrossing a tale.</p> +<p>My aunt said that she knew absolutely nothing, but she told me +that shortly before my father’s death, and after he had +been speaking of some difficulty he was in with his work, without +explaining what it was, she found it impossible to refrain from +asking him, ‘I hope you haven’t really killed poor +Edwin Drood?’ To which he gravely replied, ‘I +call my book the <a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +43</span>Mystery, not the History, of Edwin Drood.’ +And that was all he would answer. My aunt could not make +out from the reply, or from his manner of giving it, whether he +wished to convey that the Mystery was to remain a mystery for +ever, or if he desired gently to remind her that he would not +disclose his secret until the proper time arrived for telling +it. But I think his words are so suggestive, and may carry +with them so much meaning, that I offer them now, with my +aunt’s permission, to those who take a delight in trying to +unravel the impenetrable secrets of a story that has within its +sadly shortened pages a most curious fascination, and is +‘gifted with invincible force to hold and drag.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>THE TESTIMONY OF CHARLES DICKENS THE YOUNGER</h4> +<p>I have quoted from Madame Perugini’s statement the +words: ‘We know also that my elder brother Charles +positively declared that he had heard from his father’s +lips that Edwin Drood was dead.’ I proceed to +corroborate the statement by giving here a brief account of the +play by Joseph Hatton and Charles Dickens.</p> +<p>The importance of this play as a witness to Dickens’s +intentions is shown in an article by Joseph Hatton which appeared +in the <i>People</i> on 19th November 1905. Mr. Hatton +explains that about the year 1880, in a conversation, he sketched +out his idea of the play up to the <a name="page44"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 44</span>crucial point. Dickens had a +play in his mind when he wrote the story, and it was said that he +had thought of Dion Boucicault as his collaborator in his work +for the stage. After the death of Dickens, Boucicault had a +mind to write the play and invent his own conclusion to the +story, but afterwards gave it up. Mr. Hatton, in a +conversation with Mr. Luke Fildes, saw Dickens’s possible +conclusion, but did not attempt to gather up the broken +threads. ‘Consulting his son, Charles, to whom I +offered my sketch, I found that his father had revealed to him +sufficient of the plot to clearly indicate how the story was to +end. We agreed to write the play. Much of the +son’s version of the finale was proved by the instructions +which the author had given to the illustrator in regard to +certain of the unpublished and unwritten chapters. And so +Dickens the younger and I fell to work and wrote the play of +<i>Edwin Drood</i> for the Princess’s Theatre.’ +He goes on to explain that the piece was cast, and a great point +made of the authoritative conclusion of the story, thus clearing +up something of the mystery which was part of its title. +But Mr. Harry Jackson, the stage manager, did not like the play, +and it was left unacted. Years <a name="page45"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 45</span>after, Dickens had a hope that Mr. +Willard would undertake the play, but this expectation was not +fulfilled. Dickens consoled himself by saying that next to +the pleasure of having a good play acted was the pleasure of +writing it, and for the rest he took the incident as one of the +‘little ironies’ of his life.</p> +<p>The play as it lies before me is in four Acts. The first +is made up of conversations between the Landlesses, Mrs. +Crisparkle, Septimus Crisparkle, Rosa and Edwin. These are +practically repeated from the book. Grewgious and Jasper +then come on the scene, the novel being closely followed in their +conversation. The second Act is made up of conversations +also mainly reproduced from the book between Helena and Rosa, +Jasper and Crisparkle. Grewgious comes on in the second +Scene where Edwin and Rosa decide to be brother and sister. +There follow in the third Scene the talks between Jasper and +Durdles. Edwin talks to the opium woman, and Jasper appears +with the scarf on his arm. So far there is practically +nothing that is not taken directly from Dickens. The third +Act opens with a conversation between Septimus and Mrs. +Crisparkle as to the guilt of Landless. Helena and Neville +appear <a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>protesting innocence. Grewgious tells Jasper about +the breaking of the engagement between Edwin and Rosa. +Jasper makes love to Rosa. In the concluding Act the scene +is laid in the opium den in London: ‘Dark, +poverty-stricken. Fourpost bedstead, chair, table, +candlestick, set well down so as to allow good space for vision +later on, light up a little, when Opium Sal lights candle shortly +after Jasper’s entrance. For details see +Fildes’s picture in book. Opium Sal discovered moving +about in a witch-like kind of way.’ Jasper enters and +tells Sal that a man followed him to the door. She lights +the opium pipe for him, and then questions him.</p> +<p>He says at last: ‘Hush! the journey’s made! +It’s over!’</p> +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Sal</span>. Is it over +so soon?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. I must sleep that +vision off. It is the poorest of all. No struggle, no +consciousness of peril, no entreaty, and yet I never saw +<i>that</i> before!</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sal</span>. See what, deary?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. Look at it! +Look what a poor miserable thing it is! <i>That</i> must be +real. It’s over.</p> +<p>(<i>He has accompanied this incoherence with some wild +unmeaning gestures</i>; <i>but they trail off into the +progressive inaction of stupor</i>, <i>and he lies like a log +upon the bed</i>. <i>The</i> <span +class="smcap">Woman</span> <i>attempts to rouse him as +before</i>, <i>but finding him past rousing </i><a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span><i>for the +time</i>, <i>she slowly gets upon her feet with an air of +disappointment</i>, <i>flicks his face with her hand +savagely</i>, <i>and then flings a rug over</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper</span>.)</p> +<p>(<i>Both</i> <span class="smcap">Sal</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>now being perfectly quiet</i>, +<i>the back of scene is illuminated</i>, <i>showing the scene +exactly as at end of Act II</i>. <i>The candle is out in +the Opium Den</i>, <i>leaving front part of stage dark</i>. +<i>The brightest light in vision is from</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> <i>window</i>, <i>leaving +other parts of scene slightly in shadow but sufficiently light +for action to be seen</i>. <i>It is to be carefully noted +that all the persons on in the Vision Scene should wear list +shoes</i>, <i>so that they make no noise in moving about</i>, +<i>and that the Stage Manager should insist upon perfect quiet +behind the stage and at the wings</i>. <i>The actors</i>, +<i>too</i>, <i>speak in rather a measured</i>, <i>monotonous +tone</i>. <i>Crowd later on in Vision to be grouped and +drilled from this point of view</i>.)</p> +<p>(<i>The Scene being well open</i>, <i>there is a flash of +lightning</i>, <i>and a peal of thunder</i>, <i>followed after a +short pause by a burst of merry laughter from</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> <i>room</i>, <i>the voices +of</i> <span class="smcap">Drood</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Neville</span> <i>being audible</i>. <i>They +come down to door</i>, <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>with +them</i>, <i>without his hat</i>.)</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Edwin, Jasper, and Neville are talking. Edwin says he +will walk with Neville as far as the river and have a look at the +storm. Neville and Jasper exchange good-nights, and Edwin +says: ‘Don’t go to bed, Jack, I won’t be +long.’</p> +<blockquote><p><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>(<span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>in response waves +hand</i>. <i>Pause</i>. <i>Then re-enters house</i>, +<i>closes door</i>. <i>Goes upstairs</i>. <i>Puts +light out</i>, <i>and is seen for a moment at window</i>. +<i>Flash of lightning</i>, <i>peal of thunder</i>. +<i>Pause</i>. <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>comes +out with hat on head</i>, <i>the black silk scarf on +arm</i>. <i>Comes out cautiously</i>, <i>closing door after +him and looks round</i>, <i>and warily goes to crypt</i>; +<i>finds door locked and takes key from his pocket with which he +opens it</i>, <i>and pushes door wide open</i>. <i>Creeps +off in the direction</i> <span class="smcap">Neville</span> +<i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Edwin</span> <i>have +gone</i>. <i>Pause</i>. <i>Weak flash of lightning +and peal of thunder</i>. <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> +<i>returns crouching</i>, <i>and hides within shadow of +wall</i>. <i>Re-enter</i> <span class="smcap">Edwin +Drood</span> <i>from where exit was made</i>. <i>He looks +up at</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> +<i>window</i>.)</p> +<p>Ah, too bad; he has gone to bed and has put his light out.</p> +<p>(<span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>rushes upon</i> <span +class="smcap">Edwin</span> <i>from behind</i>, <i>seizes him</i>, +<i>whips scarf</i>, <i>which he has previously been twisting into +rope-like shape</i>, <i>round his head and neck</i>, <i>and +proceeds to strangle him</i>. <i>There is a fierce struggle +for a few seconds</i>. <i>Nearly on the point of death</i>, +<span class="smcap">Edwin</span> <i>gets free of</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper</span>, <i>sees his assailant</i>, <i>and +thinks</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>is there to help +him</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin</span>. Jack! +Jack! Save me! They are killing me! (Flings +himself into <span class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> arms.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. Save you, yes!</p> +<p>(<i>Deliberately tightens scarf</i>, <i>strikes</i> <span +class="smcap">Edwin</span>, <i>and kills him</i>. <i>Flash +of lightning and peal of thunder</i>, <i>as</i> <span +class="smcap">Edwin</span> <i>falls lifeless at</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> <i>feet</i>. +<i>Pause</i>.)</p> +<p><a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span><span +class="smcap">Jasper</span> (<i>a little overcome physically</i>, +<i>and jerking out his sentences gasping</i>, <i>but with intense +ferocity</i>). You poor fool. You’ll boast no +more. (<i>Spurning body with his foot</i>.) Ah! ah! +ah! (<i>Laughs wildly</i>.) He’s gone. +The fellow-traveller has gone for ever, gone down, into the +everlasting abyss! Hush! (<i>Listens</i>.) +Durdles? No, opium mixed with his liquor keeps that other +fool quiet. (<i>Listens again</i>, <i>and looks cautiously +round—distant low-moaning peal of thunder</i>.) Only +the storm wearing itself out! Ah! ah! ah! (<i>Looking +at body</i>.) You’ve seen the last of the storm, +weak, self-satisfied fool! Come (wildly seizing the body, +and dragging it towards crypt), come—to your marriage bed +(<i>drags body</i>). Come—to sleep with Death!</p> +<p style="text-align: right">(<i>Exit with body into +crypt</i>.)</p> +<p>(<i>Slow music</i>. <i>Short pause</i>. +<i>Re-enter</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>from +crypt</i>, <i>and as he does so gauze clouds begin to darken +scene</i>. <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>locks +crypt</i>, <i>puts key in his pocket</i>, <i>crosses</i>, +<i>crouching and creeping</i>, <i>looking behind him +fearfully</i>, <i>and enters his own house</i>, <i>with flash of +lightning</i>, <i>peal of thunder</i>, <i>the very last of the +storm</i>. <i>By this time gauze clouds nearly darken the +scene</i>. <i>Double on bed moves</i>. <span +class="smcap">Opium Sal</span> <i>rises restlessly</i>, <i>once +more leans over bed</i>, <i>and begins to talk while the actor +representing</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper</span><i> returns to +his place on bed</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sal</span>. Troubled dreams, +deary! Troubled dreams. Have you been taking the +journey again? Was it pleasant, and what did you do to +fellow-traveller, eh?</p> +<p><a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span><span +class="smcap">Jasper</span> (<i>speaking in a dreamy +way</i>). That’s how the journey was +made—that’s how I like to make it. But +there’s something more. I never saw that before; what +is it? (<i>Fearfully</i>, <i>falls asleep again</i>.)</p> +<p>(<span class="smcap">Sal</span> <i>wearily resumes her +attitude of rest with her arms on bed</i>, <i>and the Vision +Scene goes on</i>. <span class="smcap">Durdles</span> +<i>appears beckoning off</i>, <i>unlocks crypt and +enters</i>. <i>As he does so</i> <span +class="smcap">Grewgious</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Rosa</span> <i>come on from direction indicated +by</i> <span class="smcap">Durdles’s</span> +<i>beckoning</i>, <i>all the others in scene coming from the same +place</i>. <span class="smcap">Rosa</span> <i>clings to her +guardian’s arm</i>. <i>They stop in centre of stage +opposite crypt</i>, <i>looking towards door</i>. <span +class="smcap">Neville</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Helena</span> <i>follow</i>. <i>They join</i> +<span class="smcap">Grewgious</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Rosa</span>. <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Opium Sal’s</span> <i>Double come +on</i>. <span class="smcap">Opium Sal’s</span> +<i>Double is pointing towards</i> <span class="smcap">Rosa</span> +<i>and others</i>, <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span> <i>joins the group</i>. +<i>The Double now stands near wing and beckons off</i>. +<i>Townspeople come on and make group</i>, <i>Double at their +head</i>, <i>she pointing towards crypt</i>; <i>they all look in +that direction</i>. <span class="smcap">Durdles</span> +<i>comes to door</i>, <i>beckons</i> <span +class="smcap">Grewgious</span>, <i>who goes in after</i> <span +class="smcap">Durdles</span> <i>to crypt</i>. <i>Groups now +move a step or two nearer to entrance of crypt</i>. +<i>Slight pause</i>. <span class="smcap">Rosa</span> +<i>clings to</i> <span class="smcap">Helena</span>; <span +class="smcap">Neville</span> <i>in dumb show whispers anxiously +to</i> <span class="smcap">Helena</span> <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Rosa</span>, <i>as if to reassure and comfort +them</i>. <span class="smcap">Helena</span> <i>stands +proudly but anxious</i>; <span class="smcap">Rosa</span> +<i>droopingly</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Grew</span>. (<i>standing just outside +crypt door</i>, <i>and addressing himself to</i> <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span>). Keep the women back; this +<a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>is no +place for them. Edwin Drood has been foully murdered!</p> +<p>(<i>Sensation in crowd</i>, <i>not indicated by noise</i>, +<i>but dumb show</i>. <span class="smcap">Rosa</span> +<i>staggers</i>. <span class="smcap">Neville</span> +<i>catches her in his arms</i>. <span +class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>moves and groans in his +sleep</i>. <span class="smcap">Durdles</span> <i>comes out +of crypt</i>, <i>plucks</i> <span class="smcap">Grewgious</span> +<i>by the sleeve</i>, <i>and holds up</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> <i>long black scarf</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Cris</span>. Jasper’s +scarf!</p> +<p style="text-align: center">(<span class="smcap">Jasper</span> +again groans on bed.)</p> +<p> Where is Jasper?</p> +<p>(<i>Goes to door of</i> <span +class="smcap">Jasper’s</span> <i>house and +knocks</i>. <i>This knocking must be made right at back of +stage</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Grew</span>. It is no good knocking +there. The murderer of Edwin Drood will be found in +London!</p> +<p>(<i>Sensation as before in crowd</i>. <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span> <i>still knocks</i>, <i>and +between knocks faint rapping is heard at door of opium den</i>, +<i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>tosses about on +bed</i>, <i>then starts up with a cry</i>, <i>the Vision +disappearing the moment he stands on the floor</i>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span> (<i>starting as if at what +he has seen</i>). No, no. It’s a lie!</p> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Knocking at opium den door +becomes louder</i>.)</p> +<p>(<i>Turning to</i> <span class="smcap">Sal</span>, <i>who is +now at other end of room</i>.) What’s that?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sal</span>. They wants to come +in.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. Who wants to come +in?</p> +<p style="text-align: center">(<i>Knocking is louder and +louder</i>.)</p> +<p><a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span><span +class="smcap">Sal</span>. Why, the perlice.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. The police! +Damnation! The man who followed me here to-night! +Then it’s all true. Durdles has found the body in +spite of all my precautions, and I am lost. (Rushes wildly +about room.) Is there no escape? Where’s the +window?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sal</span>. There ain’t no +winder, deary.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. Then I’m +trapped like a wolf in a cage. You filthy hag, this is your +doing.</p> +<p>(<i>Seizes candlestick on stool to strike her</i>; <i>she +crouches down</i>. <i>Knocking at door now so fierce as to +arrest his attention</i>, <i>and he turns towards it</i>, +<i>weapon in his hand</i>.)</p> +<p>(<i>Voice at door</i>. Open in the Queen’s +name!)</p> +<p>(<span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>drops stool or whatever +he has seized upon to attack</i> <span class="smcap">Sal</span> +<i>with</i>, <i>staggers back</i>, <i>tears open his +shirt-sleeve</i>, <i>where a small phial is seen fastened to left +wrist</i>, <i>drags it from his wrist and holds it convulsively +in right hand</i>, <i>as door is violently burst open</i>.)</p> +<p>(<i>Enter</i> Inspector of Police, <i>handcuffs in hand</i>, +<span class="smcap">Durdles</span>, <span +class="smcap">Neville</span>, <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span>, and <span +class="smcap">Grewgious</span>.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Grew</span>. (<i>to</i> Officer, +<i>pointing to</i> <span class="smcap">Jasper</span>). +There is your prisoner.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jasper</span>. Never! Do you +think I was not prepared for this always! (<i>Takes +poison</i>, <i>and flings phial down</i>.) Now I defy +you! Hush! I did kill him! Ha! ha! The +fellow-traveller! Yes. For love. For a mad wild +passion. Killed him as I would have killed you and +you—as I would have swept you all from the path that led to +her. Ha! ha! <a name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +53</span>what fools you were not to see it, not to see my love, +how it burned, how it consumed me. She knew it! Rosa +knew it. (<i>Then speaking as though none but he and</i> +<span class="smcap">Rosa</span> <i>were present</i>.) +Rosa! Rosa! My Rosa! Come! You +must! You shall! (<i>Wildly</i>.) Back! +Back! She’s mine I tell you! (<i>Passes hand +over eyes</i>, <i>and staggers</i>, <i>then once more half +realises the situation</i>.) What’s that? +(<i>Looks round</i>, <i>and sees</i> <span +class="smcap">Neville</span>.) You here! You who +think to reap the harvest for which I have sold my soul to +hell! Vile wretch! I’ll kill you!</p> +<p>(<i>Rushes to</i> <span class="smcap">Neville</span>, <i>who +stands forward</i>. <i>In act of raising arm to strike +him</i>, <span class="smcap">Jasper</span> <i>is seized with +death spasm</i>, <i>trembles</i>, <i>shudders</i>, <i>and</i>, +<i>flinging up arms</i>, <i>falls dead</i>. <i>Picture</i>: +<span class="smcap">Opium Sal</span> <i>crouching still in +fear</i>, <i>Officer</i>, <span class="smcap">Grewgious</span>, +<span class="smcap">Durdles</span>, <span +class="smcap">Neville</span>, <i>and</i> <span +class="smcap">Crisparkle</span> <i>near the body</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">END OF DRAMA</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>THE TESTIMONY OF SIR LUKE FILDES</h4> +<p>A reviewer in the <i>Times</i> Literary Supplement, 27th +October 1905, wrote: ‘Nor do we attach much importance to +any of the hints Dickens dropped, whether to John Forster, to any +member of his family, or to either of his illustrators. He +was very anxious that his secret should not be guessed, and the +hints which he dropped may very well have been intentionally <a +name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +54</span>misleading.’ This called forth the following +letter from Sir Luke Fildes:</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">TO THE EDITOR OF THE +TIMES</p> +<p>Sir,—In an article entitled ‘The Mysteries of +Edwin Drood’ in your issue of to-day, the writer, +speculating on the various theories advanced as solutions of the +mystery, ventures to say:—</p> +<p>‘Nor do we attach much importance to any of the hints +Dickens dropped, whether to John Forster, to any member of his +family, or to either of his illustrators. He was very +anxious that his secret should not be guessed, and the hints +which he dropped may very well have been intentionally +misleading.’</p> +<p>I know that Charles Dickens was very anxious that his secret +should not be guessed, but it surprises me to read that he could +be thought capable of the deceit so lightly attributed to +him.</p> +<p>The ‘hints he dropped’ to me, his sole +illustrator—for Charles Collins, his son-in-law, only +designed the green cover for the monthly parts, and Collins told +me he did not in the least know the significance of the various +groups in the design; that they were drawn from instructions +personally given by Charles Dickens, and not from any +text—these ‘hints’ to me were the outcome of a +request of mine that he would explain some matters, the meaning +of which I could not comprehend, and which were for me, his +illustrator, embarrassingly hidden.</p> +<p>I instanced in the printers’ rough proof of the <a +name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>monthly part +sent to me to illustrate where he particularly described John +Jasper as wearing a neckerchief of such dimensions as to go twice +round his neck; I called his attention to the circumstance that I +had previously dressed Jasper as wearing a little black tie once +round the neck, and I asked him if he had any special reasons for +the alteration of Jasper’s attire, and, if so, I submitted +I ought to know. He, Dickens, appeared for the moment to be +disconcerted by my remark, and said something meaning he was +afraid he was ‘getting on too fast’ and revealing +more than he meant at that early stage, and after a short +silence, cogitating, he suddenly said, ‘Can you keep a +secret?’ I assured him he could rely on me. He +then said, ‘I must have the double necktie! It is +necessary, for Jasper strangles Edwin Drood with it.’</p> +<p>I was impressed by his earnestness, as indeed, I was at all my +interviews with him—also by the confidence which he said he +reposed in me, trusting that I would not in any way refer to it, +as he feared even a chance remark might find its way into the +papers ‘and thus anticipate his +“mystery”’; and it is a little startling, after +more than thirty-five years of profound belief in the nobility of +character and sincerity of Charles Dickens, to be told now that +he probably was more or less of a humbug on such +occasions.—I am, Sir, yours obediently,</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Luke +Fildes</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Harrogate</span>, <i>October</i> 27.</p> +</blockquote> +<h4><a name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>NOTES +FOR THE NOVEL</h4> +<blockquote><p>I give here the notes which Dickens made for his +novel. These are partly quoted by Professor Jackson in his +book, <i>About Edwin Drood</i>, but are now for the first time +printed complete.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span><i>Friday</i>, <i>Twentieth August</i> 1869</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Gilbert Alfred.</p> +<p>Edwin.</p> +<p>Jasper Edwyn.</p> +<p>Michael Oswald.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Loss of James Wakefield.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Arthur.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Edwyn.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Selwyn.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Edgar.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Mr. Honeythunder.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Mr. Honeyblast.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>James’s Disappearance.</p> +</td> +<td><p>The Dean.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Mrs. Dean.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Flight and Pursuit</span>.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Miss Dean.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p> <span class="smcap">Sworn to Avenge +it</span>.</p> +<p> <span class="smcap">One +Object in life</span>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">A Kinsman’s Devotion</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">The Two +Kinsmen</span>.</p> +<p>The Loss of Edwyn Brood.</p> +<p> The Loss of Edwin Brude.</p> +<p> The Mystery in the Drood Family.</p> +<p>The Loss of Edwyn Drood.</p> +<p> The Flight of Edwyn Drood. Edwin Drood +in hiding.</p> +<p> The Loss of Edwin Drude.</p> +<p>The Disappearance of Edwin Drood.</p> +<p> The Mystery of Edwin Drood.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Dead? or Alive?</p> +<p><a name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +58</span>Opium-Smoking.</p> +<p> Touch the key-note.</p> +<p> ‘When the wicked +man—’</p> +<p>The Uncle & Nephew.</p> + +<p> ‘Pussy’s’ +Portrait.</p> +<p> <i>You won’t take warning +then</i>?</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Dean.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mr. Jasper.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> Minor Canon, Mr. Crisparkle.</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> Uncle & Nephew.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Verger.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Gloves for the Nuns’ House.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Peptune.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> Churchyard.</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Change to Tope</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><span class="smcap">Cathedral town running +throughout</span>.</p> +<p>Inside the Nuns’ House.</p> +<p> Miss Twinkleton and her double +existence.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Mrs. Tisher.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Rosebud.</p> +<p>The affianced young people. <i>Every love scene after is +a quarrel more or less</i>.</p> +<p>Mr. Sapsea. Old Tory +Jackass.</p> + +<p> His +Wife’s Epitaph.</p> +<p>Jasper and the Keys.</p> +<p> Durdles down in the crypt and among the +graves. His dinner bundle.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page59"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 59</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN +DROOD</i>.—<i>NO. I</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">the +dawn</span></p> + +<p> change +title to <span class="smcap">the dawn</span>.</p> + +<p> opium +smoking and Jasper.</p> + +<p> Lead +up to Cathedral.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a dean and a +chapter also</span></p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Cathedral & Cathedral Town</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mr. Crisparkle.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p> and the Dean.</p> +<p> Uncle +& Nephew.</p> +<p> Murder +very far off.</p> +<p>Edwin’s Story & Pussy.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">the nuns’ +house</span></p> +<p>Still picturesque suggestions of Cathedral Town.</p> +<p>The Nuns’ House and the young couple’s first love +scene.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">mr. +sapsea</span></p> +<p>Connect Jasper with him. (He will want a solemn donkey +by & by.)</p> +<p> Epitaph brings them +together, and brings Durdles with them.</p> +<p> The +Keys. Story Durdles.</p> +<p><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>Bring +in the other young couple. <span +class="smcap">Yes</span></p> +<p> Neville and Olympia +Heyridge or Heyfort?</p> +<p>Neville & Helena Landless.</p> +<p> Mixture of Oriental blood—or +imperfectly acquired mixture in them. <span +class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>No</i></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page61"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 61</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN +DROOD</i>.—<i>NO. II</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">philanthropy in +minor canon corner</span></p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">The Blustrous +Philanthropist.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">Mr. Honeythunder.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Old Mrs. Crisparkle.</p> +<p>China Shepherdess.</p> +<p>Minor Canon Corner.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">more +confidences than one</span></p> +<p>Neville’s to Mr. Crisparkle.</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Rosa’s to Helena.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Piano scene with Jasper. She singing; he following +her lips.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">daggers +drawn</span></p> +<p><span class="smcap">Quarrel</span>.</p> +<p> (Fomented by +Jasper). Goblet. And then confession to Mr. +Crisparkle.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>Jasper lays his ground</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">mr. durdles and +friend</span></p> +<p>Deputy engaged to stone Durdles nightly.</p> +<p> Carry through the woman of the 1st +chapter.</p> +<p> Carry through Durdles calling—and the +bundle & the keys.</p> +<p> John Jasper looks at Edwin +asleep.</p> +<p><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>Pursue +Edwin Drood and Rosa?</p> +<p> Lead on to final scene then in No. V? +IV?</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>Yes</i>.</p> +<p> How many more scenes between them?</p> +<p> Way to be paved for their marriage and +parting instead. <i>Yes</i>.</p> +<p>Miss Twinkleton’s? +No. Next No.</p> +<p>Rosa’s +Guardian? <span +class="smcap">Done in</span> No. II.</p> +<p> Mr. +Sapsea? In last +chapter.</p> +<p> Neville Landless at Mr. +Crisparkle’s</p> +<p> and +Helena? <span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> +<p> Neville admires +Rosa. That comes out from himself.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page63"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 63</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD</i>. +<i>NO. III</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X <a +name="citation63"></a><a href="#footnote63" +class="citation">[63]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">smoothing the +way</span></p> +<p>That is, for Jasper’s plan, through Mr. Crisparkle who +takes new ground on Nevill’s new confidence.</p> +<p> Minor +Canon Corner. The closet?</p> +<p>remember there is a child.</p> + +<p> Edwin’s +appointment for Xmas Eve.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a picture and a +ring</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">P.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">J. T.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">1747</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Drood in chambers.</p> +</td> +<td><p>[The two waiters]</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p> Bazzard the clerk.</p> +<p> Mr. Grewgious’s past story:</p> +<p>‘A ring of diamonds and rubies delicately set in +gold.’</p> +<p style="text-align: right">Edwin takes it.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a night with +durdles</span></p> +<p>Lay the ground for the manner of the murder to come out at +last.</p> + +<p> Keep +the boy suspended.</p> + +<p> Night +picture of the Cathedral.</p> +<p><a name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>Once +more carry through Edwin and Rosa?</p> +<p> or Last +time? <span class="smcap">Last Time</span>.</p> +<p> Then</p> +<p>Last meeting of Rosa & Edwin outside the Cathedral? +<span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> + +<p> Kiss +at parting.</p> + +<p> ‘Jack.’</p> +<p>Edwin goes to the dinner.</p> +<p> The Windy night.</p> +<p> The Surprise and +Alarm.</p> + +<p> Jasper’s +failure in the one great</p> +<p> object made known by Mr. Grewgious.</p> + +<p> Jasper’s +Diary? <span class="smcap">Yes</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page65"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 65</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN +DROOD</i>.—<i>NO. IV</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">both at their +best</span></p> +<p>The Last Interview</p> + +<p> And +Parting.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIV</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">when shall +these three meet again</span>?</p> +<p>How each passes the day.</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>[Watch & shirt pin]</p> +<p>[all Edwin’s Jewellery.]</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">Neville.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Edwin.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Jasper.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">[Watch to the Jewellers.]</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>‘And so <i>he</i> goes up the Postern Stair.’</p> +<p style="text-align: right">Storms of wind.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XV</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">impeached</span></p> +<p>Neville away cart. Pursued & brought back.</p> +<p>Mr. Grewgious’s communication:</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>And his scene with +Jasper</i>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVI</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">devoted</span></p> +<p>Jasper’s artful use of the communication on his +recovery.</p> +<p>Cloisterham Weir, Mr. Crisparkle, and the watch and pin.</p> +<p>Jasper’s artful turn.</p> +<p> The <span class="smcap">Dean</span>. +Neville cast out.</p> +<p> Jasper’s Diary +‘I devote myself to his destruction.’</p> +<p><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>Edwin +and Rosa for the last time? <span class="smcap">Done +Already</span>.</p> +<p>Kinfederel.</p> +<p>Edwin Disappears.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The +Mystery</span>. +<span class="smcap">Done Already</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page67"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 67</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN +DROOD</i>.—<i>NO. V</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">philanthropy +professional and unprofessional</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVIII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">shadow on the +sun dial</span> <a name="citation67a"></a><a href="#footnote67a" +class="citation">[67a]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a settler in +cloisterham</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIX</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a settler in +cloisterham</span> <a name="citation67b"></a><a +href="#footnote67b" class="citation">[67b]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">shadow on the +sun dial</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XX</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">let’s +talk</span> <a name="citation67c"></a><a href="#footnote67c" +class="citation">[67c]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">various +flights</span> <a name="citation67d"></a><a href="#footnote67d" +class="citation">[67d]</a> <span class="smcap">divers +flights</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page68"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 68</span>(<i>MYSTERY OF EDWIN +DROOD</i>.—<i>NO. VI</i>.)</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XXI</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">a gritty state +of things comes on</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XXII</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">the dawn +again</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XXIII</p> +<div class="gapmediumline"> </div> +<h3><a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +69</span>CHAPTER III—THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE WRAPPER</h3> +<p>Much attention has been given to the illustrations on the +wrapper and their significance. So far as I can find, the +question was first raised in the <i>Spectator</i>. On 1st +October 1870, in a review of the first edition of <i>Edwin +Drood</i>, the <i>Spectator</i> complained that the publishers +had not given a facsimile of the vignetted cover. The +critic proceeds: ‘By whom was the lamplight discovery of a +standing figure, apparently meant for Edwin Drood, in the +vignette at the bottom of the page, intended to be +made?’ He inquired also whether the man entering with +the lanthorn was John Jasper, and what were the directions given +by Mr. Dickens as to the ascent of the winding staircase +represented on the right hand of the cover. The +<i>Spectator</i> asked for any authentic indications which might +exist of the turn which Dickens intended to give to the +story. ‘Nor can we see how it can be possible that no +such <a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +70</span>indications exist, with this prefiguring cover to prove +that he had not only anticipated, but disclosed to some one or +other, many of the situations he intended to paint.’ +Since then others, and in particular Mr. Andrew Lang, have with +much insistency declared that the bottom picture represents a +meeting of the risen Edwin Drood with his horror-stricken uncle, +John Jasper.</p> +<p>In reply to these questions certain considerations may be +adduced:</p> +<p>1. We have already shown from the testimony of Charles +Allston Collins, as reported by his widow, and by Sir Luke +Fildes, that he, at least, was not aware of any such intention in +the mind of Dickens. On the contrary, Madame Perugini and +Sir Luke Fildes are convinced that Edwin Drood was +murdered. More than this, Charles Dickens the younger, who +was more or less in his father’s confidence, agreed with +them. As we have noted, he affirmed that his father had +told him that Edwin Drood was murdered, and he constructed his +play on that basis.</p> +<p>2. I attach much weight to Madame Perugini’s +suggestion that whatever her father meant or did not mean, he was +certainly not the man to give away on the cover the answer to the +<a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>mystery. He may have meant—he very probably +did—before he began the story to mystify his readers a +little. This is shown, I think, by the various suggested +titles printed on page 57. But as he rejected those titles, +it is plain that he thought them unsatisfactory, and that he +refrained from raising in the title at least the question whether +the murder of Edwin Drood was accomplished.</p> +<p>3. I had prepared materials for a chapter on the +wrappers of Dickens’s novels as used in the monthly parts, +but it is not necessary to go into particulars. I am glad +to find myself in full agreement with the eminent Dickens +scholar, Mr. B W. Matz, who attaches no importance to the +covers. I put no trust in the wrapper of <i>Edwin Drood</i> +any more than I should in that of <i>Pickwick</i>, <i>Martin +Chuzzlewit</i>, <i>Little Dorrit</i>, <i>Dombey and Son</i>, and +many others, for a suggestion of any intricate points in any of +their plots. The only covers which may be reliable in this +respect are <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>, <i>Oliver Twist</i>, and +<i>Sketches by Boz</i>. Each of these works was issued in +parts after their respective stories had appeared complete in +other forms. All the others must have been designed before +the first parts were published, <a name="page72"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 72</span>and knowing the freedom which Dickens +allowed himself we can attach little importance to the evidence +of a particular cover as an index to the story.</p> +<p>When Mr. Marcus Stone, R.A., completed his seventy-second +year, on 4th July 1912, he was interviewed by a representative of +the <i>Morning Post</i>, and said:</p> +<blockquote><p>The cover of <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, with the +representation of different incidents in the story, I drew after +seeing an amount of matter equivalent to no more than the first +two one-shilling monthly parts. Here it is: you will see +that I depicted among other characters, Mr. Silas Wegg. +Well, I was aware that Wegg had a wooden leg, but I wanted to +know whether this was his right or his left leg, as there was +nothing in the material before me that threw light on this +point. To my surprise, Dickens said: ‘I do not +know. I do not think I had identified the leg.’ +That was the only time I ever knew him to be at fault on a point +of this kind, for as a rule he was ready to describe down to the +minutest details the personal characteristics, and, I might +almost add, the life-history of the creations of his fancy.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>4. But the final proof of the impossibility of making +trustworthy deductions from the cover is to be found in the fact +that no readers read it in the same way. In proof of this I +give the readings of Professor Henry Jackson, Mr. <a +name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>Andrew Lang, +Dr. M. R. James, and Mr. Cuming Walters. Through the great +kindness of Mr. Hugh Thomson the artist, who has made a study of +this subject and has given me his results, I am able to add +another interpretation certainly of no lower authority than those +which accompany it.</p> +<h4>PROFESSOR JACKSON’S READING</h4> +<blockquote><p>We may fairly presume that the figures in the four +corners represent comedy, tragedy, the opium-woman, and the +Chinaman. In the nave of the Cathedral, Edwin and Rosa pair +off against Jasper and Crisparkle. Despite the discrepancy +which Mr. Lang points out, I think that the lower of the two +pictures on our left shows Jasper and Rosa in the garden of the +Nuns’ House. In the upper side-piece, the girl is, I +am sure, Rosa flying from Jasper’s pursuit, in full view of +a placard announcing Edwin’s disappearance. It is +true that the hatless girl with her hair streaming down her back +does not answer very well to Dickens’s description of Rosa, +and has no resemblance to Sir L. Fildes’s pictures of her: +but if Dickens, when he had not yet thought out his conception of +her personality, told Collins to draw a frightened girl of +seventeen running away from school, no more than this could be +expected. For the scheme of the sketch, compare the picture +in <i>Bleak House</i>, which shows Lady Dedlock, as she mounts +the staircase, turning to look at a bill announcing a reward for +the discovery of the murderer <a name="page74"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 74</span>of Tulkinghorn. That placards +and advertisements, imploring Edwin to communicate with his +uncle, had been widely circulated, we have been told at p. +182. On the right, the two men in the lower picture are, I +suppose, Jasper and Durdles ascending the tower on the night of +‘the unaccountable expedition’; while the man above +is Jasper on Christmas Eve looking down at +‘<i>that</i>,’ p. 276: ‘Look down, look +down! You see what lies at the bottom there?’ p. +274. I demur to Mr. Lang’s statements that the young +man whom I venture to identify with Jasper is represented as +‘whiskerless,’ and that the figure which I take to be +Durdles is well-dressed.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Professor Jackson then mentions the views of Mr. Proctor and +Mr. Lang on the important vignette at the bottom of the page:</p> +<blockquote><p>For my own part, I suspect that the upright figure +represents Drood, but that the Drood which it represents is a +phantom of Jasper’s imagination. Let us suppose that +an advertisement for a ring known to have been in the possession +of the late Edwin Drood appears in the local newspaper, and that +Jasper, now for the first time aware of the ring’s +existence, goes to the crypt to look for it. Dickens might +well suppose him at such a moment to see a vision of the murdered +man, and might instruct Collins to represent what Jasper imagined +himself to see. Indeed, I fancy that I recognise an +intentional contrast between the two figures: the one in the +foreground, full of movement, solidly drawn; the other, in the +background, statuesque, and a little shadowy. Doubtless +Dickens <a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +75</span>was anxious that the reader should not know too much; +and if he made Collins give visible form to a hallucination of +Jasper’s brain, I for one do not think the procedure +illegitimate. It is sad that Dickens did not live to +explain the innocent deception which, as I imagine, he meant for +a few months to practise upon his readers.</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>MR. ANDREW LANG’S INTERPRETATION IN ‘THE PUZZLE +OF DICKENS’S LAST PLOT’</h4> +<blockquote><p>The cover lies before the reader. In the +left-hand top corner appears an allegorical female figure of joy, +with flowers. The central top space contains the front of +Cloisterham Cathedral, or rather, the nave. To the left +walks Edwin, with hyacinthine locks, and a thoroughly classical +type of face, and Grecian nose. <i>Like Datchery</i>, <i>he +does not wear</i>, <i>but carries his hat</i>; this means +nothing, if they are in the nave. He seems bored. On +his arm is Rosa; <i>she</i> seems bored; she trails her parasol, +and looks away from Edwin, looks down, to her right. On the +spectator’s right march the surpliced men and boys of the +choir. Behind them is Jasper, black whiskers and all; he +stares after Edwin and Rosa; his right hand hides his +mouth. In the corner above him is an allegorical female, +clasping a stiletto.</p> +<p>Beneath Edwin and Rosa is, first, an allegorical female +figure, looking at a placard, headed ‘LOST,’ on a +door. Under that again, is a girl in a garden-chair; a +young man, whiskerless, with wavy hair, kneels and kisses her +hand. She looks rather unimpassioned. I conceive the +man to be Landless, taking leave of <a name="page76"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 76</span>Rosa after urging his hopeless suit +for which Helena, we learn, ‘seems to compassionate +him.’ He has avowed his passion, early in the story, +to Crisparkle. Below, the opium hag is smoking. On +the other side, under the figures of Jasper and the choir, the +young man who kneels to the girl is seen bounding up a spiral +staircase. His left hand is on the iron railing; he stoops +over it, looking down at others who follow him. His right +hand, the index finger protruded, points upward, and, by chance +or design, points straight at Jasper in the vignette above. +Beneath this man (clearly Landless) follows a tall man in a +‘bowler’ hat, a ‘cut-away’ coat, and +trousers which show an inch of white stocking above the low +shoes. His profile is hid by the wall of the spiral +staircase: he might be Grewgious of the shoes, white stockings, +and short trousers, but he may be Tartar: he takes two steps at a +stride. Beneath him a youngish man, in a low, soft, +clerical hat and a black pea-coat, ascends, looking downwards and +backwards. This is clearly Crisparkle. A Chinaman is +smoking opium beneath.</p> +<p>In the central lowest space, a dark and whiskered man enters a +dark chamber; his left hand is on the lock of the door; in his +right he holds up a lantern. The light of the lantern +reveals a young man in a soft hat of Tyrolese shape. His +features are purely classical, his nose is Grecian, his locks are +long (at least, according to the taste of to-day); he wears a +light paletot, buttoned to the throat; his right arm hangs by his +side; his left hand is thrust into the breast of his coat. +He calmly regards the dark man with the lantern. That man, +of course, is Jasper. <a name="page77"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 77</span>The young man is <span +class="smcap">Edwin Drood</span>, of the Grecian nose, +hyacinthine locks, and classic features, as in Sir L. +Fildes’s third illustration.</p> +<p>Mr. Proctor correctly understood the unmistakable meaning of +this last design, Jasper entering the vault:</p> +<p>‘To-day the dead are living,<br /> +The lost is found to-day.’</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>DR. JAMES’S VIEW</h4> +<p>In the <i>Cambridge Review</i> for 9th March 1911 Dr. James +says:</p> +<blockquote><p>Now, as to the figures at the angles and the scene +at the top there is general agreement. As to those on the +left, H. J. is, I think, right in calling the upper one +Rosa’s flight; but the lower one <i>cannot</i> be Jasper +and Rosa. The young man has a moustache. Jasper had +none, and has none in the two pictures of him on this same +cover. Also, the artist has carefully emphasised the fact +that the girl is indifferent to her suitor. The figures, I +believe, represent Rosa and Neville Landless.</p> +<p>On the right, H. J. assumes that there are two scenes. I +am clear that there is but one: for, whereas, on the left side +the two scenes are separated by a sprig of the rose-wreath which +surrounds the centre, and a similar sprig parts them from the top +scene, there is on the right only the division from the top +scene, managed in the same way as on the left. And yet, had +the scene been two, there was great necessity to separate them, +inasmuch as they are taking place in the same surroundings, +namely, the winding staircase. As to the identity of the +three men, the lowest one is a cleric, Crisparkle, <a +name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>the next +above him I will not identify; the uppermost is either Jasper or +just possibly (since he is pointing pretty directly at the figure +of Jasper in the top scene, and seems to be acting as a guide to +those below him) Datchery.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Dr. James dissents from Dr. Jackson as to the central vignette +at the bottom. No phantom of the imagination is +there. We have a real person, as is shown by the fact that +he casts a shadow on the wall behind him.</p> +<h4>MR. HUGH THOMSON’S READING</h4> +<p>Mr. Hugh Thomson wrote the following notes on 3rd April 1912, +and they are now printed for the first time:</p> +<blockquote><p>But to get to the cover to which you particularly +directed my attention. It was designed, I take it, +primarily as a decoration, and not as a series of representations +of the characters to appear in the book. Consequently, +there is but little definite character-drawing in any of the +groups with the exception of the one at the bottom of the page, +where Jasper is depicted exactly as I should wish him depicted, +dark and saturnine ‘with thick, lustrous black hair and +whiskers.’ If the other figure is merely a wraith +conjured up by Jasper’s evil opium-soaked conscience, it is +as substantial as one of the ghosts of Hamlet’s father +given to us on the stage time after time without protest. +But in a black and white design for a popular <a +name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 79</span>serial it is +scarcely possible to be subtle, and at the same time plainly +intelligible. So it may be a ghost, or it may be Edwin in +the flesh, or Neville Landless got up to represent Edwin. +It is a very effective little cut. In the other groups, +Jasper is not so unmistakable, but, of course, in the upper +drawings the sleek, clerical-looking personage with his hand at +his mouth is meant to represent Jasper. The staircase +groups, I can’t identify. The young men in both may +be meant to represent Jasper. They are not in the least +like that sombre personage, but just colourless young men. +In the garden scene one cannot think that the kneeling figure +pressing the girl’s fingers to his lips is meant for Jasper +at all. It has a mop of fair hair and boasts a moustache, +and in the scene in the garden of the Nuns’ House Rosa did +not permit Jasper to approach her so nearly. In the picture +there is no suggestion of the repugnance and fear with which she +regarded Jasper. Don’t you think it reasonable to +suggest that this little picture illustrates a scene to take +place much later in the book, a scene Dickens did not live to +write? It might be Edwin Drood returned from abroad or from +disguise. Edwin Drood making love to Helena Landless. +In chapter viii. he was ‘already enough impressed by Helena +to feel indignant that Helena’s brother should dispose of +him (Edwin) so coolly’ to Rosebud.</p> +<p>Or could it be Tartar proposing to Rosebud? But Tartar +had no moustache either as himself or as Datchery, and the +girl’s figure has a suggestion of lithe dignity which I +don’t associate with the ‘little beauty’ +Rosebud.</p> +<p><a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>I agree +with the author of <i>About Edwin Drood</i> that Edwin was not +worth while bringing back, but it is possible that he was to +return, and that this is he in the garden scene. In the +space above this the female figure scanning a placard +‘LOST’ is, I think, merely allegorical, and not meant +to represent Rosebud fleeing from Jasper. In the book she +leaves Cloisterham so neat and pretty that Joe, the omnibus man, +would have liked to keep for himself the love she sent to Miss +Twinkleton.</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>MR. CUMING WALTERS’S READING</h4> +<p>There is another view to which I strongly incline, first +stated by Mr. Cuming Walters. I take the erect figure in +the bottom vignette to be Datchery. It is not Edwin. +The large hat and the tightish surtout are the articles of +clothing on which Dickens lays stress in his description of +Datchery. Mr. Lang says that the figure is that of a young +man in a longish loose greatcoat, not a tightish surtout such as +Datchery wore, but I agree with Mr. Cuming Walters that the +figure corresponds with the description of Datchery. Edwin +as seen above with Rosa in the cathedral is not wearing a coat of +this sort. His hat also is different. On examining +the figure Mr. H. B. Irving said to me: ‘That looks +uncommonly like a woman in disguise.’</p> +<p><a name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>None of +us has a right to dogmatise, but the variety of opinions among +those who have studied the cover shows that no certain conclusion +can be drawn from the illustrations. The arguments advanced +previously tend to make this practically certain. In the +discussion of the problem a wholly disproportionate weight has +been laid on the illustrated cover. It would hardly bear +that weight even if every one were agreed as to the reading of +the pictures, and there is no such agreement.</p> +<h3><a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +82</span>CHAPTER IV—THE METHODS OF DICKENS</h3> +<h4>HALF-WAY IN DICKENS</h4> +<p>Dickens has left us one-half of his last story. It was +to be completed in twelve parts, and six parts were +published. We can only infer and guess at the way in which +the author would have completed it. Would he have brought +many new characters on the stage, or are we to believe that the +main characters are already there, and that it is through the +revealing of their secrets that the end is to be reached? +To give a positive reply is impossible, and yet we may learn +something of Dickens’s methods by studying his complete +books. Supposing we had only one-half of each book in our +possession, might we expect that the complete story would +introduce us to many fresh characters? I give the results +of some investigations from the later novels.</p> +<h4><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 83</span>THE +LENGTH OF DICKENS’S NOVELS</h4> +<p><i>Edwin Drood</i>, as we have it, runs in round numbers to +about 100,000 words. When completed it would have been +200,000 words. This would have made it slightly longer than +<i>Great Expectations</i>, which may be estimated at 160,000 +words. <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> runs to 143,000 +words. <i>Edwin Drood</i>, while slightly longer than this, +would have been very much shorter than the larger works of +Dickens. <i>David Copperfield</i> has about 306,000 words; +<i>Bleak House</i>, 308,000, and <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, +297,000. All these are practically the same length. +<i>Barnaby Rudge</i> has about 264,000 words.</p> +<h4>‘BLEAK HOUSE’</h4> +<p>I begin with <i>Bleak House</i>, which is one of the latest +and most elaborate of Dickens’s stories. In the first +half the characters arrive in crowds. I make out in the +first chapter ten or eleven. The second chapter brings My +Lady Dedlock, Sir Leicester Dedlock, Mr. Tulkinghorn, and +others. The third brings Esther Summerson and John +Jarndyce, besides half a dozen more. The fourth brings us +the Jellybys, with Mr. Guppy, and others. Krook and Nemo +are the <a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>fresh arrivals in chapter v.; Mr. Harold Skim-pole +arrives in chapter vi., with the Coavinses. In chapter vii. +I make out six arrivals at least. Chapter viii. gives us +the Pardiggles, Mr. Gusher, the brickmaker, and family, and +Jenny, his wife. In chapter ix. Mr. Lawrence Boythorn +arrives alone; chapter x. gives us the Snagsbys, their +predecessor, Peffer, the two prentices, and Guster, the +servant. Miss Flite comes with chapter xi., and along with +her appear the young surgeon, the beadle, Mrs. Perkins, Mrs. +Anastasia Piper, and a few more. Chapter xii. brings Mlle. +Hortense, maid to Lady Dedlock, Lord Boodle and his retinue, the +Right Hon. William Buffy, M.P., and his retinue. In Chapter +xiii. we have Mr. Bayham Badger, Mrs. Badger, and the former +husbands of Mrs. Badger are recalled. Chapter xiv. brings +Mr. Turveydrop and his son, also Allan Woodcourt, the young +surgeon, and we have mentioned the ‘old lady with a +censorious countenance,’ and the late Mrs. +Turveydrop. In chapter xv. we have Mrs. Blinder and the +Neckett family; chapter xvii., Mrs. Woodcourt, mother of Allan; +chapter xix., Mr. and Mrs. Chadband; chapter xx., Young Smallweed +and Jobling, <i>alias</i> Weevle; in chapter xxi., the <a +name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>Grandfather +and Grandmother Smallweed, Judith Smallweed, Mr. George, trooper +(Uncle George, chapter vii.), and Phil Squod of the Shooting +Gallery. The great Mr. Bucket appears in chapter +xxii. Captain Hawdon is in chapter xxvi. In chapter +xxvii. we have the Bagnet family of five. In chapter +xxviii. there comes Volumnia Dedlock; Miss Wisk in chapter xxx., +and Liz in chapter <span class="smcap">xxxi</span>.</p> +<p>We have now reached the end of the first half, and the +arrivals after that are few and unimportant. In chapter +xxxii. no new character is brought on the stage, though there is +talk about the noted siren, who assists at the Harmonic Meetings, +and is announced as Miss M. Melvilleson, though she has been +married a year and a half. In chapter xxxiii. it is +mentioned that the ‘Sols Arms,’ a well-conducted +tavern, is licensed to a highly respectable landlord, Mr. J. G. +Bogsby. After that we have no new character till chapter +xxxvii., where we are introduced to Mr. W. Grubble, the landlord +of that very clean little tavern, ‘The Dedlock +Arms.’ Vholes is introduced by Skimpole as the man +who gives him something and called it commission. Mr. +Vholes has the privilege of supporting an aged father in the Vale +of Taunton, <a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +86</span>and has a red eruption here and there upon his +face. He has three daughters—Emma, Jane, and +Caroline—and cannot afford to be selfish. In chapter +xxxviii. we meet Mrs. Guppy, ‘an old lady in a large cap, +with rather a red nose, and rather an unsteady eye, but smiling +all over.’ Then in chapter xl. there are the cousins +of Sir Leicester Dedlock. In chapter xliii. Mrs. Skimpole +and the Skimpole family are introduced, and in chapter liii. Mrs. +Bucket. It will be observed that some of these can scarcely +be called new characters, and that not one is of any real +importance, that is, so far as <i>Bleak House</i> is +concerned. Dickens in the middle of his story had +practically put every actor upon the stage. The story was +to be developed by the characters to whom the reader had been +introduced. I have calculated that in the first half there +are about one hundred and six characters of greater or less +importance. In the second half there are, on the most +generous computation, only sixteen, and not one of them plays a +vital part in the development of the tale.</p> +<h4>‘OUR MUTUAL FRIEND’</h4> +<p>I take next <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, and with this I must +deal more briefly. <i>Our Mutual Friend</i> <a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>is remarkable +for the profusion of characters in the first half. In the +second chapter there are sixteen at least, including Mr. and Mrs. +Veneering, Mr. and Mrs. Podsnap, Mortimer Lightfoot, Eugene +Wrayburn, and John Harmon. The Wilfers come in chapter iv.; +in chapter v. Silas Wegg and the Boffins, and almost every +chapter adds to the company till we get to the middle. +After that there is an abrupt cessation. There are not more +than half a dozen new characters named in the second part, and +all of them are wholly insignificant, the Deputy Lock, Gruff and +Glum, the Greenwich pensioner, the Archbishop of Greenwich, a +waiter, Mrs. Sprodgkin, the exacting member of the fold, and the +contractor of 500,000 power. In <i>Our Mutual Friend</i> +every character of any significance has been introduced when the +first half ends. The few stragglers who come later have +practically no effect on the story.</p> +<h4>‘LITTLE DORRIT’</h4> +<p>In <i>Little Dorrit</i> we have the old profuseness of +characters; in the first half nearly one hundred, and in the +second half there are practically no new characters at all. +Mr. Tinkler, the valet to Mr. Dorrit, and Mr. Eustace, the <a +name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 88</span>classical +tourist, can hardly be counted. In chapter xxi., ‘The +History of a Self-Tormentor,’ we have Charlotte Dawes, the +false friend, who vanishes instantly, and counts for +nothing. Thus, I think, we may say, taking the three long +books of Dickens’s later period, that in each it was his +manner to introduce no new characters of the least import in the +second half of his books. But it may be worth while to +glance at his practice in the shorter tales, <i>A Tale of Two +Cities</i> and <i>Great Expectations</i>.</p> +<h4>‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’</h4> +<p>In the second half of this fine book there are practically no +new characters that I can trace. The epithet can hardly be +applied to the President of the trial at the Conciergerie.</p> +<h4>‘GREAT EXPECTATIONS’</h4> +<p>It is now agreed that one of Dickens’s most perfect +books is <i>Great Expectations</i>. It is known also that +Dickens complied with a suggestion of Lord Lytton’s, which +modified the plot—not seriously nor disagreeably. +Here again in the second part we have very few fresh +characters. We have the Colonel in Newgate introduced to +Mr. Wemmick, but he is ‘sure <a name="page89"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 89</span>to be assassinated on +Monday.’ Let us not forget Miss Skiffins, a good sort +of fellow, with a high regard both for Wemmick and the +Aged. There is the retrospective Provis, but the characters +introduced belong to the past. Finally, in chapter xlvi., +we have a pleasant glimpse of the Barley family and of Mrs. +Whymple, the best of housewives, and the motherly friend of Clara +and Herbert. It is she who fosters and regulates with equal +kindness and discretion their mutual love. ‘It was +understood that nothing of a tender nature could possibly be +confided to Old Barley, by reason of his being totally unequal to +the consideration of any subject more psychological than Gout, +Rum, and Purser’s Stores.’</p> +<p>These are all the books of which I have made a close personal +examination. I believe that the general result will be the +same in all save two or three exceptional works, such as +<i>Barnaby Rudge</i>. Whether he consciously acted on the +principle that no new characters should be introduced after half +the story was told, it is impossible to say. It seems +certain, however, that he acted upon it.</p> +<h4><a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 90</span>WILKIE +COLLINS ‘AHEAD OF ALL THE FIELD’</h4> +<p>Dickens was no great reader, and it is plain by what he did +not say, as well as by what he did say, that he did not on the +whole admire ardently the work of his contemporaries. But +he made a special exception in the case of Wilkie Collins, with +whom he collaborated on more than one occasion, as in the story +<i>No Thoroughfare</i>. He published in his own magazine +some of Collins’s best detective stories, including <i>The +Woman in White</i>, <i>No Name</i>, and <i>The +Moonstone</i>. Of these stories Dickens put first <i>No +Name</i>. <i>The Moonstone</i> he criticised in one of his +letters to Wills. At first he thought it in many respects +‘much better than anything he has done,’ but +afterwards he wrote, 26th July 1868: ‘I quite agree with +you about <i>The Moonstone</i>. The construction is +wearisome beyond endurance, and there is a vein of obstinate +conceit in it that makes enemies of readers.’ <a +name="citation90"></a><a href="#footnote90" +class="citation">[90]</a></p> +<p>In September 1862 he wrote in enthusiastic terms of admiration +about <i>No Name</i>. This I take to be a very weighty and +significant letter, as will appear in the sequel:</p> +<blockquote><p><a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +91</span>I have gone through the second volume [<i>No Name</i>] +at a sitting, and I find it <i>wonderfully fine</i>. It +goes on with an ever-rising power and force in it that fills me +with admiration. It is as far before and beyond <i>The +Woman in White</i> as that was beyond the wretched common level +of fiction-writing. There are some touches in the Captain +which no one but a born (and cultivated) writer could get +near—could draw within hail of. And the originality +of Mrs. Wragge, without compromise of her probability, involves a +really great achievement. But they are all admirable; Mr. +Noel Vanstone and the housekeeper, both in their way as +meritorious as the rest; Magdalen wrought out with truth, energy, +sentiment, and passion, of the very first water.</p> +<p>I cannot tell you with what a strange dash of pride as well as +pleasure I read the great results of your hard work. +Because, as you know, I was certain from the Basil days that you +were the Writer who would come ahead of all the Field—being +the only one who combined invention and power, both humorous and +pathetic, with that invincible determination to work, and that +profound conviction that nothing of worth is to be done without +work, of which triflers and feigners have no conception. <a +name="citation91"></a><a href="#footnote91" +class="citation">[91]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Mr. Swinburne in his study of Wilkie Collins writes:</p> +<blockquote><p>It is apparently the general opinion—an +opinion which seems to me incontestable—that no third book +of their author’s can be ranked as equal with <i>The </i><a +name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span><i>Woman in +White</i> and <i>The Moonstone</i>: two works of not more +indisputable than incomparable ability. <i>No Name</i> is +an only less excellent example of as curious and original a +talent. <a name="citation92a"></a><a href="#footnote92a" +class="citation">[92a]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>This was not the opinion of Dickens.</p> +<h4>‘A BACKWARD LIGHT’</h4> +<p>On 6th October 1859 Dickens replied to a suggestion by Collins +on the working out of <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>. The +italics are mine:</p> +<blockquote><p>I do not positively say that the point you put +might not have been done in your manner; but I have a very strong +conviction that it would have been overdone in that +manner—too elaborately trapped, baited, and +prepared—in the main anticipated, and its interest +wasted. This is quite apart from the peculiarity of the +Doctor’s [Dr. Manette—<i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>] +character, as affected by his imprisonment; which of itself +would, to my thinking, render it quite out of the question to put +the reader inside of him before the proper time, in respect of +matters that were dim to himself through being, in a diseased +way, morbidly shunned by him. <i>I think the business of +art is to lay all that ground carefully</i>, <i>not with the care +that conceals itself—to show</i>, <i>by a backward +light</i>, <i>what everything has been working +to</i>,—<i>but only to suggest</i>, <i>until the fulfilment +comes</i>. <i>These are the ways of Providence</i>, <i>of +which ways all art is but a little imitation</i>. <a +name="citation92b"></a><a href="#footnote92b" +class="citation">[92b]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<h4><a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>EDGAR +ALLAN POE AND DICKENS: A MYSTIFICATION</h4> +<p>Could Dickens keep his secrets well? In other words, +could he prevent his readers from fathoming a mystery till the +proper moment of the <i>dénouement</i>? An important +help to the answering of this question will be found in the essay +on Charles Dickens by Edgar Allan Poe, who was a critic of +extraordinary penetration. If any one could detect a secret +it was he. But he was also much given to mystification, and +it is not wise to accept anything he says without verifying +it. The essay on Dickens turns largely on <i>Barnaby +Rudge</i>, and, to the best of my belief, it has not been +strictly examined.</p> +<h5>POE’S CLAIM</h5> +<p>Poe says:</p> +<blockquote><p>We are not prepared to say, so positively as we +could wish, whether by the public at large, the whole +<i>mystery</i> of the murder committed by Rudge, with the +identity of the Maypole ruffian with Rudge himself, was fathomed +at any period previous to the period intended, or, if so, whether +at a period so early as materially to interfere with the interest +designed; but we are forced, through sheer modesty, to suppose +this the case; since, by ourselves individually, the secret was +distinctly understood immediately upon the perusal of the story +of Solomon Daisy, which occurs <a name="page94"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 94</span>at the seventh page of this volume of +three hundred and twenty-three. In the number of the +Philadelphia <i>Saturday Evening Post</i> for 1st May 1841 (the +tale having then only begun), will be found a prospective notice +of some length, in which we make use of the following words:</p> +<p>‘That Barnaby is the son of the murderer may not appear +evident to our readers—but we will explain. The +person murdered is Mr. Reuben Haredale. He was found +assassinated in his bed-chamber. His steward (Mr. Rudge, +senior) and his gardener (name not mentioned) are missing. +At first both are suspected. “Some months +afterward”—here we use the words of the +story—“the steward’s body, scarcely to be +recognised but by his clothes and the watch and ring he wore, was +found at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds, with a +deep gash in the breast, where he had been stabbed by a +knife. He was only partly dressed; and all the people +agreed that he had been sitting up reading in his own room, where +there were many traces of blood, and was suddenly fallen upon and +killed, before his master.”</p> +<p>‘Now, be it observed, it is not the author himself who +asserts that the steward’s body was found; he has put the +words in the mouth of one of his characters. His design is +to make it appear, in the <i>dénouement</i>, that the +steward, Rudge, first murdered the gardener, then went to his +master’s chamber, murdered <i>him</i>, was interrupted by +his (Rudge’s) wife, whom he seized and held <i>by the +wrist</i>, to prevent her giving the alarm—that he then, +after possessing himself of the booty desired, returned to the +gardener’s room, exchanged clothes <a +name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 95</span>with him, put +upon the corpse his own watch and ring, and secreted it where it +was afterwards discovered at so late a period that the features +could not be identified.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This is the prediction we have to examine. In the first +place, was such an article published in the Philadelphia +<i>Saturday Evening Post</i> for 1st May 1841? Mr. J. H. +Ingram, the chief authority on Poe in this country, very kindly +informs me that this review has never been reprinted in any +edition of Poe’s works. Should it not be searched out +and reprinted in full? I should like to see the context of +Poe’s extract, and I should like still more to be sure that +the article appeared as he says it did. Mr. Ingram has no +doubt that the article appeared as stated by Poe. Mr. J. H. +Whitty of Richmond, Va., kindly informs me that all the early +files of the <i>Post</i> are inaccessible.</p> +<p>In the second place, Poe affirms that the article appeared in +the Philadelphia paper for 1st May 1841, and that the tale was +only then begun. As for that, <i>Barnaby Rudge</i> was +first published as a volume in 1841, after having run as a serial +in the pages of <i>Master Humphrey’s Clock</i> from 13th +February 1841 to 27th November 1841. I have failed to find +the precise <a name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +96</span>date of its first appearance in America. No doubt +it appeared in serial form, and the first instalments on which +Poe bases his assertions should have been printed in America +considerably earlier than 1st May. But the assertion which +chiefly demands scrutiny is very definitely made by Poe. He +says: The secret was <i>distinctly</i> understood +<i>immediately</i> upon the perusal of the story of Solomon +Daisy.’ The italics are mine.</p> +<h4>THE STORY OF SOLOMON DAISY</h4> +<p>We turn to the story of Solomon Daisy ‘as told in the +<i>Maypole</i> at any time for four and twenty +years.’ It is very simple and matter-of-fact. +It tells how Mr. Reuben Haredale, of The Warren, a widower with +one child, left the place when his lady died. He went up to +London, where he stopped some months, but, finding that place as +lonely as The Warren, he suddenly came back with his little girl, +bringing with him besides, that day, only two women servants, and +his steward and a gardener. The rest stayed behind in +London, and were to follow next day. That night, an old +gentleman who lived at Chigwell Row, and had long been poorly, +died, and an order came to Solomon at <a name="page97"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 97</span>half after twelve o’clock at +night to go and toll the passing bell. Solomon relates to a +thrilled audience how he went out in a windy, rainy, very dark +night; how he entered the church, trimmed the candle, thought of +old tales about dead people rising and sitting at the head of +their own graves, fancying that he saw the old gentleman who was +just dead, wrapping his shroud round him, and shivering as if he +felt it cold. At length he started up and took the bell +rope in his hands. At that minute there rang—not that +bell, for he had scarcely touched the rope—but +another! It was only for an instant, and even then the wind +carried the sound away, but he heard it. He listened for a +long time, but it rang no more. He then tolled his own bell +and ran home to bed as fast as he could touch the ground. +Next morning came the news that Mr. Reuben Haredale was found +murdered in his bed-chamber, and in his hand was a piece of the +cord attached to an alarm bell outside, which hung in his room, +and had been cut asunder, no doubt by the murderer when he seized +it. ‘That was the bell I heard.’ He +further relates how the steward and the gardener were both +missing, both suspected, but never found. The body <a +name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>of Mr. Rudge, +the steward—scarcely to be recognised by his clothes and +the watch and the ring he wore—was found months afterwards +at the bottom of a piece of water in the grounds with a deep gash +in the breast where he had been stabbed by a knife. Every +one knew now that the gardener must be the murderer, and Solomon +Daisy predicted that he would be heard of. That is the +whole story as told by Solomon Daisy, and Poe affirms that he +perceived from this story: (1) That the steward Rudge first +murdered the gardener; (2) that he then went to his +master’s chamber and murdered him; (3) that he was +interrupted by Rudge’s wife, whom he seized and held by the +wrist to prevent her giving the alarm; (4) that he possessed +himself of the booty, returned to the gardener’s room, +exchanged clothes with him, put upon the corpse his own watch and +ring, and secreted it where it was afterwards discovered at so +late a period that the features could not be identified.</p> +<h4>WHERE POE FAILED</h4> +<p>Poe admits that his preconceived ideas were not entirely +correct:</p> +<blockquote><p>The gardener was murdered, not before, but after +<a name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>his +master; and that Rudge’s wife seized <i>him</i> by the +wrist, instead of his seizing <i>her</i>, has so much the air of +a mistake on the part of Mr. Dickens that we can scarcely speak +of our own version as erroneous. The grasp of a +murderer’s bloody hand on the wrist of a woman +<i>enceinte</i> would have been more likely to produce the effect +described (and this every one will allow) than the grasp of the +hand of the woman upon the wrist of the assassin. We may, +therefore, say of our supposition, as Talleyrand said of some +cockney’s bad French—<i>que s’il ne soit pas +Français assurément donc il le doit +être</i>—that if we did not rightly prophesy, yet, at +least, our prophecy should have been right.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I have no hesitation in saying that this is largely a piece of +pure mystification, another <i>Tale of the Grotesque and +Arabesque</i>. It is conceivable that Poe guesses from +Solomon Daisy’s story that the steward Rudge murdered the +gardener and his master. It follows that the steward +changed clothes with the murdered gardener, put upon the corpse +his own watch and ring, and secreted it where it was afterwards +discovered at so late a period that the features could not be +identified. But that Poe should have guessed immediately +after reading Solomon Daisy’s story that he seized and held +by the wrist his wife to prevent her giving the alarm is beyond +belief. ‘By the wrist’ are the three +significant words, and they prove that Poe <a +name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 100</span>must have +had before him when writing the parts of the novel up to and +including chapter V. For it is in the fifth chapter that +the first mention is made of the smear of blood on +Barnaby’s wrist. We read there:</p> +<blockquote><p>They who knew the Maypole story, and could +remember what the widow was, before her husband’s and his +master’s murder, understood it well. They recollected +how the change had come, and could call to mind that when her son +was born, upon the very day the deed was known, he bore upon his +wrist what seemed a smear of blood but half washed out.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Near the beginning of chapter lxii., where Rudge is making his +confession in prison, he says of his wife:</p> +<blockquote><p>Did I see her fall upon the ground; and, when I +stooped to raise her, did she thrust me back with a force that +cast me off as if I had been a child, staining the hand with +which she clasped my wrist? Is <i>that</i> fancy?</p> +</blockquote> +<p>To claim that the seizing of the wrist could have been deduced +from Solomon Daisy’s story by itself is to affirm an +impossibility.</p> +<p>And so vanishes the main value of the prediction. If Poe +wrote that article in the <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>, he wrote +it after having read the fifth chapter of Dickens’s +novel.</p> +<h4><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +101</span>WHERE POE SUCCEEDED</h4> +<p>It may be asked whether Poe discovered anything from his +reading of the first pages. The only thing which he may +have guessed is the thing which it was comparatively easy to +guess. He may have conjectured that the mysterious stranger +at the Maypole was Rudge Redux. When this surmise had been +lodged in his mind the other deductions follow as a matter of +course from later chapters, as the tale unfolds itself. +Even if Poe identified the stranger at the Maypole with the +murderer it was no great feat, for the murderer is closely +disguised, from which any intelligent reader would infer that he +has a motive for fearing detection in an old haunt. He is +shabbily dressed; he is very curious about the people and events +at The Warren; he is suspected as a criminal of some kind by the +cronies; he strikes Joe as he leaves. On the road he +threatens Varden with murder. This shows us that we have +before us a fugitive criminal. He is presented to us with +all the marks of a villain in hiding. It may be noted that +from Solomon Daisy’s story the inference is that only <a +name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>one of two +men committed the murder of Reuben Haredale, the gardener or +Rudge. There has also been a difficulty in identifying the +remains. This leaves Poe no special credit. There is +considerable keenness in his conjecture that the treatment of the +Gordon Riots was an afterthought of Dickens. Poe says:</p> +<blockquote><p>The title of the book, the elaborate and pointed +manner of the commencement, the impressive description of The +Warren, and especially of Mrs. Rudge, go far to show that Mr. +Dickens has really deceived himself—that the soul of the +plot, as originally conceived, was the murder of Haredale, with +the subsequent discovery of the murderer in Rudge—but that +this idea was afterwards abandoned, or, rather, suffered to be +merged in that of the Popish riots. The result has been +most unfavourable. That which, of itself, would have proved +highly effective, has been rendered nearly null by its +situation. In the multitudinous outrage and horror of the +Rebellion, the <i>one</i> atrocity is utterly whelmed and +extinguished.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>But facts, as Poe admits, are against this supposition. +Dickens says in his Preface:</p> +<blockquote><p>If the object an author has had, in writing a +book, cannot be discovered from its perusal, the probability is +that it is either very deep or very shallow. Hoping that +mine may lie somewhere between these two extremes, I shall say +very little about it, and that <a name="page103"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 103</span>only in reference to one +point. No account of the Gordon Riots having been to my +knowledge introduced into any work of fiction, and the subject +presenting very extraordinary and remarkable features, I was led +to project this tale.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This is final. It appears from Forster’s biography +that Dickens desired to expose the brutalising character of laws +which led to the incessant execution of men and women +comparatively innocent. It is clear also that Dickens made +a special study of the contemporary newspapers and annual +registers. But Forster admits that the form ultimately +taken by <i>Barnaby Rudge</i> had been comprised only partially +within its first design, and he admits also that the interest +with which the tale begins has ceased to be its interest before +the close. ‘What has chiefly taken the reader’s +fancy at the outset almost wholly disappears in the power and +passion with which, in the later chapters, great riots are +described. So admirable is this description, however, that +it would be hard to have to surrender it even for a more perfect +structure of fable.’ To this I may add that the +letters to the artist Cattermole on the illustrations to +<i>Barnaby Rudge</i> are very valuable for the fullness and +precision of their detail.</p> +<h4><a name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +104</span>DICKENS’S WAY</h4> +<p>That it is legitimate to draw inferences from the hints given +by Dickens I should be the last to deny. His purpose was to +provide hints which, when contemplated with what he called a +backward glance, should appear luminous at the end of the +story. Their meaning at the time might be more or less +obscure, but when from the end of the book one could look back +upon its course even to the beginning, he would see that the +artist had a purpose all through, and that he was steadily +preparing his reader for the <i>dénouement</i>. Of +this I give a striking proof, on which, so far as I am aware, +little stress has been laid. <a name="citation104"></a><a +href="#footnote104" class="citation">[104]</a> The +<i>Edinburgh Review</i> of July 1857 contains an article, +‘The License of Modern Novelists,’ in which the +critic deals with <i>Little Dorrit</i>, and denounces his charges +against the administrative system of England. Among other +things, the reviewer says: ‘Even the catastrophe in +<i>Little Dorrit</i> is evidently borrowed from the recent fall +of houses in Tottenham Court Road, which happens to have appeared +in the newspapers at a convenient period.’ <a +name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 105</span>Dickens, +for the first and only time in his life, so far as I know, +publicly replied to a reviewer. He wrote an article in +<i>Household Words</i> of 1st August 1857, entitled +‘Curious Misprint in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>,’ in +which he turned upon his critic fiercely and sharply. He +quotes the sentence about the catastrophe in <i>Little +Dorrit</i>, and goes on to say:</p> +<blockquote><p>Thus, the Reviewer. The Novelist begs to ask +him whether there is no License in his writing those words, and +stating that assumption as a truth, when any man accustomed to +the critical examination of a book cannot fail, attentively +turning over the pages of <i>Little Dorrit</i>, to observe that +that catastrophe is carefully prepared for from the very first +presentation of the old house in the story; that when Rigaud, the +man who is crushed by the fall of the house, first enters it +(hundreds of pages before the end) he is beset by a mysterious +fear and shuddering; that the rotten and crazy state of the house +is laboriously kept before the reader, whenever the house is +shown; that the way to the demolition of the man and the house +together is paved all through the book with a painful minuteness +and reiterated care of preparation, the necessity of which (in +order that the thread may be kept in the reader’s mind +through nearly two years) is one of the adverse incidents of the +serial form of publication? It may be nothing to the +question that Mr. Dickens now publicly declares, on his word of +honour, that that catastrophe was written, was <a +name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>engraved on +steel, was printed, had passed through the hands of compositors, +readers for the press, and pressmen, and was in type and in proof +in the Printing House of Messrs. Bradbury and Evans before the +accident in Tottenham Court Road occurred. But, it is much +to the question that an honourable reviewer might have easily +traced this out in the internal evidence of the book itself, +before he stated, for a fact, what is utterly and entirely, in +every particular and respect, untrue.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The blows are dealt with a will, and it should be noted that +Dickens is more irritated at the stupidity of the reviewer in +failing to see the way in which he contrived the catastrophe than +at his mistake in the fact. It is to be noted also that +Dickens considered that his serial form of publication compelled +him to be almost too minute, copious, and constant in keeping the +thread in the mind of a reader whose attention had to be +maintained for nearly two years.</p> +<h2><a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 107</span>PART +II—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION</h2> +<h3><a name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +109</span>CHAPTER V—WAS EDWIN DROOD MURDERED?</h3> +<p>I reply in the affirmative, and for the following reasons:</p> +<h4>I.</h4> +<p>1. The external testimonies as given in a previous +chapter are all explicit as far as they go in their testimony +that in the intention of Dickens Edwin Drood was murdered. +There is first the testimony of John Forster. To him +Dickens plainly declared that a nephew was to be murdered by his +uncle. The murderer was to discover that his crime was +useless for its purpose, but he was not to be convicted in the +ordinary way. It was by means of a gold ring, which had +resisted the corrosive effects of the lime into which the body +had been cast, that the murderer and the person murdered were to +be identified.</p> +<p>2. Madame Perugini corroborates Forster’s +testimony, and points out that the only thing on which he is not +positive is the ending of Neville <a name="page110"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 110</span>Landless. He guards himself by +saying, ‘I think,’ and this makes his testimony to +the more important facts the more impressive. Madame +Perugini, who thoroughly understood the relations between Forster +and Dickens, finds it impossible to believe that Dickens should +have altered his plan without communicating with Forster. +Forster’s strong character, and the peculiar friendship +that existed between him and Dickens, make it impossible to +believe that Dickens should suddenly become +‘underhand,’ and we might say treacherous, by +inventing a plot which he did not intend to carry into +execution. Forster became a little jealous of +Dickens’s confidence, and more than a little exacting in +his demands on it. This Dickens knew, and smiled at +occasionally. But he was very careful not to wound his +friend’s very sensitive nature, and he so trusted +Forster’s judgment as to be uneasy and unhappy if he did +not obtain its sanction for his decisions and his actions. +If there had been any change of plan Forster would certainly have +been told. He never was told.</p> +<p>3. Again, we know that Charles Dickens the younger +positively declared that he heard from his father’s lips +that Edwin Drood was <a name="page111"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 111</span>dead. I have been able to +print part of a play written by Charles Dickens the younger and +Joseph Hatton. This shows beyond contradiction that the +authors believed Drood to be dead. Mr. Hatton says: +‘Consulting his son, Charles, to whom I offered my sketch, +I found that his father had revealed to him sufficient of the +plot to clearly indicate how the story was to end.’ +How far this may apply to details we cannot be sure, but most +certainly it certifies the death.</p> +<p>4. To this I may add that Madame Perugini’s own +firm belief that Drood was dead is of no small importance, +considering that she was the wife of Charles Allston Collins, who +drew the much discussed wrapper. It did not occur either to +Madame Perugini or her husband that there was any doubt as to the +fate of Edwin Drood.</p> +<p>5. The weighty letter of Sir Luke Fildes printed on +pages 54–5 confirms unmistakably and strongly the witness +already adduced. Fildes was the sole illustrator of <i>The +Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>, and he testifies that Collins did not +in the least know the significance of the various groups on the +wrapper. Further, when Sir Luke was puzzled by the +statement <a name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +112</span>that John Jasper was described as wearing a neckerchief +that would go twice round his neck he drew Dickens’s +attention to the circumstance that he had previously dressed +Jasper as wearing a little black tie once round the neck, and +asked why the alteration was made. Dickens, a little +disconcerted, suddenly asked, ‘Can you keep a +secret?’ He then said: ‘I must have the double +necktie! It is necessary, for Jasper strangles Edwin Drood +with it.’ Fildes was impressed by Dickens’s +earnestness, and resented the suggestion often made that +Dickens’s hints dropped to members of his family or friends +may have been intentionally misleading. ‘It is a +little startling,’ says Sir Luke, ‘after more than +thirty-five years of profound belief in the nobility of character +and sincerity of Charles Dickens, to be told now that he probably +was more or less of a humbug on such occasions.’</p> +<p>I cannot but feel that the external testimony is too strong to +be explained away, and it ought to be read and pondered in its +entirety.</p> +<h4>II. DICKENS’S OWN NOTE</h4> +<p>In the Memoranda made by Dickens for chapter xii., and printed +on page 63, we read <a name="page113"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 113</span>that Jasper ‘lays the ground +for the manner of the murder, to come out at last. Night +picture of the Cathedral.’ Mr. Lang himself admits, +‘It seems almost undeniable that, when Dickens wrote this +note, he meant Jasper to succeed in murdering Edwin.’ <a +name="citation113"></a><a href="#footnote113" +class="citation">[113]</a></p> +<h4>III. THE ADMITTED TESTIMONY OF THE BOOK</h4> +<p>The proof that Edwin Drood was murdered is to my mind mainly +to be found in the pages of the story. One would have to +print a large part of it in order to convey the impressive and +unmistakable force of the whole, but perhaps it is better to read +it as Dickens wrote it. For he himself advances nothing to +modify or mitigate the conclusion that, as the result of a +carefully designed plot, Edwin Drood was foully murdered by his +uncle. Happily it is not necessary to spend much space on +this. I believe that Dr. Jackson is fully justified in his +statement that all who have written on the subject acknowledge +that Jasper tried to murder his nephew, and believed himself to +have succeeded. We all see that Jasper had either strangled +Edwin with a black scarf and committed his body to a heap <a +name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>of +quicklime that lay about convenient, or thought that he had done +so. ‘We all see that the crime is to be proved by a +gold ring of rubies and diamonds which Edwin has concealed about +his person, though Jasper does not know it.’ Mr. +Proctor writes:</p> +<blockquote><p>It is clear that Dickens has intended to convey +the impression that Edwin Drood is murdered, his body and clothes +consumed, Jasper having first taken his watch and chain and +shirt-pin, which cannot have been thrown into the river till the +night of Christmas Day, since the watch, wound up at twenty +minutes past two on Christmas Eve, had run down when found in the +river.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Having arrived at this point we may proceed.</p> +<p>Is it conceivable that Jasper, believing himself to have +succeeded in murdering his nephew, could have failed? +Jasper is meant by Dickens to be a man wholly without conscience +and heart. Such characters are not numerous in +Dickens’s books, but we have evidence that he knew them and +had pondered over them. I may quote his words in <i>Hunted +Down</i>:</p> +<blockquote><p>There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a +man who is a calculating criminal, is, in any phase of his guilt +otherwise than true to himself, and perfectly consistent with his +whole character. Such a man commits murder, and murder is +the natural <a name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +115</span>culmination of his course; such a man has to outface +murder, and will do it with hardihood and effrontery. It is +a sort of fashion to express surprise that any notorious +criminal, having such crime upon his conscience, can so brave it +out. Do you think that if he had it on his conscience at +all, or had a conscience to have it upon, he would ever have +committed the crime? Perfectly consistent with himself, as +I believe all such monsters to be, this Slinkton recovered +himself, and showed a defiance that was sufficiently cold and +quiet. He was white, he was haggard, he was changed; but +only as a sharper who had played for a great stake and had been +outwitted and had lost the game.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In <i>Household Words</i> for 14th June 1856, Dickens has an +article on ‘The Demeanour of Murderers.’ He is +referring to William Bousfield, ‘the greatest villain that +ever stood in the Old Bailey dock.’ Bousfield’s +demeanour was considered exceedingly remarkable because of his +composure under trial. On this Dickens says:</p> +<blockquote><p>Can any one, reflecting on the matter for five +minutes, suppose it possible—we do not say probable, but +possible—that in the breast of this poisoner there were +surviving, in the days of his trial, any lingering traces of +sensibility, or any wrecked fragment of the quality which we call +sentiment. Can the profoundest or the simplest man alive +believe that in such a heart there could have been left, by that +time, any touch of pity?</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>The +murder of Edwin Drood had been so long premeditated that Jasper +had done it hundreds and thousands of times in the opium +den. The motive was his fierce and wolfish passion for +Rosa. He loathed his poor nephew as the chief obstacle to +his wishes, and planned out in every detail a murder which would +utterly remove him from the sight of men.</p> +<p>Jasper, then, was an unredeemed villain, but he was anything +than a fool. He drugged Drood; he strangled him; he put his +body in quicklime; he had time to rob the victim of his +jewellery; he maintained a threatening and defiant +attitude. He was not afraid that Drood would return to +convict him of an attempt to murder. He had done his +business. I think it worth while to point out that in +Dickens’s view Jasper’s malevolence must have been +raised to the highest point of fury on the night of the +murder. For the murder was committed on a night of the +wildest tempest. Trees were almost torn out of the earth, +chimneys toppled into the streets, the hands of the cathedral +clock were torn off, the lead from the roof was stripped away and +blown into the close, and stones were displaced on the summit of +the great <a name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +117</span>tower. In <i>Barnaby Rudge</i> (chapter ii.) +Dickens says:</p> +<blockquote><p>There are times when the elements being in unusual +commotion, those who are bent on daring enterprises, or agitated +by great thoughts, whether of good or evil, feel a mysterious +sympathy with the tumult of nature, and are roused into +corresponding violence. In the midst of thunder, lightning, +and storm, many tremendous deeds have been committed; men, +self-possessed before, have given a sudden loose to passions they +could no longer control. The demons of wrath and despair +have striven to emulate those who ride the whirlwind and direct +the storm; and man, lashed into madness with the roaring winds +and boiling waters, has become for the time as wild and merciless +as the elements themselves.</p> +</blockquote> +<h4>IV. THE RING</h4> +<p>As we have seen, Dickens’s method is to make every hint +significant, and, as a rule, not too significant. The +reader at the time may fail to perceive why a particular point is +mentioned, but it is not mentioned carelessly or without +design. The backward glance from the end is to interpret +all. Besides this there are hints in the novels to which he +calls special attention, and which he thereby binds himself to +redeem. Conspicuous among these in <i>Edwin Drood</i> is +the sentence about the jewelled ring <a name="page118"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 118</span>and betrothal over which Edwin +Drood’s right hand closed as it rested in its little +case. He would not let Rosa’s heart be grieved by +those sorrowful jewels. He would restore them to the +cabinet from which he had unwillingly taken them, and keep +silence. He would let them be. He would let them lie +unspoken of in his breast. But Dickens says: ‘Among +the mighty store of wonderful chains that are for ever forging, +day and night, in the vast ironworks of time and circumstance, +there was one chain forged in the moment of that small +conclusion, riveted to the foundations of heaven and earth, and +gifted with invincible force to hold and drag.’ No +answer to our question, no solution of the problem can be +satisfactory which fails to assign its due weight to this +sentence. In Proctor’s first attempt at the solution +of <i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i> contained in <i>Leisure +Readings</i>, we find the following amazingly inept words: +‘From the stress laid on this point, and the clear words in +which its association with the mystery is spoken of, we may +safely infer, I think, that it is intended partly to mislead the +reader.’</p> +<p>Later on, Proctor, seeing the insufficiency of this, +propounded another theory. This was <a +name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>that the +attempt on Drood and his rescue were known almost immediately to +Mr. Grewgious, who took possession of the ring; that when the +fact that such a ring had been in Drood’s pocket came to +Jasper’s knowledge he at once in a state of panic rushed to +the vault to recover it from among the quicklime; that Drood, +divining this intention, concealed himself in the vault and +confronted Jasper the moment he opened the door. This +theory is partly approved of by Mr. William Archer. <a +name="citation119"></a><a href="#footnote119" +class="citation">[119]</a> But Dickens’s point is +plainly that the ring was the only jewellery possessed by Drood +about which Jasper knew nothing. It is the finding of the +ring in the tomb that is to bring the guilt of the murder +home.</p> +<p>As for the numerous assumptions made by Proctor, it can only +be said that they have no foundation in the facts. There is +no reason to believe that the attempt on Drood and his rescue +were known almost immediately to Mr. Grewgious. There is no +evidence that Grewgious took possession of the ring. There +is no evidence that Jasper came to know that such had been in +Drood’s pocket. All these theories are not only +without foundation, but, I think, <a name="page120"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 120</span>also in plain contradiction to the +whole tenor of the story.</p> +<p>If Drood was half dead how did he get away? According to +Mr. Proctor’s ingenious theory he was rescued from the bed +of quicklime by Durdles. He was rescued with the skin burnt +off his face, and his eyebrows gone, so that he could afterwards +disguise himself as Datchery. If this is so, the quicklime +must have behaved itself in a singularly obliging and +accommodating manner. But, as a matter of fact, there is no +evidence whatever for the theory, and the whole drift of the +story makes against it. The difficulties are admitted even +by those who incline to support Proctor’s view and to +maintain that Edwin is not dead.</p> +<p>Mr. Lang admits that Proctor’s theory of the murder is +thin, and that ‘all this set of conjectures is crude to the +last degree.’ I am content to leave it at that. +Mr. Lang has conjectures of his own. He conjectures that +Mr. Grewgious visited the tomb of his lost love, Rosa’s +mother, and consecrated to her ‘a night of memories and +sighs.’ He says: ‘Mrs. Bud, his lost love, we +have been told, was buried hard by the Sapsea +monument.’ This is not told by Dickens. It is +better to stick by the narrative.</p> +<p><a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +121</span>Supposing that Edwin was not dead, what was the meaning +of the long silence? Why did he allow Neville to rest under +a cloud of suspicion, and exposed to great peril? Why did +he allow Jasper’s persecution of Rosa? Why did he +allow Helena Landless, whom he had begun more or less to love, to +suffer with the rest? Are we to suppose that he came back +disguised to fix the guilt on his uncle? Can we believe +that he did not know that his uncle had tried to murder +him? If not, are we to believe that he suspected his uncle +and was not sure, and came down to try to surprise his +uncle’s secret and to punish him? He could only have +punished him at most for an attempt at murder. Even that +might have been hard to bring home, supposing he himself was not +clear as to the facts. ‘Fancy can suggest no +reason,’ writes Mr. Lang, ‘why Edwin Drood, if he +escaped from his wicked uncle, should go spying about instead of +coming openly forward. No plausible, unfantastic reason +could be invented.’</p> +<p>Dr. M. R. James, one of the few who still think that Edwin +might not have been murdered, says in his last writing on the +subject: ‘I freely confess that the view that Edwin is <a +name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 122</span>dead solves +many difficulties. A wholly satisfactory theory of the +manner of his escape has never been devised; his failure to clear +Neville from suspicion is hard to explain.’ Mr. Lang, +in what has unhappily proved his last article on the subject, in +<i>Blackwood</i> for May 1911, explains that while he believed in +1905 that Jasper failed in his attempt to murder, ‘now I +have no theory as to how the novel would have been built +up.’</p> +<h4>V.</h4> +<p>Those who more or less strongly still believe that Dickens +meant to spare Edwin rest their case mainly on a subjective +impression. Says Dr. James: ‘On the other hand, +whether the result would be a piece of “bad art” or +not, I do think it is more in Dickens’s manner to spare +Edwin than to kill him. The subjective impression that he +is not doomed is too strong for me to dismiss.’ <a +name="citation122"></a><a href="#footnote122" +class="citation">[122]</a> It is difficult to argue against +a subjective impression. The fact remains that Edwin Drood +becomes superfluous. He has effected no lodgment in any +human heart. Mr. Walters says that Drood is little more +than a name-label attached to a <a name="page123"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 123</span>body, a man who never excites +sympathy, and whose fate causes no emotion. Proctor, who +believes that Edwin Drood survived, admits that he lived +unpaired. ‘Rosa was to give her hand to Tartar, +Helena Landless to Crisparkle, while Edwin and Mr. Grewgious were +to look on approvingly, though Edwin a little sadly.’</p> +<p>Mr. Lang in the Gadshill edition of Dickens wrote: +‘Edwin and Neville are quarrelsome cubs, not come to +discretion, and the fatuity of Edwin, though not exaggerated +much, makes him extremely unsympathetic.’ But in his +book on the subject Mr. Lang changes his view and writes: +‘On re-reading the novel I find that Dickens makes Drood as +sympathetic as he can.’ Thus impressions alter. +Gillan Vase, in her continuation of the story would make us +believe that on Edwin’s reappearance Rosa transferred her +heart from Tartar to her old lover! But taking the story as +it stands, we see that the sorrow for his death is not deep, and +that no heart is broken by his disappearance. Rosa is +consoled, and more than consoled. Helena grieves for her +brother, and flings a shield over Rosa. Neville and Edwin +have never been good friends. Grewgious has <a +name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 124</span>cheerfully +acquiesced in, if he has not instigated, the breaking of the +engagement between Rosa and Edwin. The appropriate +explanation is: ‘Poor youth! Poor youth!’ +That is all.</p> +<p>It has been suggested that there is a parallel between <i>No +Thoroughfare</i> and <i>Edwin Drood</i>. According to +Proctor it is suggested clearly in <i>No Thoroughfare</i> that +Vendale has been murdered beyond all seeming hope. +Proctor’s real argument seems to be that Vendale is not +marked for death, and does not die, and that Edwin Drood belongs +to the same class. He says that Nell and Paul, Richard +Carson and the other characters who die in Dickens’s +stories are marked for death from the beginning, but that there +is not one note of death in all that Edwin does or says. I +believe that this is entirely contrary to the facts. There +are some who like Edwin, but none who love him. He is hated +by his uncle, and hated perhaps by Neville.</p> +<p>In <i>No Thoroughfare</i>, a story written by Wilkie Collins +and Dickens in 1867 as a Christmas Number, we have the story of a +man supposed dead coming to life again. It may be noted +that the only portions of this story furnished exclusively by +Dickens were the overture and the <a name="page125"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 125</span>third act. Collins contributed +to the first and fourth act, and wrote the whole of the +second. Vendale, a wine-merchant, is in love with a Swiss +girl, Marguerite. She returns his affection, but her +guardian Obenreizer is bitterly opposed. He consents, +however, to the marriage if Vendale can double his income and +make it £3000 a year. Vendale discovers that a +forgery has been committed, through which £500 are +missing. He is asked by the Swiss firm with which he deals +to send a trustworthy messenger to investigate the fraud and +discover its perpetrator. Vendale resolves to go himself, +and tells Obenreizer. Obenreizer is the culprit, though +Vendale does not suspect it, and the two go to Switzerland +together. Obenreizer keeps planning a murder, and contrives +to give Vendale an opium draught. He drugs him again, and +in the course of a perilous mountain journey Vendale is roused to +the knowledge that Obenreizer had set upon him, and that they +were struggling desperately in the snow. Vendale rolls +himself over into a gulf. But help is near. +Marguerite’s fears have been excited, and she has followed +her lover on the journey. She engages a rescue expedition, +and they find the lost man insensible. He is delirious and +quite <a name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +126</span>unconscious where he is. Then he seems to sink in +the deadly cold, and his heart no longer beats. ‘She +broke from them all, and sank over him on his litter with both +her living hands upon the heart that stood still.’ +But by and by, when the crisis of the exposure comes, +‘supported on Marguerite’s arm—his sunburnt +colour gone, his right arm bandaged and slung over his +breast—Vendale stood before the murderer a man risen from +the dead.’ I cannot see that this is a great +surprise. Vendale was not marked for death. I think +the unsophisticated reader, knowing how he is loved and how he is +waited for, and how unconsciousness may pass into consciousness, +would fully expect him to live. When he comes to life, he +is supported on Marguerite’s arm. There was no arm on +which Edwin Drood could lean. Dickens can provide for his +old bachelors like Newman Noggs, but he had no provision for +Edwin.</p> +<h4>THE ARGUMENTS FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE THEORY</h4> +<p><i>From the Wrapper</i>.—I am convinced after a careful +perusal of nearly all that has been written on the subject that +the real strength of the disappearance theory is to be found in +the <a name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +127</span>bottom picture of the wrapper. When Madame +Perugini published the article from which I have quoted, Mr. Lang +in a letter to the <i>Times</i> <a name="citation127"></a><a +href="#footnote127" class="citation">[127]</a> rested his whole +case on the cover design. He said:</p> +<blockquote><p>The chief difficulty in accepting the fact has +always been that, in designs on the covers, by Mr. C. A. Collins, +first husband of Mrs. Perugini, we see a young man, who is +undeniably Edwin Drood, confronting Jasper in a dark vault, in +the full light of a lantern held up by Jasper. Mrs. +Perugini says that this figure may be regarded as ‘the +ghost of Edwin as seen by Jasper in his half-dazed and drugged +condition,’ or Helena Landless ‘dressed as +Datchery.’ The figure is not dressed as Datchery, nor +was Miss Landless fair like Drood, but very dark. As for +the ghost, he is as substantial as Jasper, and it is most +improbable that Dickens would have a mere hallucination designed +in such a substantial fashion, ‘massive and +concrete,’ as Pip said of Mr. Wopsle’s rendering of +the part of Hamlet.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Mr. Lang in his final <i>Blackwood</i> paper repeats the +assertion with unhesitating confidence. He goes so far as +to say:</p> +<blockquote><p>Last, Dickens had instructed his son-in-law, +Charles Collins (brother of Wilkie Collins), to design a +pictorial cover of the numbers, in which Jasper, entering a <a +name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>dark vault +with a lantern, finds a substantial shadow-casting Drood +‘in his habit as he lived,’—soft conical hat +and all,—confronting him.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As to this we note:</p> +<p>1. That Collins received no such instructions.</p> +<p>2. That neither Collins nor Luke Fildes nor any of the +Dickens family read the illustration in that sense. They +all supposed Edwin to be dead.</p> +<p>3. We also note that, in spite of Mr. Lang’s +confident assertions, there is no unanimity as to the meaning of +the design. It may be Drood; it may be, as I think it is, +Datchery; it may be Neville Landless, as Mr. Hugh Thomson has +suggested. But no one is entitled to dogmatise on the +subject.</p> +<p>4. As I have already pointed out, in the great majority +of the wrappers the designs are vague and general, and cannot be +verified in the narrative.</p> +<p>5. But to my mind the most conclusive proof that the +wrapper is not to be rigidly and pedantically interpreted is that +Dickens himself was the very last man in the world to give away +his secrets on the cover. On this Madame Perugini has said +all that needs to be said. I am glad to find that in his +last review of the <a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +129</span>controversy Dr. M. R. James makes no mention of the +wrapper evidence.</p> +<h4>‘WHEN SHALL THESE THREE MEET AGAIN?’</h4> +<p>It appears that certain readers have taken the heading of +chapter xiv., ‘When shall these three meet again?’ as +an argument for the theory that Drood reappears. If the use +of the quotation has any special interest a very good +interpretation has been supplied by Mr. Edwin Charles. Mr. +Charles points out that the words are used in <i>Macbeth</i> +before the three witches meet again to plant in Macbeth’s +mind the tragical lust of ambition. He slays Duncan, who is +at once his guest, his kinsman, and his king. And +Duncan’s sons, also guests of Macbeth, fly respectively to +England and Ireland, and Macbeth uses the flight to spread +suspicion against them. ‘We hear our bloody cousins +are bestow’d in England and in Ireland: not confessing +their cruel parricide.’ Jasper is Edwin Drood’s +kinsman and guardian and host. Jasper slays his nephew, and +contrives that the suspicion of his murder shall fall on his +other guest, Neville Landless, who has to leave +Cloisterham. Is this a chance parallel? Does the use +of the words in the heading of the <a name="page130"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 130</span>chapter prove that Dickens had the +tragedy of <i>Macbeth</i> in his mind? Mr. Charles not only +thinks so, but he holds that the quotation positively destroys +any shadow of doubt as to what was intended to be the fate of +Edwin. Mr. Charles also notes that Dickens makes another +reference to Macbeth in the story when he records the dinner +which Grewgious gave to Edwin and Bazzard at Staple Inn. +Speaking of the leg of the flying waiter Dickens says that +‘it always preceded him and the tray by some seconds, and +always lingered after he disappeared,’ adding, ‘like +Macbeth’s leg when accompanying him off the stage with +reluctance to the assassination of Duncan.’</p> +<p>There is not much to reply to in the argument, but the reply +is, to say the least, sufficient.</p> +<h4>‘EDWIN DROOD IN HIDING’</h4> +<p>Another argument has been drawn from the tentative titles +written by Dickens here first printed in full. Two of them +are ‘The Flight of Edwin Drood,’ and ‘Edwin +Drood in Hiding.’ On this Mr. Lang writes in the +<i>Morning Post</i> <a name="citation130"></a><a +href="#footnote130" class="citation">[130]</a> that, though the +titles do not go with the idea <a name="page131"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 131</span>that Edwin was to be slain early, +Dickens may have intended the titles to mislead his readers, and +may have rejected them because he felt them to be too +misleading. This I believe to be the exact truth. +Dickens was willing to have as much mystery as possible, but he +soon perceived that it would not suit his purpose to raise the +question whether Edwin was dead or alive.</p> +<h4>THE MANNER OF THE MURDER</h4> +<p>In Dr. Jackson’s book on the subject there is a very +able discussion on the manner in which the murder was +accomplished. Dr. Jackson inquires: (1) Where and how did +Jasper murder Drood, or attempt to murder him? (2) Where +and how did Jasper dispose of Drood’s body, or attempt to +dispose of it? For myself, I believe that the manner of the +murder is part of the mystery to be solved as the book +proceeds. In this I am in general agreement with +Proctor. It would be vain to guess what happened on that +stormy night. To give the details definitely would have +been to give them prematurely, for much of the interest of the +novel is to depend on their unfolding. But certain +suggestions may be offered. Dr. Jackson <a +name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>holds that +significance is to be attached to Jasper’s babblings in the +presence of the opium woman. He tells her that he has in +his mind the tower of the cathedral, a perilous journey over +abysses with an indispensable fellow-traveller. Also that +when the journey was really made there was ‘no struggle, no +consciousness of peril, no entreaty,’ but that ‘a +poor, mean, miserable thing,’ which was nevertheless real, +lay ‘down below at the bottom.’ Dr. Jackson +thinks that we have here Jasper’s confession of the place +and the manner of the crime. ‘He had ascended the +tower with Edwin, and he had seen Edwin’s body lying down +below, presumably at the foot of the staircase by which they had +ascended.’</p> +<p>Mr. Walters thinks that Drood was to be encountered near the +cathedral, drugged and then strangled with the black silk scarf +that Jasper wore round his own neck. Mr. Proctor and Mr. +Lang suppose that Jasper partially strangled Drood near the +cathedral, and then deposited his body in the Sapsea +monument. They do not explain ‘the perilous journey +over abysses.’ The babblings of the opium den become +intelligible if Jasper flung or pushed Drood down the staircase +of the tower. But if <a name="page133"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 133</span>Drood was attacked outside the +cathedral on level ground they are ‘unjustifiable +mystifications.’</p> +<p>Dr. Jackson further argues that in chapter xii., ‘A +Night with Durdles,’ is a rehearsal of the coming +tragedy. He thinks that when Durdles sleeps Jasper makes a +wax impression of a key with which Durdles had opened the outside +door of the crypt and the door between the crypt and the +cathedral. He finds quicklime in the crypt. Then he +flings or pushes Drood, who is drugged, down the staircase, and +deposits his body in the quicklime in the crypt. Else why +did Jasper make a careful study of the tower with Durdles?</p> +<p>My friend and colleague, Miss Jane T. Stoddart, kindly sends +me the following:</p> +<p class="poetry">Some critics have failed to realise the extreme +importance of the Sapsea monument in connection with the +murder. It has been suggested by Professor Jackson that +Jasper buried the body in a heap of lime in the crypt of the +cathedral. But crypts are semi-public places, and if heaps +of lime were about workmen would be coming and going. In no +case could a corpse lie unnoticed on the open floor of a crypt +for more than a few hours. All the evidence points rather +to the Sapsea monument in the graveyard as the murderer’s +chosen hiding-place. Observe how Dickens distinguishes +between tombs and monuments, clearly <a name="page134"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 134</span>meaning by the latter those massive +vault-like erections of stone which are often seen in old +churchyards, and which have the dimensions of small chambers with +a corridor. Durdles says in chapter V.: ‘“Say +that hammer of mine’s a wall—my work. Two; +four; and two is six,” measuring on the pavement. +“Six foot inside that wall is Mrs. Sapsea.”</p> +<blockquote><p>‘“Not really Mrs. Sapsea?” asks +Jasper.</p> +<p>‘“Say Mrs. Sapsea. Her wall’s thicker, +but say Mrs. Sapsea. Durdles taps that wall represented by +that hammer, and says, after good sounding: ‘Something +betwixt us!’ Sure enough, some rubbish has been left +in that same six-foot space by Durdles’s +men!”’</p> +<p>There is therefore a ‘six-foot’ vacant space at +least in the Sapsea monument, left, no doubt, for the reception +at some far distant date of the Mayor’s body. Within +this place Jasper decides to deposit the remains of his +victim. I do not agree with the critics who fancy there was +a Sapsea vault in the crypt. The monument is in the full +light of day, for in chapter xii. the Mayor is walking near the +churchyard ‘on the look-out for a blushing and retiring +stranger.’ And in chapter xviii. he calls +Datchery’s attention to this ‘small lion’ in +the churchyard. Mrs. Sapsea, we are distinctly told, is +buried within the monument, not in any subterranean vault in the +crypt.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">THE ‘NIGHT WITH +DURDLES’</p> +<p>We come now to the night of the mysterious expedition of +Jasper and Durdles, when they climb the Cathedral Tower in the +moonlight, and when Durdles lies in a drugged sleep on the floor +of the crypt. Jasper <a name="page135"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 135</span>has been very active during this +interval. How has his time been spent? His first +business, after possessing himself of the key of the crypt, must +have been to search in the bundle carried by Durdles for the key +of the Sapsea monument. We have repeatedly been told of his +interest in the bundle, into which (see chapter iv.) he had seen +Durdles drop this particular key. The inscription had been +placed on the monument, but we are to understand that the key had +not yet been returned to the Mayor. Having secured this +key, Jasper leaves the building, and by some means which can only +be conjectured conveys quicklime to the monument, and places it +in readiness in the empty space. He may have gone back to +the yard-gate where Durdles had showed him the mound of lime, but +this would have been a very risky proceeding, as the ‘hole +in the city wall’ occupied by Durdles was beyond Minor +Canon Corner, the Monks’ Vineyard, and the +Travellers’ Twopenny. Even in the dead of night, +sharp eyes in the lodging-house (Deputy’s, for instance) +might have seen a man go by wheeling lime in a barrow or carrying +it in a sack. It is far more probable that the lime was +found nearer to the cathedral.</p> +<p>It has been suggested, further, that Jasper, while away from +Durdles, took a wax model of the key of the crypt, which also +opens the door at the top of the steps leading from the crypt to +the cathedral. The Dean (it is presumed by Professor +Jackson) has already entrusted him with another key, that of the +iron gate which gives access to the Tower. We are told that +Durdles ‘bears the close scrutiny of his companion in an +insensible way, although it is prolonged while <a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>the latter +fumbles among his pockets for a key confided to him that will +open an iron gate, so to enable him to pass to the staircase of +the great Tower.’</p> +<p>Visitors to cathedrals to-day usually find that the key of the +tower staircase is in charge of the chief verger, and Jasper +would have no difficulty in obtaining a loan of it from this +functionary for one night, though hardly for a longer period, as +visitors would be coming and going.</p> +<p>Dr. Jackson supposes that the Dean lent his key to the +choirmaster, and assumes that, before the expedition with +Durdles, Jasper has already taken a wax model of it. If he +did so, it must have been in the interval between locking-up +time, when we find him (see chapter xii.) conversing with the +Dean and the verger, and the time of his changing his coat to go +out on the expedition. But Dickens tells us that Mr. Jasper +withdrew to his piano, and sat chanting choir music in a low and +beautiful voice for two or three hours; ‘in short, until it +has been for some time dark, and the moon is about to +rise.’ I take it, then (1) that the iron key was lent +to Jasper by the verger for use in this nocturnal expedition; (2) +that no wax model of it has been made up to the time of starting; +(3) that the verger will look for the return of the key next +day.</p> +<p>It seems to me most unlikely that Jasper took a wax model of +the crypt key or the key to the iron gate, either on the night of +his wandering with Durdles, or at any other time. If he +took any wax model, it was that of the key to the Sapsea +monument. He used the crypt key merely to let himself out +of the building <a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +137</span>and in again. May not the simplest explanation be +that he unlocked the door of the monument, leaving it merely +closed, so that a turn of the iron handle would admit him on the +night of the murder? According to the picture at the foot +of the cover the door seems to have a handle.</p> +<p>I find it difficult to believe that Jasper would order +duplicates of two large and unusual-looking keys to be made from +wax models by a locksmith in Cloisterham. Such an order +would have excited curiosity and perhaps unfavourable surmises in +a town where Jasper was so well known. I should expect a +curious stare if I carried wax models of church keys even to a +locksmith in a London suburb; and Jasper had no time during the +week before Christmas to make a journey to London. He was +not himself a worker in iron like Roland Graeme in <i>The +Abbot</i>, who at the cost of much time and labour forged a bunch +of keys almost exactly resembling those carried by the lady of +Lochleven.</p> +<p>On the night of the murder—that wild and stormy +Christmas Eve—Jasper brought Edwin into the churchyard on +some pretext, after partially stupefying him with the ‘good +stuff’ which affects the brain so speedily. He may +have persuaded him to drink to the dawn of Christmas, as Faust +proposed to quaff the cup of poison to the rising Easter +dawn:</p> +<p> Der letzte Trunk sei nun, +mit ganzer Seele,<br /> + Als festlich hoher Gruss, dem +Morgen zugebracht.</p> +<p>It is after midnight when the murderer and his victim are +abroad together. At that hour the ‘streets <a +name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 138</span>are +empty,’ and only the storm goes thundering along +them. The precincts ‘are unusually dark +to-night.’ No need, then, for Jasper to fear +detection as he slips the great silk scarf over Edwin’s +head and pulls it tightly round his throat. ‘No +struggle, no consciousness of peril, no entreaty—and yet I +never saw that before.’</p> +<p>The maundering talk of Jasper in the opium woman’s den +need not be taken literally. The difficult and dangerous +journey ‘over abysses where a slip would be +destruction’ may have no reference to the actual tower, but +to the perils of the scheme and the risk of detection. +Among other modes of killing, however, the idea of flinging Edwin +from the tower may have occurred to Jasper, and been +abandoned. Hence his outcry, ‘Look down! look +down! You see what lies at the bottom there!’</p> +<p>Dr. Jackson thinks Jasper departed so far from his original +plan that he chose the crypt instead of the Sapsea monument as a +hiding-place. I think it far more likely that, if ever he +intended to hurl Edwin from the tower, he set aside this plan +when he found that it meant the making of two duplicate +keys. Suppose that in the days following the crime, when +the names of Edwin Drood and Jasper were in every mouth in +Cloisterham, a small tradesman in some obscure lane were to ask +his neighbours why the choirmaster needed these two large +keys. The conjecture might be sufficient to destroy +him.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I venture to think that Miss Stoddart is right in assigning +the place of the body to the Sapsea <a name="page139"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 139</span>monument, but I incline to agree +with Dr. Jackson that, in order to do justice to the ‘Night +with Durdles,’ and the confessions to the opium woman, we +must give some place to the tower as connected with the +murder. But I do not understand how Jasper should have seen +Drood lying beneath him dead if he had merely pushed him down the +tower stairs. Would it not have been more likely that +Jasper should have pushed Drood from the galleries, and seen him +fall into the space beneath? We cannot lay great stress on +the topography of Cloisterham. The Sapsea monument is a +pure invention, having no counterpart in Rochester, and Dickens +manifestly used the utmost freedom in dealing with his +materials. Mr. Lang, by the way, makes a strange mistake in +saying, ‘As he walks with Durdles that worthy explains (in +reply to a question by Jasper) that, by tapping a wall, even if +over six feet thick, with his hammer, he can detect the nature of +the contents of the vault.’ <a name="citation139"></a><a +href="#footnote139" class="citation">[139]</a> The wall is +not six feet thick. The words are: ‘six foot inside +that wall is Mrs. Sapsea.’</p> +<p>It was for Dickens to explain in the remaining part of the +novel how the murder was achieved, and no one has a right to say +that he would <a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +140</span>have failed in doing so. His object is to leave +upon us the impression of a murder which was in a singular degree +premeditated, ferocious, and complete. If Dr. Jackson is +right in supposing that Drood was thrown from the tower, in +addition to his being drugged, strangled, and laid in quicklime, +Dickens gives us a fresh thrill of horror.</p> +<h3><a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +141</span>CHAPTER VI—WHO WAS DATCHERY?</h3> +<p>In discussing this problem we have no aid from external +evidence. It seems that the question was not raised by the +critics of the time. We are thrown upon internal evidence, +and not only the internal evidence of the book, but the evidence +given by a study of Dickens’s methods. We have also, +as I hope to show, some help given indirectly from +Dickens’s own biography, and in particular from a book by +Wilkie Collins.</p> +<p>It will be convenient at this stage that we should discuss the +exact position of affairs after Edwin vanished from the +scene.</p> +<p>To us who read the book, Jasper’s guilt is so plain and +his character so atrocious that we wonder why those who knew him +did not at once suspect his guilt. To us Jasper is a +self-confessed criminal with his doom already written, but to his +neighbours at Cloisterham he presented himself in a wholly +different <a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +142</span>aspect. The Dean himself is not more obviously a +pattern of virtuous living. Jasper occupies a conspicuous +set of rooms. His fire burns, his red light glimmers, his +curtains are drawn, in sight of all the town. He is young, +good-looking, socially attractive, and occupied in an almost +sacred profession. His duties as choirmaster raise him far +above the position of a provincial teacher of music. On +Sundays and weekdays the people hear his voice in Psalms and +Canticles and Anthems. Edwin expresses the truth about his +uncle’s standing when he says: ‘I should have put in +the foreground your being so much respected as Lay Precentor, or +Lay Clerk, or whatever you call it, of this Cathedral; your +enjoying the reputation of having done such wonders with the +choir; your choosing your society, and holding such an +independent position in this queer old place.’ Mrs. +Crisparkle remarks on his ‘well-bred consideration,’ +and his pallor as of ‘gentlemanly ashes.’ When +the story opens there is not a soul in Cloisterham who breathes a +word of scandal against him, and his real nature is suspected by +only two living persons known to us. One is Rosa Bud, whom +he has terrified by his secret love-making; the other the <a +name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>opium woman +in London, who has heard strange mutterings in his drugged sleep +which to her were not wholly ‘unintelligible.’ +The Dean’s fear is that ‘Mr. Jasper’s heart may +be too much set on his nephew.’ Nocturnal ramblings +with the disreputable Durdles suggest nothing more surprising to +the Dean than that Jasper means to write a book about the +place. His visits to London are so carefully timed that he +is rarely absent from the daily services. He is a favourite +with his landlady, Mrs. Tope, and to mothers with marriageable +daughters he must appear a very eligible young bachelor. +Who could dream that a man of twenty-six, refined, highly +educated, and agreeable, should seek his private recreation in an +opium den?</p> +<p>Eight or nine months pass away, and at the point where the +story closes Jasper is to all appearance still safe and +prosperous. But already the avengers are upon his track, +and we shall find it possible from the indications given in the +book to show that there were at least six persons designed to +have a share in the final capture.</p> +<p>The first mind in which suspicion lodges is clearly that of +Mr. Grewgious, and he has taken his impressions of Jasper from +Rosa and from <a name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +144</span>Helena Landless. From his interview with Rosa in +chapter ix. he learned that the young bride-elect wished to have +nothing to do with Jasper. ‘I don’t like Mr. +Jasper to come between us,’ she said, ‘in any +way.’ After the murder, when Grewgious comes to +Jasper’s rooms he has already seen Rosa and Helena +Landless, and the latter must have told him of the persecution to +which Rosa has been subjected. When Jasper utters a +terrible shriek and falls to the ground in a swoon, his companion +stands by the fire, warming his hands, and looking curiously at +the prostrate figure. He refuses to eat with Jasper, and +treats him from that time onwards as ‘a brigand and wild +beast in combination.’ He keeps a personal watch on +his movements in Staple Inn, and it is doubtless with his +connivance and support that Datchery goes to Cloisterham. +Are not these significant words of Grewgious in chapter xxi. to +Rosa and Crisparkle: ‘When one is in a difficulty, or at a +loss, one never knows in what direction a way out may chance to +open. It is a business principle of mine, in such a case, +not to close up any direction, but to keep an eye on every +direction that may present itself. I could relate an +anecdote <a name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +145</span>in point, but that it would be premature.’ +In that last sentence may not Grewgious refer to the plan for +sending Datchery to Cloisterham?</p> +<p>When the novel breaks off, Grewgious is working against +Jasper, but only on strong suspicion. If Rosa had reported +to him Jasper’s exact words in her final interview with +him, that suspicion may have been heightened to certainty. +The part allotted to him in the ultimate crisis is that of +identifying the remains of Edwin, now hardly distinguishable +otherwise, owing to the action of quicklime in the Sapsea tomb, +by means of the ring which was on the young man’s person at +the time of his murder, and which possessed invincible powers to +hold and drag. After giving the ring to Edwin Mr. Grewgious +had said ‘Her ring. Will it come back to me? My +mind hangs about her ring very uneasily to-night. But this +is explainable. I have had it so long, and I have prized it +so much. I wonder—’</p> +<p>The ring will come back to him from the dust of death.</p> +<h4><a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 146</span>THE +PRINCIPLES OF DISGUISE</h4> +<p>It is universally admitted that Datchery was disguised.</p> +<p>Before seeking to identify him with a character already known +to us I shall give a short note on the principles and limitations +of disguise. Suppose one wishes to disguise himself, how +far is it possible for him to succeed? What are the limits +within which success is possible?</p> +<p>The question was very carefully discussed in the <i>Berliner +Tageblatt</i> for 15th May 1912, under the title ‘On the +Psychology of Dissimulation.’ The author, Dr. Hugo +Eick, uses the word <i>Verstellung</i> entirely in the sense of +mental disguise or purposeful deception. In the closing +paragraph he limits the possibilities. His remarks on this +question are not without value for the students of certain +literary problems.</p> +<p>According to Dr. Eick, the really fundamental things which can +never be imitated are all manifestations of positive life. +For example, we cannot simulate courage, enthusiasm, +humility. It is true that we can reproduce certain +distinctive marks of courage and enthusiasm <a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>which may +deceive the inexperienced; but the essence of these qualities can +be expressed only by a person who has experienced them, and who +possesses them. A brave man may simulate timidity and +cowardice, the man who is capable of enthusiasm may wear the mask +of apathetic indolence; all depressive and negative conditions +may be imitated. But fulness of life and the sap which +quickens it cannot be replaced by any dissimulation. The +stupid person may persuade another stupid person to believe in +his cleverness. But it is impossible to counterfeit +cleverness before a clever person unless we possess a minimum of +cleverness, because a certain amount of cleverness is needed for +the deception itself. The real tone of truth’s voice +can no more be copied than the fiery gleam of enthusiasm. +At this point all the arts of deception fail; the voice +contradicts the words. The man who possesses something of +these qualities of soul can indeed simulate higher degrees of the +same qualities, and can exploit them in unlimited measure. +But the elemental things of life are inimitable, and lie beyond +the reach of falsehood. He who imitates an elemental thing +is immediately discovered—supposing, of course, that <a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>the +discoverer has himself some share in the element.</p> +<h4>THE NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS</h4> +<p>The idea that Datchery is a new character may safely be +dismissed. It is in one of the characters already on the +stage that we must find Datchery. I might proceed by taking +the characters one by one, and by a process of exhaustion arrive +at Datchery. But a simpler way may be to enumerate the +qualifications required in Datchery, and to show that one +character of the story possesses them all. The claims of +the other characters may be then discussed.</p> +<p>Datchery is assigned the task of collecting and co-ordinating +all the evidence of diverting suspicion from the innocent Neville +Landless, and fixing it on the true criminal. In order to +do this satisfactorily he required a combination of +qualities.</p> +<p>1. We need mental alertness and ability. Stupidity +would be fatal.</p> +<p>2. We need high courage and firm resolution.</p> +<p>3. We need an individual who is at once fearless and +skilful, one who knows the art of <a name="page149"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 149</span>disguise, one who can assume a new +character and carry through the assumption to a triumphant +end.</p> +<p>4. We need supremely a character whose whole heart goes +with the effort at detection. There must be behind all his +actions a passionate, personal, intimate concern. These +requirements, I believe, are satisfied in Helena Landless, and in +Helena Landless alone. The identification is naturally +received at first with a certain measure of incredulity and +surprise, but a careful and patient study of the story will +confirm it.</p> +<p>The theory was put forth by Mr. Cuming Walters in 1905 in his +book <i>Clues to Dickens’s</i> ‘<i>Mystery of Edwin +Drood</i>.’ It is one of the most brilliant +conjectures or identifications in literary history. In +arguing for its truth I must follow largely on the lines of Mr. +Cuming Walters, but I hope to supply some fresh and fortifying +considerations.</p> +<h4>HELENA LANDLESS</h4> +<p>No one will ever understand this problem unless he studies the +method of Dickens as explained by Dickens himself in his letter +to Wilkie Collins (page 92), and in his reply to the <a +name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +150</span><i>Edinburgh</i>, (page 105). Dickens is +supremely an artist, and he tries to insert nothing without a +purpose. Sometimes his hints are intended to help at the +time, sometimes to mislead temporarily. Sometimes they are +intended to be plain when the end is reached, and the reader +peruses the story in the light of the conclusion.</p> +<p>1. Helena has the mental alertness and ability which +qualified her for the task. It is interesting to see from +the original manuscript and the proofs how Dickens kept raising +and lowering the lights which fell upon the Landlesses. We +have seen from the original manuscript in chapter vi. how Dickens +heightened his description of the pair. He changed ‘A +handsome young fellow, and a handsome girl; both dark and rich in +colour,’ into ‘An unusually handsome, lithe young +fellow, and an unusually handsome, lithe girl; much alike; both +very dark, and very rich in colour.’ He emphasises +Helena’s personal characteristics: ‘Slender, supple, +quick of eye and limb; half shy, half defiant; fierce of look; an +indefinable kind of pause coming and going on their whole +expression, both of face and form, which might be equally likened +to the pause before a crouch or a bound.’ She fought +her way through her <a name="page151"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 151</span>tragical childhood, was beaten by a +cruel stepfather, and would have allowed him to ‘tear her +to pieces before she would have let him believe that he could +make her shed a tear.’ ‘She had a masterful +look.’ Rosa said to her: ‘You seem to have +resolution and power enough to crush me. I shrink into +nothing by the side of your presence.’ But it is soon +manifest that Helena has a tender heart. She and her +brother came to the Crisparkles ‘to quarrel with you, and +affront you, and break away again.’ But they are +touched by Mr. Crisparkle’s kindness, and Helena is more +than touched. Neville tells Crisparkle that in describing +his own imperfections he is not describing his +sister’s. ‘She has come out of the +disadvantages of our miserable life, as much better than I am as +that cathedral tower is higher than these chimneys.’ +Describing the misery of their childhood to Crisparkle, Neville +says: ‘You ought to know, to her honour, that nothing in +our misery ever subdued her, though it often cowed me. When +we ran away from it (we ran away four times in six years, to be +soon brought back and cruelly punished), the flight was always of +her planning and leading. Each time she dressed as a boy, +and showed the <a name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +152</span>daring of a man. I take it we were seven years +old when we first decamped.’ He says again to +Crisparkle: ‘You don’t know, sir, what a complete +understanding can exist between my sister and me, though no +spoken word—perhaps hardly as much as a look—may have +passed between us.’</p> +<p>2. She has been from the beginning a born planner and +leader. She has shown the daring of a man. When her +brother lost the pocket-knife with which she was to have cut her +hair short, she tried desperately to tear it out or to bite it +off. Yet this strong and fiercely passionate girl had +herself under the strictest control.</p> +<p>She had no fear of Jasper. Rosa, Helena, Neville, +Jasper, and Edwin meet in Crisparkle’s drawing-room. +Rosa is singing under the control of Jasper. She bursts +into tears and shrieks out: ‘I can’t bear this! +I am frightened! Take me away!’ Helena +immediately comes to the rescue, and with one swift turn of her +lithe figure lays the little beauty on a sofa. Edwin says +to Jasper:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘You are such a conscientious master, and +require so much, that I believe you make her afraid of you. +No wonder.’</p> +<p>‘No wonder,’ repeated Helena.</p> +<p><a name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +153</span>‘There, Jack, you hear! You would be afraid +of him, under similar circumstances, wouldn’t you, Miss +Landless?’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>‘Not under any circumstances,’ returned +Helena.</p> +<p>This to my mind is the first unmistakable suggestion of what +was to be developed. Here we have Jasper and Helena falling +into enmity almost at the first moment of their meeting, +challenging one another to battle. Helena accepts the +challenge. Not under any circumstances would she be afraid +of Jasper. She lives to redeem that word.</p> +<p>3. Dickens expressly tells us that Helena from her +childhood was accustomed to disguise herself as a boy. +‘When we ran away from it (we ran away four times in six +years, to be soon brought back and cruelly punished), the flight +was always of her planning and leading. Each time she +dressed as a boy, and showed the daring of a man.’ +This is the strongest reason for the identification of Helena +with Datchery. I find it difficult to suppose that any +careful student of Dickens will believe that these facts about +Helena’s disguise were put in without intent. It was +one of those facts which Dickens intended his readers to +interpret by the backward look. Those who were amazed when +<a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>Datchery +appeared as Helena would be referred back to the significant +words which they had missed.</p> +<p>Helena protects her unhappy brother in London, and plans +against his enemies. She surmises that +‘Neville’s movements are watched, and that the +purpose of his foes is to isolate him from all friends and +acquaintances, and wear out his daily life grain by +grain.’ She secures the help of Mr. Tartar.</p> +<p>In her conference with Grewgious, Helena plans for checkmating +Jasper, and inquires whether ‘it would be best to wait +until any more maligning and pursuing of Neville on the part of +this wretch shall disclose itself, or to try to anticipate +it.’</p> +<p>4. Helena’s whole heart went with the effort at +detection. We have seen her hatred of Jasper. In the +conversation between Helena and Rosa about Drood and Jasper, Rosa +betrays her horror of Jasper and his mesmeric power over her, +which makes her ashamed and passionately hurt. They resume +on the same strain.</p> +<blockquote><p>Says Rosa:</p> +<p>‘But you said to-night that you would not be afraid of +him, under any circumstances, and that <a +name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>gives +me—who am so much afraid of him—courage to tell only +you. Hold me! Stay with me! I am too frightened +to be left by myself.’</p> +<p>The lustrous gipsy-face drooped over the clinging arms and +bosom, and the wild black hair fell down protectingly over the +childish form. There was a slumbering gleam of fire in the +intense dark eyes, though they were then softened with compassion +and admiration. Let whomsoever it most concerned look well +to it!</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This last sentence is another of the unmistakably prophetic +sentences in Dickens. Helena was the sworn champion +thenceforth of Rosa against Jasper. Helena submits herself +to the fairy bride and learns from her what she knows. When +Jasper is mentioned and Rosa says, ‘I could not hold any +terms with him, could I?’ Helena answers with indignation, +‘You know how I love you, darling. But I would sooner +see you dead at his wicked feet.’</p> +<p>As to the close and tender affection between Helena and +Neville, and her vehement sympathy with his trial, there is no +question. I quote one passage because it seems to me a most +striking fact that in the proofs of Dickens the whole of it is +struck out:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘I don’t think so,’ said the +Minor Canon. ‘There <a name="page156"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 156</span>is duty to be done here; and there +are womanly feeling, sense, and courage wanted here.’</p> +<p>‘I meant,’ explained Neville, ‘that the +surroundings are so dull and unwomanly, and that Helena can have +no suitable friend or society here.’</p> +<p>‘You have only to remember,’ said Mr. Crisparkle, +‘that you are here yourself, and that she has to draw you +into the sunlight.’</p> +<p>They were silent for a little while, and then Mr. Crisparkle +began anew.</p> +<p>‘When we first spoke together, Neville, you told me that +your sister had risen out of the disadvantages of your past lives +as superior to you as the tower of Cloisterham Cathedral is +higher than the chimneys of Minor Canon Corner. Do you +remember that?’</p> +<p>‘Right well!’</p> +<p>‘I was inclined to think it at the time an enthusiastic +flight. No matter what I think it now. What I would +emphasise is, that under the head of Pride your sister is a great +and opportune example to you.’</p> +<p>‘Under <i>all</i> heads that are included in the +composition of a fine character, she is.’</p> +<p>‘Say so; but take this one. . . . She can dominate +it even when it is wounded through her sympathy with you. . . +. Every day and hour of her life since Edwin Drood’s +disappearance she has faced malignity and folly for you as only a +brave nature well directed can. So it will be with her to +the end . . . [pride] which knows no shrinking, and can get no +mastery over her.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Immediately after, Neville says: ‘I will do all I can to +imitate her.’</p> +<p><a name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +157</span>‘Do so, and be a truly brave man, as she is a +truly brave woman,’ answered Mr. Crisparkle stoutly. +In his proof Dickens struck out the words, ‘as she is a +truly brave woman.’</p> +<p>It is impossible, I think, to read this and not to see that +Dickens is afraid that we may too soon suspect Helena Landless of +being Datchery.</p> +<p>Neville’s sufferings under the suspicion are +unmistakable and cruel. When Crisparkle saw him he wished +that his eyes were not quite so large and quite so bright. +‘I want more sun to shine upon you.’ Neville +tells him that he feels marked and tainted even when he goes out +at night, and he never goes out in the day. He says, though +Dickens did not mean us to read the sentence: ‘It seems a +little hard to be so tied to a stake, and innocent; but I +don’t complain.’</p> +<p>Such are the main reasons that induce me to believe that +Helena is Datchery. It is admitted on all hands that she +was meant to play an important part in the story. What part +does she play if she is not Datchery?</p> +<h4>DATCHERY’S WISTFUL GAZE</h4> +<p>But the proof that impresses me as much as any other is to be +found in the passage: ‘John <a name="page158"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 158</span>Jasper’s lamp is kindled and +his lighthouse is shining when Mr. Datchery returns alone towards +it. As mariners on a dangerous voyage, approaching an +iron-bound coast, may look along the beams of the warning light +to the haven lying beyond it that may never be reached, so Mr. +Datchery’s wistful gaze is directed to this beacon and +beyond.’ The detective of whom this is written cannot +possibly be a mere detective. His heart is engaged in the +search. This fits Helena, and Helena only, of all the +characters that have been brought forward. A professional +detective paid by Grewgious could never have behaved in that +way. Helena’s whole heart was in the business. +She had to relieve her fondly-loved brother from a cruel weight +of anxiety and suspicion. She had to bring a villain whose +baseness she thoroughly knew to justice. She had to +liberate the girl friend she loved from persecution, and she +looked to a beyond, to the haven—the haven of +Crisparkle’s love.</p> +<h4>DATCHERY’S WIG</h4> +<p>Datchery wears a wig, and it is unusually large, as though a +woman’s hair were concealed under it. As Mr. Cuming +Walters also points <a name="page159"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 159</span>out, Helena undoubtedly had a strong +motive for not sacrificing her hair to the disguise, for she was +unmistakably in love with Crisparkle.</p> +<h4>DATCHERY’S HANDS</h4> +<p>There is no doubt that if Datchery was Helena, one of her +chief difficulties must have been with her hands.</p> +<p>Miss Stirling Graeme, the author of <i>Mystifications</i>, had +a marvellous power of disguising herself. ‘There was +nothing extraordinary about her,’ says Dr. John Brown, +‘but let her put on the old lady; it was as if a warlock +spell had passed over her; not merely her look, but her nature +was changed: her spirit had passed into the character she +represented; and jest, quick retort, whimsical fancy, the wildest +nonsense flowed from her lips, with a freedom and truth to nature +which appeared to be impossible in her own +personality.’</p> +<p>Sir Walter Scott in his <i>Journal</i> for 7th March 1828 +tells us that when she returned to her party in the character of +an old Scottish lady she deceived every one. ‘The +prosing account she gave of her son, the antiquary, who found an +auld wig in a slate quarry, was extremely ludicrous, and she +puzzled the Professor of <a name="page160"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 160</span>Agriculture with a merciless account +of the succession of crops in the parks around her old +mansion-house. No person to whom the secret was not +entrusted had the least guess of an impostor, <i>except one +shrewd young lady present</i>, <i>who observed the hand +narrowly</i>, <i>and saw it was plumper than the age of the lady +seemed to warrant</i>.’</p> +<p>In the <i>Daily Mail</i> of 4th April 1912 there is an account +of two girls who lived together, passing as husband and +wife. The man with whom they lodged said: ‘The +husband’s hands were so small and soft that both my wife +and myself were suspicious.’</p> +<p>I ask the attention of readers to the manner in which Dickens +refers to Datchery’s hands. I do not lay too much +stress on these indications, but they deserve consideration.</p> +<p>1. We read in chapter xviii. about Datchery in the +coffee-room of the Crozier, ‘as he stood with his back to +the empty fireplace waiting for his fried sole, veal cutlet, and +pint of sherry.’ (‘Empty’ was an +afterthought on Dickens’s part.) Here we have +Datchery keeping his hands out of view.</p> +<p>2. A little after, Datchery asks the waiter to take his +hat down for a moment from the <a name="page161"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 161</span>peg. If he had stretched out +his own hand it might have been noticed.</p> +<p>3. Later in the same chapter, when Datchery meets Jasper +and the Mayor, he does not shake hands with them. +‘“I beg pardon,” said Mr. Datchery, making a +leg with his hat under his arm.’ Originally this was +written ‘hat in hand.’ If he carried his hat +under his arm, one hand would be buried in the hat.</p> +<p>4. Afterwards we read of Datchery following Jasper and +the Mayor, ‘with his hat under his arm, and his shock of +white hair streaming in the evening breeze.’</p> +<p>5. When Datchery is talking to the opium woman, +‘he lounges along, like the chartered bore of the city, +with his uncovered grey hair blowing about, and his purposeless +hands rattling the loose money in the pockets of his +trousers.’ His hands are thus out of sight. +Immediately after we find him ‘still rattling his loose +money,’ and again, ‘still rattling.’</p> +<p>6. At last he begins to count out the sum demanded of +him by the opium woman. ‘Greedily watching his hands, +she continues to hold forth on the great example set +him.’ Of course, she may merely be watching for the +money in his hands, but there may be <a name="page162"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 162</span>something more in it than +this. Let it be noted that Dickens originally wrote, +‘Greedily watching him,’ and inserted ‘his +hands’ later.</p> +<p>7. Immediately after ‘Mr. Datchery drops some +money, stoops to pick it up.’ In all the scene with +the opium woman he keeps his hands out of sight as much as +possible, and when he does show them they strike the old +woman.</p> +<p>I may add, though much has been said about the possibility of +detecting by means of the voice, this does not appear by any +means to be impossible, or even very difficult. Only one +meeting between Jasper and Helena is recorded. Her voice is +described as low and rich. Even if he had talked with +Datchery, it is more than doubtful whether he would have known +the voice again, music-master though he was. Datchery, if +our supposition is right, was an expert in disguise, and could +have carried it off. I find in the pleasant +<i>Recollections and Impressions</i> of Mrs. Sellar that she had +no difficulty in deceiving her nearest friends. She tells +us how one day, when Sir David and Lady Brewster were dining with +the Sellars at St. Andrews, after dinner Lady Brewster begged her +to dress up and take in Sir David:</p> +<p><a name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +163</span>‘“But what will account for my +absence?”</p> +<p>‘“Oh, you have been obliged to go to bed with one +of your headaches; and I’ll introduce the +stranger.”</p> +<p>‘So I went upstairs, put on a false front, and was +announced as Miss Craig. On the gentlemen coming in I was +specially introduced to Sir David, but not being at all +attractive-looking, he soon left me for younger and fairer +friends! Determined he should take some notice of me, I +said I would not play the piano unless Sir David asked me; and on +this being told him he muttered: “God bless the woman! what +does she mean! I don’t know her.”’ <a +name="citation163"></a><a href="#footnote163" +class="citation">[163]</a></p> +<p>Mr. Lang says: ‘A young lady of my acquaintance +successfully passed herself off on her betrothed as her own +cousin—also a young lady—and Dickens had not to +imagine anything so unlikely as that.’</p> +<p>To this I may add that Scott tells a story of Garrick and his +wife. Mrs. Garrick was an accomplished actress, but once +she witnessed an entertainment in which was introduced a farmer +giving his neighbours an account of the wonders seen on a visit +to London. The <a name="page164"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 164</span>character was received with such +peals of applause that Mrs. Garrick began to think it rivalled +those which had been so lately lavished on Richard the +Third. At last she observed her little spaniel dog was +making efforts to get towards the balcony which separated him +from the facetious farmer. Then she became aware of the +truth. ‘How strange,’ she said, ‘that a +dog should know his master, and a woman, in the same +circumstances, should not recognise her husband!’ <a +name="citation164a"></a><a href="#footnote164a" +class="citation">[164a]</a></p> +<h4>THE ORIGIN OF DICKENS’S IDEA</h4> +<p>So strong is the evidence for Helena Landless being Datchery +that even the chief advocates of the Proctor theory have fully +admitted its force. Dr. M. R. James says: ‘I will go +as far as this: if Edwin is dead, then Datchery is Helena.’ +<a name="citation164b"></a><a href="#footnote164b" +class="citation">[164b]</a> Mr. Andrew Lang over and over +again admitted that Datchery might be Helena. But he +contended that, if so, the idea of Dickens is improbable with the +worst sort of improbability, is terribly far-fetched, and fails +to interest. ‘It is the idea of a bad sixpenny +novel. We are asked to credit Dickens with the highest <a +name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 165</span>scientific +skill, and this egregious invention is the result of his +science. The idea would have been rejected by Mr. Guy +Boothby. But it does not follow that Mr. Walters has not +hit on Dickens’s idea. If he has, <i>Edwin Drood</i> +is far below <i>Count Robert of Paris</i> in its first +uncorrected state, as the public will never know it.’</p> +<p>There is something in this argument, and it has never yet been +fairly met, but I believe that I can show that the idea was +probably suggested to Dickens by one figure in real life, and +another figure in fiction. So far as I am aware these +suggestions are made for the first time.</p> +<p>In the <i>Bancroft Recollections</i>, Lady Bancroft writes on +page 31:</p> +<blockquote><p>My first part at the Strand Theatre was Pippo, in +his burlesque <i>The Maid and the Magpie</i>, which proved an +immense success, and I established myself as a leading +favourite. It was not until the <i>Life of Charles +Dickens</i> was published that I knew his opinion of this +performance. Dickens had written years before, in a letter +to John Forster, these words:</p> +<p>‘I went to the Strand Theatre, having taken a stall +beforehand, for it is always crammed. I really wish you +would go to see <i>The Maid and the Magpie</i> burlesque +there. There is the strangest thing in it that ever I have +seen on the stage—the boy Pippo, by Miss Wilton. +While it is astonishingly impudent (must be, or it couldn’t +<a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 166</span>be done +at all), it is so stupendously like a boy, and unlike a woman, +that it is perfectly free from offence. I never have seen +such a thing. She does an imitation of the dancing of the +Christy Minstrels—wonderfully clever—which, in the +audacity of its thorough-going, is surprising. A thing that +you <i>cannot</i> imagine a woman’s doing at all; and yet +the manner, the appearance, the levity, impulse, and spirits of +it are so exactly like a boy, that you cannot think of anything +like her sex in association with it. I never have seen such +a curious thing, and the girl’s talent is +unchallengeable. I call her the cleverest girl I have ever +seen on the stage in my time, and the most singularly +original.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Lady Bancroft adds: ‘Charles Dickens’s being +impressed with my likeness to a boy reminds me that on the first +night I acted in <i>The Middy Ashore</i>, one of the staff came +up to me at the wings and said: “Beg pardon, young sir, you +must go back to your seat; no strangers are allowed behind the +scenes.”’ From this it must be inferred that +Dickens had there that evening a new idea as to the possibilities +of disguise. Dickens’s letter was written in +1859.</p> +<p>I believe that Dickens in this Datchery assumption was mainly +influenced by Wilkie Collins. Most writers on Dickens have +observed his admiration for Collins, the way in which he +co-operated with him, and the high <a name="page167"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 167</span>value he placed on his work. +<i>The Moonstone</i> has been referred to in this connection, but +I venture to think that the novel which led Dickens to his idea +was <i>No Name</i>. I have already printed (page 91) +Dickens’s wildly enthusiastic testimony to its +merits. He placed it far above <i>The Woman in White</i>, +and far above <i>The Moonstone</i>. In particular, he +admired the character of Magdalen Vanstone.</p> +<p>In <i>No Name</i> we are introduced to a charming +family—husband, wife, and two daughters—the +Vanstones. Then it turns out that the parents are +unmarried. The husband made a great mistake in marrying a +bad woman in his early youth, and is nearly ruined in +consequence. He induces a good woman to live with him as +his wife, and he has a fortune of £80,000. By a +singular mischance both he and the mother die suddenly about the +same time. Vanstone had made a will leaving his property to +the daughters, but just before the death of his wife he discovers +that his real wife is dead, and so they go out and get +married. The law is that marriage abolishes all past +wills. The consequence is that the will is not effective, +and the two daughters are left without a penny, and without a +name. What are <a name="page168"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 168</span>the girls to do? The younger, +Magdalen, has great force of character, and shows a talent for +the stage. She resolves to revenge herself on her +father’s brother who has taken all the money. Instead +of going to work as an ordinary actress, she gives performances +of her own. She is very clever at acting different +parts. She disguises herself as an old woman, and in all +sorts of disguises. She is nineteen, almost the age of +Helena Landless. Here is a description of the way in which +she disguises herself:</p> +<blockquote><p>I found all the dresses in the box +complete—with one remarkable exception. That +exception was the dress of the old north-country lady; the +character which I have already mentioned as the best of all my +pupil’s disguises, and as modelled in voice and manner on +her old governess, Miss Garth. The wig; the eyebrows; the +bonnet and veil; the cloak, padded inside to disfigure her back +and shoulders; the paints and cosmetics used to age her face and +alter her complexion—were all gone. Nothing but the +gown remained; a gaudily flowered silk, useful enough for +dramatic purposes, but too extravagant in colour and pattern to +bear inspection by daylight. The other parts of the dress +are sufficiently quiet to pass muster; the bonnet and veil are +only old-fashioned, and the cloak is of a sober grey +colour. But one plain inference can be drawn from such a +discovery as this. As certainly as I sit here, she is going +to open the campaign <a name="page169"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 169</span>against Noel Vanstone and Mrs. +Lecount, in a character which neither of those two persons can +have any possible reason for suspecting at the outset—the +character of Miss Garth.</p> +<p>What course am I to take under these circumstances? +Having got her secret, what am I to do with it? These are +awkward considerations; I am rather puzzled how to deal with +them.</p> +<p>It is something more than the mere fact of her choosing to +disguise herself to forward her own private ends that causes my +present perplexity. Hundreds of girls take fancies for +disguising themselves; and hundreds of instances of it are +related year after year, in the public journals. But my +ex-pupil is not to be confounded, for one moment, with the +average adventuress of the newspapers. She is capable of +going a long way beyond the limit of <i>dressing herself like a +man</i>, <i>and imitating a man’s voice and +manner</i>. She has a natural gift for assuming characters, +which I have never seen equalled by a woman; and she has +performed in public until she has felt her own power, and trained +her talent for disguising herself to the highest pitch. A +girl who takes the sharpest people unawares by using such a +capacity as this to help her own objects in private life; and who +sharpens that capacity by a determination to fight her way to her +own purpose which has beaten down everything before it, up to +this time—is a girl who tries an experiment in deception, +new enough and dangerous enough to lead one way or the other, to +very serious results. This is my conviction founded on a +large experience in the art of imposing on my +fellow-creatures. I say <a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>of my fair relative’s +enterprise what I never said or thought of it till I introduced +myself to the inside of her box. The chances for and +against her winning the fight for her lost fortune are now so +evenly balanced that I cannot for the life of me see on which +side the scale inclines. All I can discern is, that it +will, to a dead certainty, turn one way or the other on the day +when she passes Noel Vanstone’s doors in disguise.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I am not prepared to criticise Dickens’s plot as Mr. +Lang has done. If Wilkie Collins made an admirable heroine +of Magdalen Vanstone disguising herself variously, why should not +Dickens succeed in making a character as wonderful and more +attractive of Helena Landless? There is nothing to be +condemned in the idea itself. It has been used by masters, +and used successfully. There would have been nothing to +condemn, I believe, in Dickens’s way of working it out if +he had lived to complete his book. The comparison with Guy +Boothby is singularly inept.</p> +<h4>OBJECTIONS</h4> +<p>The objections that have been made to the Datchery-Helena +theory turn mainly on the supposed disgracefulness of Dickens +deceiving his readers as he did, and working out a <a +name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +171</span>melodramatic idea. These objections might have +been, and, I believe, would have been, scattered to the winds by +the complete story.</p> +<p>The most serious objection to the identification of Datchery +as Helena is the confusion in the chronology. This is +admirably stated by Dr. Jackson, who examines in a masterly way +the arrangement of the chapters. He comes to the conclusion +that chapter xviii. has been introduced prematurely. It +ought to have followed chapter xxii. If Dickens had lived to +issue the fifth and sixth monthly instalments, he would have +placed our chapter xviii. without the alteration of a single word +after chapter xxii., next before chapter xxiii. We know +that Dickens told his sister-in-law that he was afraid the +Datchery assumption in the fifth number was premature. Dr. +Jackson gives us a full and valuable examination of the +manuscript so far as its arrangement is concerned. I have +tested his statements in every point, and can only confirm +them. To Dr. Jackson’s chapter ix., ‘The +Manuscript,’ I refer the reader.</p> +<p>There are other objections. In particular, some are +troubled by Datchery’s masculine ways. They ask how +Helena, fresh from Ceylon, should <a name="page172"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 172</span>have known the old tavern way of +keeping scores. There is not much in this. In fact, +these scores, which could have served no purpose, seem to me the +natural expression of a buoyant girl rejoicing in her +achievements. A cool-headed, middle-aged detective would +never have expressed himself in such a way. Why should not +Helena have known about tavern scoring? She was accustomed +to walk with her brother Neville, and in the course of their +walks they may very likely have visited a tavern now and +then. We read of Neville finding his way to a tavern when +he walked away that dark night. In <i>Phineas Finn</i>, at +the end of chapter lxxi., Trollope, reporting the conversation of +two high-born ladies, Lady Laura Kennedy and Miss Violet +Effingham, has this:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Was I not to forgive him—I who had +turned myself away from him with a fixed purpose the moment that +I found that he had made a mark upon my heart? I could not +wipe off that mark, and yet I married. Was he not to try to +wipe off his mark?’</p> +<p>‘It seems that he wiped it off very quickly; and since +that he has wiped off another mark. One doesn’t know +how many marks he has wiped off. They are like the +innkeeper’s score which he makes <a +name="page173"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 173</span>in +chalk. A damp cloth brings them all away, and leaves +nothing behind.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This shows, at least, that chalk-marking is not a matter of +esoteric knowledge in England, but is known to high and +low. I may note that Dickens inserted the adjective +‘uncouth’—‘a few uncouth, chalked +strokes’—over his original manuscript, to make it +clear no doubt that the scorer was an amateur at the +business.</p> +<p>Then there are objections to Datchery’s masculine +fare—fried sole, veal cutlet, and pint of sherry; bread and +cheese, and salad and ale. It must be remembered that +Helena was in disguise. This was not a mere disguise of +dress, but it was a disguise of everything. She was +assuming a character and carrying it out. She had all the +ability and all the will for accomplishing this. In doing +masculine things she was simply carrying out her disguise. +A woman passing for a man must do what a man would do or she will +fail, and be found out.</p> +<p>It has been suggested that if Datchery is Helena, and +therefore knows the Gatehouse, why does she give it ‘a +second look of some interest’? Dr. Jackson replies +very well that the house for her has now a new importance, and is +the object upon which her thoughts are to <a +name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 174</span>be +concentrated for weeks, and perhaps for months. But Dickens +did not mean this passage to be printed, for good reasons of his +own.</p> +<h4>WHAT DICKENS DID NOT MEAN US TO READ</h4> +<p>This leads us to note that certain passages which have been +much discussed were not meant for publication by Dickens. +That is, he struck them out in proof. Dr. Jackson points +out that in chapter xviii., when Datchery consults the waiter at +the Crozier about ‘a fair lodging for a single +buffer,’ he is obviously asking to be recommended to +Tope’s. The waiter is puzzled at first. When +Mr. Datchery asks for ‘something venerable, architectural, +and inconvenient,’ the waiter shakes his head. +‘Anything cathedraly, now?’ Mr. Datchery +suggested. Then comes the mention of Tope. Datchery +boggles about the cathedral tower seeking for lodgings, but +Dickens did not mean us to read the words: ‘With a general +impression on his mind that Mrs. Tope’s was somewhere very +near it, and that, like the children in the game of hot boiled +beans and very good butter, he was warm in his search when he saw +the tower, and cold when he didn’t see it.’</p> +<p><a name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>When +the Deputy pointed out Jasper’s, first Dickens wrote +‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with an +appearance of interest.’ Then he wrote: +‘“Indeed?” said Mr. Datchery, with a second +look of some interest.’ Then he struck out the +sentence entirely.</p> +<p>Dickens also struck out the sentence which describes Datchery +after the Deputy left him: ‘Mr. Datchery, taking off his +hat to give that shock of white hair of his another shake, seemed +quite resigned, and betook himself whither he had been +directed.’ He also struck out the passage in which +Mrs. Tope and Datchery talk of what occurred last winter:</p> +<blockquote><p>Perhaps Mr. Datchery had heard something of what +had occurred there last winter?</p> +<p>Mr. Datchery had as confused a knowledge of the event in +question, on trying to recall it, as he well could have. He +begged Mrs. Tope’s pardon when she found it incumbent on +her to correct him in every detail of his summary of the facts, +but pleaded that he was merely a single buffer getting through +life upon his means as idly as he could, and that so many people +were so constantly making away with so many other people as to +render it difficult for a buffer of an easy temper to preserve +the circumstances of the several cases unmixed in his mind.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Nearly all the conversation between the Mayor and Datchery is +deleted. See page 9.</p> +<p><a name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>Also +Dickens erases the little talk between the Deputy and Datchery +beginning: ‘Master Deputy, what do you owe me?’ +See page 11.</p> +<p>It may not be possible to deduce any assured inference from +these omissions, but they are worth pondering, and may be +referred to again.</p> +<h3><a name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +177</span>CHAPTER VII—OTHER THEORIES</h3> +<h4>THE DROOD-DATCHERY THEORY</h4> +<p>One opposing theory is that Datchery was Drood. With all +respect for the scholars who have propounded it, this appears to +me a purely comic notion. It is the most fantastical of all +fancies as to who was Datchery. As Dr. Blake Odgers points +out, every one at Cloisterham knew the murdered man: a mere white +wig would be no disguise at all. I may add that if Jasper +had discovered him he would almost be justified in finishing the +murder this time. For what would be Drood’s +object? The theory is that, in spite of his being drugged, +throttled, perhaps thrown from a tower, at all events buried in +quicklime, and in all probability locked up in the tomb, Drood +got away when his uncle was triumphantly flinging his watch and +scarf-pin into the river. Supposing it were so, what was +Drood doing <a name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +178</span>while he watched his uncle? Is it said that he +was so bemused by the opium that he did not know who had handled +him in such a murderous fashion? This is very hard to +believe. Mr. Andrew Lang himself says: ‘Fancy can +suggest no reason why Edwin Drood, if he escaped from his wicked +uncle, should go spying about instead of coming openly +forward.’ Mr. Archer says the flaw is that the theory +provides no motive whatever for Drood’s disguising himself +as Datchery. Why should Drood devote himself to an +elaborate scheme of revenge upon his near kinsman and +friend? He would want to hush the matter up, and save +Jasper from himself. Why did Drood let Neville lie under +the suspicion of murder, and why was not Rosa let into the +secret? It is hardly worth while to point out that there is +nothing in Drood’s character as given us which could have +enabled him to show the ability, the composure, and the +self-control of Datchery. Who could have supplied him with +money to live idly at Cloisterham? His money was all locked +up till he came of age, and Jasper was his guardian and +trustee. If Grewgious supplied the money, why did not +Grewgious make an end of Neville’s misery?</p> +<h4><a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 179</span>THE +BAZZARD-DATCHERY THEORY</h4> +<p>A far more plausible theory is that Datchery was +Bazzard. Dickens almost invites readers to connect Bazzard +with Datchery when he makes Grewgious say to Rosa when she came +up to London that Bazzard ‘was off duty here altogether +just at present, and a firm downstairs with whom I have business +relations lend me a substitute.’ (The words +‘here altogether’ were added by Dickens.)</p> +<p>I have no doubt that Dickens in some way meant to explain +Bazzard’s business. But that Bazzard should have been +Datchery will appear a sheer impossibility to careful students of +Dickens. Proctor, whose side remarks are often excellent, +puts the point briefly as follows: ‘No one at all familiar +with Dickens’s method would for a moment imagine that +Datchery is Bazzard, Mr. Grewgious’s clerk. Bazzard +was as certainly intended to come to grief, and be exposed in the +sequel as was Silas Wegg in <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>.’</p> +<p>Mr. Cuming Walters says: ‘Literary art rebels against +the idea. Bazzard was one of Dickens’s favourite low +comedy characters.’</p> +<p>Dr. James dismisses the Bazzard theory <a +name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +180</span>‘because Buzzard in his first and principal +appearance has too much both of the fool and of the knave about +him to develop into the Datchery whom we are intended to +admire.’</p> +<p>Dr. Jackson says: ‘Capacity can ape incapacity, but +incapacity cannot ape capacity. This being so, I am sure +that Bazzard, who is not only “particularly angular, but +also somnolent, dull, incompetent, egotistical, is wholly +incapable of playing the part of the supple, quick-witted, +resolute, dignified Datchery.”’ In these +judgments I agree. Bazzard has no ethical quality. He +has not the smallest personal interest in the discovery. +How could it be said of Bazzard that his ‘wistful gaze is +directed to this beacon, and beyond?’</p> +<p>As the theory is obvious and popular, it may be worth while to +say something more, and Dr. Hugo Eick’s words, as +previously quoted, may help us. Helena Landless had the +elemental qualities needed for the Datchery role. Note that +among Shakespeare’s heroines who masquerade as men, +Rosalind, in <i>As you Like It</i>, and Julia, in <i>Two +Gentlemen of Verona</i>, have not these elemental qualities and +are suspected. Portia has them, and even her own husband +does not know her in her doctor’s robes. She <a +name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 181</span>is +recognised by all as a young doctor, but not one person in court +thinks ‘There is a woman!’ Bazzard might have +imitated depressive and negative conditions, but he could not +have imitated the qualities of positive life. +‘Fulness of life and the sap which quickens it cannot be +replaced by any dissimulation.’</p> +<p>It should also be noted that if Bazzard was Datchery, he had +no occasion to disguise himself in a huge white wig, for he was +not known in Cloisterham.</p> +<h4>THE GREWGIOUS-DATCHERY THEORY</h4> +<p>The theory that Datchery was Grewgious may be dismissed in a +sentence. Grewgious with his ‘awkward and hesitating +manner,’ his ‘shambling walk,’ his +‘scanty flat crop of hair,’ his ‘smooth +head,’ his ‘short sight,’ his general +angularity fits in no way the watchful, courtly, adroit, fluent, +and versatile Datchery.</p> +<h4>THE DATCHERY-NEVILLE THEORY</h4> +<p>Mr. Lang has a wild conjecture somewhere that Neville was +Datchery, and that Helena was disguised as Neville. It is +difficult to treat this seriously. Neville would inevitably +have been found out. His cause was undertaken by <a +name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>his +friends, and his business was to study and wait. Why on +earth should Helena disguise herself as Neville?</p> +<h4>THE TARTAR-DATCHERY THEORY</h4> +<p>There is something more attractive about this theory, and it +has been very well argued by Mr. G. F. Gadd in the +<i>Dickensian</i>, vol. ii. p. 13. Mr. Gadd uses the +argument ‘with a second look of some interest,’ as +showing Datchery’s ignorance of Cloisterham. He +quotes Tartar’s phrase ‘being an idle man,’ as +corresponding with the ‘idle buffer living on his +means.’ He suggests that Dickens at this point of his +story avails himself of the licence not unfrequent in fiction of +temporarily abandoning the strictly chronological order. He +suggests that Tartar as a seafaring man might know something of +opium smoking, and compares the wistful gaze directed to this +beacon and beyond, to what is said about Tartar as he and Rosa +entered his chambers at Staple Inn. ‘Rosa thought . . +. that his far-seeing eyes looked as if they had been used to +watch danger afar off, and to watch it without flinching, drawing +nearer and nearer.’</p> +<p>But, as Dr. Jackson points out, Tartar has <a +name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>his duties +assigned to him. He has to watch over Neville and see him +almost daily. Again, Tartar does not know about Cloisterham +and the Drood mystery what Datchery knows and needs to +know. ‘Thirdly, I doubt whether the cheery, +straightforward, simple-minded Tartar is capable of +Datchery’s versatility, subtlety, and address.’ +To this I add that Tartar’s heart is not engaged in the +business as Helena’s is. Also what need is there for +his disguise? He has never been in Cloisterham, and nobody +there knows him.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>For these reasons we conclude that Helena and no other is +Datchery. I have taken no account of the theory that +Datchery is an unknown person. An unknown person could not +possess the necessary qualities of heart.</p> +<h3><a name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +184</span>CHAPTER VIII—HOW WAS ‘EDWIN DROOD’ TO +END?</h3> +<p>How <i>Edwin Drood</i> was to end is a problem which can only +be solved to a certain extent. We find we are left in the +middle, and as much mystery remains as fully justifies the +title. We do not know the precise manner in which the +murder was accomplished. In particular, we are left +ignorant as to the way in which the crime is to be brought home +to the victim. We cannot define the relations of the opium +woman to Drood and Jasper and the Landlesses. We do not +know the history of Jasper’s early years. We can do +no more than speculate, and the speculations must be confined +within strict limits. The first question is, whether +Dickens himself knew how he was going to extricate and complete +his narrative.</p> +<p>Scott has left us the astonishing statement <a +name="citation184"></a><a href="#footnote184" +class="citation">[184]</a> that ‘I have generally written +to the middle of one of these novels without having the least <a +name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>idea how it +was to end.’ Mr. Skene, a true friend of Sir Walter +Scott, tells us <a name="citation185"></a><a href="#footnote185" +class="citation">[185]</a> that when Scott described to him the +scheme which he had formed for <i>Anne of Geierstein</i>, he +suggested to him that he might with advantage connect the history +of René, king of Provence, in which subject Skene had +special means of helping him. Scott accepted the +suggestion, ‘and the whole <i>dénouement</i> of the +story of <i>Anne of Geierstein</i> was changed, and the Provence +part woven into it, in the form in which it ultimately came +forth.’</p> +<p>Was Dickens in the same case when death interrupted him in his +work?</p> +<p>Was this an ‘apoplectic’ novel?</p> +<p>Scott speaks frankly of <i>Count Robert of Paris</i> and +<i>Castle Dangerous</i> being his ‘apoplectic +books.’ Does <i>Edwin Drood</i> bear the same +relation to the body of Dickens’s work as <i>Count Robert +of Paris</i> and <i>Castle Dangerous</i> bear to the Waverley +Novels? Mr. Lang, whose views on this subject varied much, +in one of his later writings takes the view that Dickens was +deeply embarrassed. He says: ‘It is melancholy to +think of this great and terribly overtasked genius tormented by +fears that were only too real.’ <a +name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 186</span>He finds +the story wandering on, living from hand to mouth, full of +absurdities. He thinks that Dickens was very capable of +changing his original purpose, and saving the life of Edwin.</p> +<p>There is no doubt that Dickens was puzzled about the order of +his chapters. Forster tells us that Dickens ‘became a +little nervous about the course of the tale from a fear that he +might have plunged too soon into the incidents leading on to the +catastrophe such as the Datchery assumption (a misgiving he had +certainly expressed to his sister-in-law).’ I have +already expressed agreement with Dr. Jackson in his plan for +renumbering the chapters. Unless this plan is adopted there +is chronological confusion. Also there is no doubt that +Dickens had been working under terrific strain. But the +testimony of those who knew him best is that his faculties were +never brighter and stronger than they were in his last +months.</p> +<p>The same impression is left upon me by his unfinished +novel. Those who dislike Dickens’s later manner may +easily find faults. They may say that Honeythunder is +grotesque rather than amusing. They may say that +Jasper’s courtship of Rosa is melodramatic and +wolfish. I confess to being perpetually puzzled by the <a +name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 187</span>account of +Neville’s capture on the morning after the murder. +Why was he pursued in that manner? All that was known +against him was that he had been with Edwin on the previous +night. He is only eight miles away from Cloisterham, and +stopping at a roadside tavern to refresh. He starts again +on his journey, and becomes aware of other pedestrians behind him +coming up at a faster pace than his. He stands aside to let +them pass, but only four pass. Other four slackened speed, +and loitered as if intending to follow him when he should go +on. The remainder of the party (half a dozen, perhaps) turn +and go back at a great rate. Among those who go back is Mr. +Crisparkle. Nobody speaks, but they all look at him. +Four walk in advance and four in the rear. Thus he is +beset, and stops as a last test, and they all stop. He +asks:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Why do you attend upon me in this way? . . +. Are you a pack of thieves?’</p> +<p>‘Don’t answer him,’ said one of the number. +. . . ‘Better be quiet. . . .’</p> +<p>‘I will not submit to be penned in,’ says Neville; +‘I mean to pass those four in front.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>They all stand still, and he shoulders his heavy stick and +quickens his pace. The largest <a name="page188"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 188</span>and strongest man of the number +dexterously closes with him and goes down with him, but not +before the heavy stick has descended smartly. Naturally +Neville is utterly bewildered. Two of them hold his arms +and lead him back into a group whose central figures are Jasper +and Crisparkle. Why on earth did not Crisparkle speak to +him at the beginning, and tell him what had happened? All +this is somnambulistic.</p> +<p>There seems to be a slight slip in chapter ii.</p> +<p>Jasper’s room at the Gatehouse is described. It +has an unfinished picture of a blooming schoolgirl hanging over +the chimneypiece. At the upper end of the room Mr. Jasper +opens a door and discloses a small inner room pleasantly lighted +and prepared for supper.</p> +<p>‘Fixed as the look the young fellow meets is, there is +yet in it some strange power of suddenly including the sketch +over the chimneypiece.’ They dine in the inner +room. The cloth is drawn, and a dish of walnuts and a +decanter of rich coloured sherry are placed upon the table.</p> +<p>‘How’s she looking, Jack?’</p> +<p>Mr. Jasper’s concentrated face again includes the +portrait as he returns: ‘Very like your sketch +indeed.’</p> +<p><a name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +189</span>‘I am a little proud of it,’ says the young +fellow, glancing up at the sketch with complacency, and then +shutting one eye, and taking a corrected prospect of it over a +level bridge of nut-crackers in the air.</p> +<p>Dickens seems to have forgotten that the sketch is in the +other room.</p> +<p>It seems to me that these are slips, but I do not find any +other readers have taken the same view. With these +exceptions, the story seems to be one of Dickens’s best +books. Its grasp of local colour and detail is as strong as +ever it was. There is much of his old humour in the Mayor, +in Miss Twinkleton’s Girls’ School, in Billickin, in +Durdles and his attendant imp. Also the story is +constructed with the greatest care and ingenuity. Any one +who carefully goes over the manuscript and the proofs will see +that Dickens had a plan in his mind that he half revealed and +half concealed, that his phrases and details are chosen with the +nicest care, and that he meant to reward those who at the end +could take a ‘backward look’ by the delight they +would experience in seeing how everything had been scrupulously +planned and artistically conducted to a climax. We cannot +do justice to the book in its present state. But <a +name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +190</span>Dickens’s royal genius was at its full, and would +have vindicated itself. He had set himself deliberately to +carrying out a plot far more exact than he had ever attempted, +and the end was in view from the beginning.</p> +<p>This is not to say that the reason of every incident and every +description was disclosed from the first. I have previously +discussed Edgar Allan Poe’s reading of <i>Barnaby +Rudge</i>, and shown that his perception, keen as it was, yielded +him less than he thought. I have shown how Dickens prepared +the plan for <i>Little Dorrit</i> from the start of his +book. It may be traced now, but without the ‘backward +glance’ it would not have been easy to trace it.</p> +<p>We may also say with some confidence that no new characters of +importance would have been introduced to us in the second +half. In the chapter ‘Half Way with Dickens’ I +have shown that this is the case with five of his principal +books. The conclusion is not stringent, for Dickens was +free to change his method. But it may be said to be highly +probable; if it is true we are left to conjecture the part that +the various characters would have played in the winding up of the +tale.</p> +<p>The book was to end with the capture and <a +name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 191</span>conviction +of Jasper. I have already written of the part played and to +be played by Grewgious. Another hunter of Jasper was +Durdles. The task assigned to Durdles among the hunters is +fairly clear. Sooner or later, by tapping round the Sapsea +monument he is to discover the presence of ‘a wheen +banes,’ or at least of some unsuspected +‘rubbish.’ He had put the inscription on the +monument before Christmas, and had no doubt satisfied himself +then that all was safe. ‘When Durdles puts a touch or +a finish upon his work, no matter where, inside or outside, +Durdles likes to look at his work all round, and see that his +work is a-doing him credit.’</p> +<p>Having made his inspection when the epitaph was put on, +Durdles would have no further curiosity about the tomb until, in +the following summer, he took Mr. Datchery on a rambling +expedition as he had taken Jasper. His peculiar gift, like +that of the bloodhound, is to aid in tracking down the +quarry.</p> +<p>Deputy has also his part to play. From the first Jasper +hates and fears Deputy, and there are signs near the close of +<i>Edwin Drood</i> that this strange boy, who has some +characteristics in common with Dickie Sludge, of +<i>Kenilworth</i>, is to form a close alliance with +Datchery. The <a name="page192"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 192</span>ugliest side of Jasper’s +character displays itself in his treatment of the ‘young +imp employed by Durdles.’ The chanting of the line, +‘Widdy Widdy Wake-cock warning,’ has for him a note +of menace. With the fury of a devil he leaps upon the boy +when he emerges from the crypt with Durdles, and hears a sharp +whistle rending the silence. ‘I will shed the blood +of that impish wretch!’ he cries; ‘I know I shall do +it.’ Durdles has to appeal to him not to hurt the +boy. ‘He followed us to-night, when we first came +here,’ says Jasper. ‘He has been prowling near +us ever since.’</p> +<p>Deputy denies both accusations. ‘I’d only +just come out for my ’elth when I see you two a-coming out +of the Kinfreederal.’</p> +<p>What has Deputy actually seen? He may have testimony to +give of the most vital consequence, but even if he has seen +nothing of Jasper’s movements while Durdles lies asleep, or +of his approach to the Sapsea monument, he will tell Mr. Datchery +of that furious onslaught when Jasper clutched his throat and +threatened to kill him. He will prove a very useful ally of +the hunters.</p> +<p>It seems quite inconceivable that either Durdles or Deputy +could have known the whole <a name="page193"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 193</span>secret and kept it. Neither of +them was capable of keeping a secret long. But they might +have suspicions, and they might and would know circumstances +which when rightly interpreted led to the inevitable +conclusion.</p> +<p>I cannot but think that the chief part in the coming narrative +was to be played by the opium woman. The novel from the +very first page has a touch of the East. In Wilkie +Collins’s <i>The Moonstone</i> the Indians did their part, +and then vanished from the scene. But in <i>Edwin Drood</i> +we have the Landlesses from Ceylon with a touch of dark blood, or +at least of the Eastern spirit. Mr. Lang is in excess of +the facts when he calls them Eurasians, and Dickens hesitates in +ascribing black blood to them. They are more probably +gypsies. We have also the connection of Edwin Drood with +the East. There is more than a suggestion of dark blood in +John Jasper. Above all, we have the opium woman. What +was the connection between John Jasper and the opium woman? +What was John Jasper’s history before he came to +Cloisterham?</p> +<p>We do not know, but conjectures have been hazarded. Mr. +Cuming Walters thinks that the opium woman’s hatred of +Jasper may be due <a name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +194</span>to the fact that Jasper has wronged a child of the +woman’s. He also conjectures that Jasper may be the +son of the opium woman. Dr. Jackson conjectures that Jasper +seduces a young girl who had treated the old woman kindly, that +he neglected this girl for Rosa, that the girl committed suicide, +and that the old woman devoted herself to the pursuit of the +betrayer. All this is mere speculation. We have +really no means of judging whether the speculation is true or +not. It does seem that the woman’s peculiar hatred of +Jasper must have an origin and a grave cause. Miss Stoddart +suggests that the opium woman was not wholly degraded, and that +she is horrified by Jasper’s continually repeated +threatenings while under the influence of opium; that her +sympathies have been wakened for that hapless Ned who bears a +threatened name, and she resolves to do her best to serve +him. With an honest purpose she makes her way before +Christmas to Cloisterham. She loses sight of Jasper, but +actually meets Edwin Drood. The kind act of that young +stranger causes her to unload her conscience, and she bids him be +thankful that his name is not Ned. At her second visit in +the summer she knows from Jasper’s <a +name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 195</span>confessions +under her own roof that the long premeditated crime has actually +taken place, and her object in visiting Cloisterham is to gather +evidence that may serve the ends of justice. This sunken +creature has a task assigned to her, and she fulfils it.</p> +<p>I am not sure that Dickens means to throw any redeeming light +on the character of the opium woman. She has been wronged; +she is seeking vengeance, and at last, she finds it. How +this comes to pass Dickens meant to tell us, but he meant, no +doubt, to surprise us in the telling.</p> +<p>My own belief is that Dickens intended to surprise his readers +by telling them of some unsuspected blood relationship between +his characters. Surprises of this kind are given in his +novels. No reader of <i>Oliver Twist</i> could have guessed +from the first part Oliver’s relationship to Monks and the +Maylies. Who would have supposed from the first half of +<i>Nicholas Nickleby</i> that Smike was the son of Ralph?</p> +<blockquote><p>‘That, boy,’ repeated Ralph, looking +vacantly at him.</p> +<p>‘Whom I saw stretched dead and cold upon his bed, and +who is now in his grave—’</p> +<p>‘Who is now in his grave,’ echoed Ralph, like one +who talks in his sleep.</p> +<p><a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 196</span>The +man raised his eyes, and clasped his hands solemnly together:</p> +<p>‘—Was your only son, so help me God in +heaven!’</p> +<p>In the midst of a dead silence Ralph sat down, pressing his +two hands upon his temples. He removed them after a minute, +and never was there seen, part of a living man undisfigured by +any wound, such a ghastly face as he then disclosed.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Again, who would have supposed from the early part of <i>Great +Expectations</i> that Estella was the daughter of Abel Magwitch? +<a name="citation196"></a><a href="#footnote196" +class="citation">[196]</a></p> +<p>In <i>Barnaby Rudge</i>, Maypole Hugh turns out to be an +illegitimate son of Sir John Chester. In <i>The Old +Curiosity Shop</i>, ‘The Stranger’ is found to be the +brother of the Grandfather. In <i>Bleak House</i>, Esther +Summerson is revealed as a daughter of Lady Dedlock. In +<i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, John Rokesmith turns out to be John +Harmon.</p> +<p>That the action of opium had a part to play in the revelation +can hardly be doubted. The whole book is drenched in +opium. In <a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +197</span><i>The Moonstone</i> the problem is who stole the +jewels. It is solved by opium. The jewels are stolen +by a man under the influence of opium surreptitiously +administered. He is quite unconscious of what he has done, +and remains unconscious. Afterwards he is discovered by a +fresh administration of opium. When the opium has +completely done its work the man repeats his deed, and the +experiment is conclusive.</p> +<p>I do not think that any one reading right on would name the +perpetrator of the theft, and yet when we take a backward glance +we find an account of a dinner-party about the seventieth page +which gives the clue. I doubt whether any one on first +reading it would see in it anything that mattered, and yet it +contains everything that matters. The height of art in work +like this is to conceal art. You may be able at an early +stage to introduce facts which contain the ultimate solution of +your problem, and yet appear important enough to be stated for +their own sake. The solution of the problem, or rather the +materials of the solution, should be given, and yet the reader +should be unable to detect the full significance of the +preliminary statement till the complete clearing arrives. +At the same time the <a name="page198"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 198</span>book will not be satisfactory if +details are superfluous, if they do nothing to carry one on to +the dissipation of the mystery.</p> +<p>It is not to be denied that this fitting of everything into +its place is at times a little wearisome. ‘The +construction is most minute and most wonderful,’ wrote +Anthony Trollope of Wilkie Collins. ‘I can never lose +the taste of the construction. The author seems always +warning me to remember that something happened at exactly +half-past two on Tuesday morning, or that a woman disappeared +from the road just fifteen yards beyond the fourth +milestone.’ There is truth in this, but if Anthony +Trollope had written a novel of mystery, which perhaps he could +never have done, he would have had to take the same path.</p> +<p>Another doctor in <i>The Moonstone</i> tells us that the +ignorant distrust of opium in England spreads through all +classes, so much so, that every doctor in large practice finds +himself every now and then obliged to deceive his patients by +giving them opium under a disguise. He himself claims that +opium saved his life. He suffered from an incurable +internal complaint, but he was determined to live in order to +provide for a person very dear to him. ‘To <a +name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 199</span>that +all-potent and all-merciful drug I am indebted for a respite of +many years from my sentence of death.’</p> +<p>Like Collins, Dickens was keenly interested in the +possibilities of opium. Collins himself was a lavish +consumer of the drug, but I do not think it has been suggested +that Dickens himself ever touched it. Nor is it likely, for +Dickens with all his tenseness of nerve was an eminently +self-controlled and temperate man. But in <i>Edwin +Drood</i> he has inserted a sentence in praise of opium. +The opium woman says to Datchery: ‘It’s opium, +deary. Neither more nor less. And it’s like a +human creetur so far, that you always hear what can be said +against it, but seldom what can be said in its +praise.’ The last sentence was an afterthought on the +part of Dickens. It has been written in.</p> +<p>As to whether Jasper was made ultimately to repeat his crime +in any fashion under the influence of opium, it is impossible to +say. He was unquestionably more or less under the influence +of the drug when he committed it.</p> +<p>The literary men of Dickens’s period were much +interested in the action of drugs, in mesmerism, and the +like. Elliotson, to whom <i>Pendennis</i> is dedicated, was +on intimate terms <a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +200</span>with Dickens. Dickens plainly implies that +Crisparkle went to the weir because Jasper willed him to do +so. Collins and Dickens were both addicted to calling +witnesses to their accuracy. At the close of +<i>Armadale</i>, Collins says: ‘Wherever the story touches +on questions connected with law, medicine, or chemistry, it has +been submitted before publication to the experience of +professional men. The kindness of a friend supplied me with +a plan of the doctor’s apparatus—I saw the chemical +ingredients at work before I ventured on describing the action of +them in the closing scenes of this book.’ Every one +remembers the ‘spontaneous combustion’ preface to +Bleak House. I do not know whether any medical man can be +found to confirm the science of <i>Armadale</i>, or of <i>Bleak +House</i>, or of <i>The Moonstone</i>. But that is not the +question before us. We have only to do with what the +novelist himself believed to be a scientific possibility. +In <i>Kenilworth</i> <a name="citation200"></a><a +href="#footnote200" class="citation">[200]</a> Wayland compounds +‘the true Orvietan, that noble medicine which is so seldom +found genuine and effective within these realms of +Europe.’ Scott adds a note: ‘Orvietan, or +Venice treacle, as it is sometimes called, was understood to be +<a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 201</span>a +sovereign remedy against poison; and the reader must be +contented, for the time he peruses these pages, to hold the same +opinion, which was once universally received by the learned as +well as the vulgar.’ Dickens’s science must be +received in the same manner.</p> +<p>Mr. Crisparkle has one piece of evidence in his memory. +‘Long afterwards he had cause to remember’ how, when +he entered Jasper’s rooms and found him asleep by the fire, +the choirmaster ‘sprang from the couch in a delirious state +between sleeping and waking, and crying out, “What is the +matter? Who did it?”’</p> +<p>As we have already seen, the gathering of the threads is in +the strong hands of Datchery.</p> +<p>As we know, Forster adds that Neville Landless was to have +perished in assisting Tartar finally to unmask and seize the +murderer. It will be seen that this part of his testimony +is more doubtful than the rest, and cannot, therefore, be so +implicitly accepted, but it may well be true. Melancholy +seems to mark Neville Landless for its own, and his passion for +Rosa is hopeless. If he dies, it is a heavy blow for his +devoted sister, who finds her triumph marred by the death of her +brother. Singularly enough, <a name="page202"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 202</span>some writers who have hesitated to +accept Forster’s more expressed testimony make much of the +death of Neville Landless and its circumstances. It need +only be pointed out that all this is pure conjecture, however +ingenious it may be.</p> +<p>I find no difficulty in believing that Dickens carried out his +plan of making Jasper give in prison a review of his own +career. This has been called a poor and conventional idea, +but as worked out by Dickens it would neither have been poor nor +conventional. What remains to be told is, I repeat, largely +the story of John Jasper’s earlier life.</p> +<h2><a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 203</span>THE +MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">A BIBLIOGRAPHY COMPILED BY B. W. +MATZ</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By Charles Dickens. Parts 1–6. With 12 +illustrations by Sir Luke Fildes, R.A. 1870.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">How Mr. Sapsea ceased to be a Member of +the Eight Club</span>. Fragment found by John +Forster. See his <i>Life</i> of the Novelist. Added +to the ‘Biographical,’ ‘National,’ and +‘Centenary’ editions of the novel.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Cloven Foot</span>: An Adaptation of +the English Novel to American Scenes, Characters, Customs and +Nomenclature. By Orpheus C. Kerr (R. H. Newell). New +York: Carleton. 1870.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Mr. E. Drood</span>. +By Orpheus C. Kerr. An English edition of foregoing, with +several minor alterations. London: <i>The Piccadilly +Annual</i>. 1870.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">John Jasper’s Secret</span>: A +Sequel to Charles Dickens’s Unfinished Novel, <i>The +Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>. By Henry Morford, of New York, +and his wife. Issued in parts in America by T. B. Peterson +and Bros., Philadelphia, from October 1871 to March 1872; and in +England anonymously. An edition of the same work was +published in 1901 with the astoundingly false announcement on the +title-page that the book is by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens +the Younger. New York: R. F. Fenno and Co.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. A +Play by Walter Stephens. Performed at the Surrey Theatre, +4th November 1871. Chapman and Hall. 1871.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. A +drama by G. H. Macdermott. Performed at the Britannia +Theatre, 22nd July 1872.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood +Complete</span>. Part the Second. ‘By the +Spirit Pen of Charles Dickens, through a Medium.’ +Published at Brattleborough, Vermont, U.S.A. 1873.</p> +<p><a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 204</span><span +class="smcap">The Great Mystery Solved</span>: Being a Sequel to +<i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>. By Gillan Vase. 3 +vols. London: Remington and Co. 1878.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Le Crime de Jasper</span>. Traduit +de l’Anglais. Dentu. Paris: 1879.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Alive or Dead</span>: A Drama. By +Robert Hall. Performed at the Park Theatre, Camden Town, +3rd May 1880.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Watched by the Dead</span>: A Loving Study +of Dickens’s Half-Told Tale. By Richard A. +Proctor. London: W. H. Allen and Co. 1887. (The +genesis of this ‘loving study’ appeared as articles +in the <i>Belgravia Magazine</i>, June 1878; <i>Leisure +Readings</i>, 1882; and <i>Knowledge</i>, 1884; over the +pseudonym of ‘Thomas Foster.’)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">How ‘Edwin Drood’ was +Illustrated</span>. By Alice Meynell. <i>Century +Magazine</i>, February 1884.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>: +Suggestions for a Conclusion. <i>Cornhill Magazine</i>, +March 1884.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Welfleet Mystery</span> (An Outgrowth +of Dickens’s Last Work). By Mrs. C. A. Read. +<i>The Weekly Budget</i>, 1885.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">A Novelist’s Favourite +Theme</span>. <i>Cornhill Magazine</i>, January 1886.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mystery on Mystery</span>. By Edward +Salmon. <i>Belgravia</i>, September 1887.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Mystery Again</span>. By +Robert Allbut. <i>Daily Union</i>, U.S.A. (letter dated +21st August 1893).</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Clues to the Mystery of Edwin +Drood</span>. By J. Cuming Walters. London: Chapman +and Hall, Ltd. 2s. 6d. 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Solving ‘The Mystery of Edwin +Drood.’</span> By B. W. Matz. +<i>Dickensian</i>, July 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Datchery</span>. By +William Archer. <i>Morning Leader</i>, 15th, 22nd and 29th +July. Replies by J. Cuming Walters, 17th and 26th July +1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Case</span>. By Andrew +Lang. <i>Morning Post</i>, 28th July 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Plot of Edwin Drood</span>. By +Andrew Lang. <i>Academy</i>, 29th July 1905. Reply by +J. Cuming Walters, 12th August 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Clearing of a Mystery</span>. By +Harry Beswick. <i>Clarion</i>, 28th July 1905.</p> +<p><a name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 205</span><span +class="smcap">The Drood Case</span>. By J. Cuming +Walters. <i>Morning Post</i>, 8th August 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The History of a Mystery</span>: A Review +of the Solutions to ‘Edwin Drood.’ By George F. +Gadd. <i>Dickensian</i>, September to December 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Interview between Dr. Watson and Sherlock +Holmes on the Drood Mystery</span>. By Andrew Lang. +<i>Longman’s Magazine</i> (At the Sign of the Ship), +September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By Hammond Hall. <i>Dickensian</i>, September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. By H. +H. F. <i>Academy</i>, 26th August. By J. Cuming +Walters and Andrew Lang, 9th September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Bazzard and Helena</span>. By H. H. +F. <i>Academy</i>, 9th September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Dickens Memories, with Some Reflections on +the Edwin Drood Mystery</span>. By Percy Fitzgerald. +<i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 20th September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>: More +Opinions Regarding the Identity of Datchery. By Dr. Blake +Odgers, J. Cuming Walters, Willoughby Matchett and A. +Bawtree. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 23rd September 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood Mystery</span>. By J. +Cuming Walters. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 27th September +1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Puzzle of Dickens’s Last +Plot</span>. By Andrew Lang. London: Chapman and +Hall, Ltd. 2s. 6d. net. 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">A Dickens Mystery</span>: Mr. Andrew +Lang’s Adventures with Edwin Drood. By J. Cuming +Walters. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 14th October 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mysteries of Edwin Drood</span>. +<i>Times</i>, 27th October. Letters on the same by Sir Luke +Fildes, R.A., 3rd November (reprinted in <i>Dickensian</i>, +December 1905); Andrew Lang, 10th November 1905; and J. W. T. +Ley, 21st November 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood Again</span>. By J. +Cuming Walters. <i>Academy</i>, 28th October 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Lang the Disentangler</span>. By +Walter Herries Pollock. <i>Evening Standard</i>, 30th +October 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Lang Detecting Again</span>. By +G. K. Chesterton. <i>Daily News</i>, 2nd November 1905.</p> +<p><a name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span><span +class="smcap">Edwin Drood</span>: Solutions to the Mystery. +By Henry Smetham. <i>Rochester and Chatham Journal</i>, +18th November 1905. (Reprinted in pamphlet form for private +circulation.)</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By E. J. S. <i>The Star</i>, 25th November 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Literary Correspondence of Edward +Honey concerning the Fate of Edwin Drood</span>. <i>The +Scottish Review</i>, 30th November 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Luke Fildes, The ‘Drood’ +Mystery, and Mr. Lang</span>. By J. Cuming Walters. +<i>Dickensian</i>, December 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood, Dead or Alive</span>. +By J. Cuming Walters. <i>Westminster Gazette</i>, 23rd +December 1905.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Datchery the Enigma</span>: The Case for +Tartar. By George F. Gadd. <i>Dickensian</i>, January +1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood</span>. By Andrew +Lang. <i>Westminster Gazette</i>, 15th January 1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Edwin Drood Syndicate</span>. +<i>The Cambridge Review</i>, Nos. 668–673, 1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By the Rev. Wilfrid Lescher, O.P. <i>Catholic Times</i>, +9th February 1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By A. M. P. <i>The L.C.C. Staff Gazette</i>, April +1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Lytton’s ‘John +Acland.’</span> By J. Cuming Walters. +<i>Athenæum</i>, 14th April 1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood and Dickens’s Last +Days</span>. By Kate Perugini (Dickens’s daughter). +(Illus.) <i>Pall Mall Magazine</i>, June 1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Perugini and Edwin +Drood</span>. By Andrew Lang. <i>Times</i>, 1st June +1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Dissection of Drood</span>. By +J. Meredith Bird. <i>Pall Mall Gazette</i>, 11th June +1906.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Datchery</span>. By Willoughby +Matchett. <i>Dickensian</i>, January 1907.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +Interview with Mr. H. Beerbohm Tree and Mr. J. Comyns Carr. +By Raymond Blathwayt. <i>Cardiff</i>, <i>South Wales Daily +News</i>, 14th November 1907.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>: A Drama +in Four Acts. By J. Comyns Carr. Performed at His +Majesty’s Theatre, 4th January 1908. (First played at +Cardiff, November 1907.)</p> +<p><a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 207</span><span +class="smcap">Edwin Drood</span>. Criticism of Mr. Comyn +Carr’s play by J. Cuming Walters. <i>Daily +Chronicle</i>, 1st January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Keys to the Drood Mystery</span>. By +Edwin Charles. (Illus.) London: Collier and Co. +1s. net. 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">A Chat with Mr. Tree</span>. +<i>Daily Telegraph</i>, 2nd January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Real Edwin Drood</span>. By +Haldane Macfall. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 8th January +1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Secret of Edwin Drood</span>. +Interview with Mr. Comyns Carr. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 9th +January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Mystery</span>. Mr. Hall +Caine’s reply to Mr. Tree. <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, +14th January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Great Drood Case</span>. By +Andrew Lang. <i>Morning Post</i>, 24th January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By T. P. <i>P.T.O.</i>, 25th January 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood at his Majesty’s +Theatre</span>. By J. W. T. Ley. <i>Dickensian</i>, +February 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>: Its +‘Completions’ and ‘Solutions.’ By +B. W. Matz. <i>The Bookshelf</i>, February 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood</span>: A Theory. By +Albert F. Fessenden. Boston (U.S.A.) <i>Evening +Transcript</i>, 7th and 29th February, 7th, 14th, and 21st March +1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Desultory Thoughts on Drood</span>. +By J. Cuming Walters. <i>Dickensian</i>, March 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By B. W. Matz. (Illus.) <i>Bookman</i>, March +1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>: A +Drama. By C. A. Clarke and S. B. Rogerson. Osborne +Theatre, Manchester, March 1908. See <i>Stage</i>, 5th +March 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +With Illustrations. By W. <i>Manchester City +News</i>, 10th March 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Last Words on the Drood +Mystery</span>. By various writers. +<i>Dickensian</i>, April 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Are the Droodists all at Sea</span>? +By W. Teignmouth Shore. <i>T. P.’s Weekly</i>, 21st +August 1908.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Thoughts on the Drood +Mystery</span>. By Henry Leffmann, A.M., M.D. +<i>About Dickens</i> (a privately printed volume). +Philadelphia. 1908.</p> +<p><a name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span><span +class="smcap">Dickens and the Drama</span> (chapter devoted to +Plays on Edwin Drood). By S. J. Adair FitzGerald. +London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 5s. net. 1910.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">About ‘Edwin +Drood.’</span> By H. J. Cambridge University +Press. 4s. net. 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Drood and Datchery</span>. By J. +Cuming Walters. <i>Dickensian</i>, March 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">About ‘Edwin +Drood.’</span> Reviews by Andrew Lang, <i>Morning +Post</i>, 24th February, and <i>Illustrated London News</i>, 4th +March; by B. W. Matz in <i>Daily Chronicle</i>, 24th February; by +‘M. R. J.’ in <i>Cambridge Review</i>, 9th March; by +C. K. S. in <i>The Sphere</i>, 11th March; <i>Athenæum</i>, +1st April 1911; <i>The Author</i>, April 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Mystery Solved</span>. By +J. Cuming Walters. <i>T. P.’s Weekly</i>, 3rd and +24th March 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Cuming Walters on ‘Edwin +Drood.’</span> By Andrew Lang. <i>T. P.’s +Weekly</i>, 17th and 31st March 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Claims of Bazzard</span>. +<i>Birmingham Daily Post</i>, 11th March 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Mystery à la +Americo-Parisienne</span>. By Andrew Lang. <i>Morning +Post</i>, 10th March 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Criticisms and Appreciations of Charles +Dickens’s Works</span>. By G. K. Chesterton. London: +J. M. Dent and Co. 7s. 6d. net. 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">About Edwin Drood</span>. By Andrew +Lang. <i>Dickensian</i>, April 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Drood and Datchery</span>. By +Wilkins Micawber, Junr. <i>Dickensian</i>, April 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Drop It</span>. By J. Cuming +Walters. <i>Dickensian</i>, May 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood and some Queries</span>. By A. +B. Stedman. <i>Dickensian</i>, May 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By Andrew Lang. <i>Blackwood’s Magazine</i>, May +1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Phases of Dickens</span> (chapter on His +Last Mystery). By J. Cuming Walters. London: Chapman +and Hall, Ltd. 5s. net. 1911.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Dickens and His Last Book</span>: A New +Theory. By S. Y. E. <i>Nottingham Guardian</i>, 9th +January 1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Edwin Drood Re-examined</span>. By +‘K.’ <i>The Eye-Witness</i>, 18th and 25th +January, 1st and 8th February 1912.</p> +<p><a name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span><span +class="smcap">The Drood Mystery</span>. By J. Cuming +Walters. <i>The Eye-Witness</i>, 22nd February, 7th and +14th March 1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Drood and Datchery</span>. By +‘K.’ <i>The Eye-Witness</i>, 29th February +1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">In Dickens Street</span> (chapter entitled +A Dickens Mystery). By W. R. Thomson. London: Chapman +and Hall, Ltd. 3s. 6d. net. 1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Mystery of Edwin Drood</span>. +By Dr. J. B. Hellier. <i>British Weekly</i>, 4th April +1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Debate in +Birmingham</span>. By J. Cuming Walters and Willoughby +Matchett. <i>Dickensian</i>, June 1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Andrew Lang and Dickens’s +Puzzle</span>. By J. Cuming Walters. +<i>Dickensian</i>, September 1912.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The Drood Mystery</span>: Extracts from an +Unpublished Article by Andrew Lang. By Arthur +Eckersley. <i>Book Monthly</i>, September 1912.</p> +<h2><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +210</span>INDEX</h2> +<p><i>A Tale of Two Cities</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page88">88</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page92">92</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Abbot</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page137">137</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>About Edwin Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page56">56</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Academy</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Anne of Geierstein</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<p>Archer, William, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page119">119</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page178">178</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Armadale</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>As You like It</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page180">180</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Athenæum</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexviii">xviii</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Bancroft</span>, <span +class="smcap">Lady</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>–6.</p> +<p>Bancroft Recollections, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Barnaby Rudge</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page89">89</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page93">93</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page95">95</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page103">103</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page117">117</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page190">190</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Berliner Tageblatt</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page146">146</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Blackwood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page113">113</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page122">122</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page127">127</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Bleak House</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexviii">xviii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Bookman</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>.</p> +<p>Boothby, Guy, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page170">170</a></span>.</p> +<p>Boucicault, Dion, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page44">44</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brewster, Sir David, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page162">162</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Cambridge Review</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page77">77</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page122">122</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Castle Dangerous</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cattermole, Mr., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page103">103</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chapman and Hall, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chappell, Messrs., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page21">21</a></span>.</p> +<p>Charles, Edwin, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span>–30.</p> +<p><i>Clues to Dickens’s Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page149">149</a></span>.</p> +<p>Collins, Charles Allston, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page27">27</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page39">39</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page41">41</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page54">54</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page70">70</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page75">75</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page111">111</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page127">127</a></span>–8.</p> +<p>Collins, Wilkie, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page141">141</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page149">149</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page170">170</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>; collaboration with Dickens, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page90">90</a></span>; Dickens +praises <i>No Name</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page91">91</a></span>; letter from Dickens, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>; collaborates +in <i>No Thoroughfare</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page124">124</a></span>; influence on Dickens, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page166">166</a></span>; <i>The +Moonstone</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>; criticised by Anthony Trollope, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page198">198</a></span>; +interested in effects of opium, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span>–200.</p> +<p><i>Count Robert of Paris</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Daily Mail</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>David Copperfield</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Dickens</i>, <i>Life of Charles</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page36">36</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page165">165</a></span>.</p> +<p>Dickens, the younger, Charles, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page35">35</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page70">70</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page110">110</a></span>–11.</p> +<p><i>Dombey and Son</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Edinburgh Review</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page104">104</a></span>–5, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page151">151</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Edwin Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexvii">xvii</a></span>-xviii, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page3">3</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page117">117</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page165">165</a></span>; Forster on +how it was written, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>–8; Madame Perugini’s +testimony, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>–41; the cover, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page40">40</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page54">54</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page69">69</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page71">71</a></span>–81, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page111">111</a></span>; the +play, <span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page44">44</a></span>; +plans for novel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page57">57</a></span>–68; compared with <i>No +Thoroughfare</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page124">124</a></span>.</p> +<p>Eick, Dr. Hugo, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page146">146</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page180">180</a></span>.</p> +<p>Elliotson, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Fildes</span>, <span class="smcap">Sir +Luke</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page26">26</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page41">41</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page44">44</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page53">53</a></span>–4, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page70">70</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page77">77</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page111">111</a></span>–12, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page128">128</a></span>.</p> +<p>Forster, John, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page4">4</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>–42, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page53">53</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page103">103</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page202">202</a></span>; on +<i>Edwin </i><a name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +211</span><i>Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>–8; on Drood being murdered, +<span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page109">109</a></span>–10.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Gadd</span>, <span class="smcap">Mr. G. +F.</span> <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page182">182</a></span>.</p> +<p>Garrick, David, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page163">163</a></span>.</p> +<p>Garrick, Mrs., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gladstone, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexv">xv</a></span>.</p> +<p>Graeme, Miss Stirling, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page159">159</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Great Expectations</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexviii">xviii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page88">88</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Hatton</span>, <span class="smcap">Miss +Bessie</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hatton, Joseph, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span>–4, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page111">111</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hogarth, Miss, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page42">42</a></span>.</p> +<p>Homer, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexv">xv</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Household Words</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page115">115</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Hunted Down</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page114">114</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Ingram</span>, <span class="smcap">Mr. J. +H.</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page95">95</a></span>.</p> +<p>Irving, Mr. H. B., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Jackson</span>, <span class="smcap">Mr. +Harry</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page44">44</a></span>.</p> +<p>Jackson, Professor Henry, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page56">56</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page78">78</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page113">113</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page173">173</a></span>–4, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page186">186</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page194">194</a></span>; his +reading of the cover of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page72">72</a></span>–5; how +Edwin was murdered, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page131">131</a></span>–40; chronology of the +chapters, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page171">171</a></span>; on Bazzard, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page180">180</a></span>; the +Tartar-Datchery theory, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page182">182</a></span>.</p> +<p>James, Dr. M. R., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span>; his interpretation of the cover +of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page77">77</a></span>–8; was Edwin murdered?, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page121">121</a></span>–2; on +Datchery, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span>; the Bazzard-Datchery theory, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page179">179</a></span>.</p> +<p>Journal of Sir Walter Scott, The, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page184">184</a></span>–5.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Kenilworth</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page191">191</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Lang</span>, <span class="smcap">Mr. +Andrew</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page113">113</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page130">130</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page139">139</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page163">163</a></span>–4, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page170">170</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page178">178</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page185">185</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page193">193</a></span>; on the +cover of <i>Edwin Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page70">70</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page75">75</a></span>–7, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page80">80</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page127">127</a></span>–8; +his theory of the murder of Edwin, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page120">120</a></span>–3, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page132">132</a></span>; the +Datchery-Neville theory, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page181">181</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Leisure Readings</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page118">118</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Little Dorrit</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page87">87</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page104">104</a></span>–5, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page190">190</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Macbeth</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span>–30.</p> +<p><i>Martin Chuzzlewit</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page25">25</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Master Humphrey’s Clock</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page95">95</a></span>.</p> +<p>Matz, Mr. B. W., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<p>Millais, Sir John, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page26">26</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Moonstone</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page92">92</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page167">167</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page197">197</a></span>–8, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Morning Leader</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page119">119</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Morning Post</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page130">130</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Mystifications</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page159">159</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Nickleby</i>, <i>Nicholas</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page195">195</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>No Name</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page92">92</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page167">167</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>No Thoroughfare</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page124">124</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Odgers</span>, <span class="smcap">Dr. +Blake</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page177">177</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Old Curiosity Shop</i>, <i>The</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Oliver Twist</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page21">21</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page25">25</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page195">195</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexviii">xviii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page25">25</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page86">86</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page179">179</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Pall Mall Magazine</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Pendennis</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>People</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span>.</p> +<p>Perugini, Madame, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page70">70</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page109">109</a></span>–11, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page127">127</a></span>–8.</p> +<p>Philadelphia <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page94">94</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page100">100</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Phineas Finn</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Pickwick</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<p>Poe, Edgar Allan, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page93">93</a></span>–103, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page190">190</a></span>.</p> +<p>Proctor, Mr. R. A., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page118">118</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page164">164</a></span>; on the cover of Edwin Drood, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page74">74</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page77">77</a></span>; was Drood +murdered?, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page114">114</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page120">120</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page131">131</a></span>–2; the Bazzard-Datchery +theory, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page179">179</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Puzzle of Dickens’s Last Plot</i>, <i>The</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page75">75</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page139">139</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Recollections and Impressions</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page162">162</a></span>.</p> +<p>Rosebery, Lord, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiii">xiii</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><a name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 212</span><span +class="smcap">Scott</span>, <span class="smcap">Sir +Walter</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page159">159</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page163">163</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page184">184</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sellar, Mrs., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page162">162</a></span>.</p> +<p>Shakespeare, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page180">180</a></span>.</p> +<p>Shorter, Mr. Clement, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>.</p> +<p>Skene, Mr., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Sketches by Boz</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Spectator</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page69">69</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stoddart, Miss J. T., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexiv">xiv</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page133">133</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page139">139</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page194">194</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stone, R.A., Mr. Marcus, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Studies in Prose and Poetry</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page104">104</a></span>.</p> +<p>Swinburne, Mr., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page91">91</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page104">104</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Thackeray</span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page23">23</a></span>.</p> +<p>Thomson, Mr. Hugh, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexii">xii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page78">78</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page128">128</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Times</i>, <i>The</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page53">53</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page127">127</a></span>.</p> +<p>Trollope, Anthony, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page198">198</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>, <i>The</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page180">180</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Vase</span>, <span +class="smcap">Gillan</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexi">xi</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Walters</span>, <span class="smcap">Mr. +Cuming</span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagex">x</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexvii">xvii</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>; on the cover of <i>Edwin +Drood</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>; how Edwin was murdered, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page132">132</a></span>; Helena as +Datchery, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page149">149</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page158">158</a></span>; the Bazzard-Datchery theory, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page179">179</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Watched by the Dead</i>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span>.</p> +<p>Whitty, Mr. J. H., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page95">95</a></span>.</p> +<p>Willard, Mr., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page45">45</a></span>.</p> +<p><i>Woman in White</i>, <i>The</i>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page90">90</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page167">167</a></span>.</p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote63"></a><a href="#citation63" +class="footnote">[63]</a> This was originally marked +IX.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67a"></a><a href="#citation67a" +class="footnote">[67a]</a> Scored out in Dickens’s +MS.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67b"></a><a href="#citation67b" +class="footnote">[67b]</a> Scored out in Dickens’s +MS.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67c"></a><a href="#citation67c" +class="footnote">[67c]</a> Scored out in Dickens’s +MS.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67d"></a><a href="#citation67d" +class="footnote">[67d]</a> Scored out in Dickens’s +MS.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90"></a><a href="#citation90" +class="footnote">[90]</a> Charles Dickens as Editor, p. +386.</p> +<p><a name="footnote91"></a><a href="#citation91" +class="footnote">[91]</a> Letters of Charles Dickens to +Wilkie Collins, p. 123.</p> +<p><a name="footnote92a"></a><a href="#citation92a" +class="footnote">[92a]</a> <i>Studies in Prose and +Poetry</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote92b"></a><a href="#citation92b" +class="footnote">[92b]</a> <i>Letters of Charles Dickens to +Wilkie Collins</i>, p. 103.</p> +<p><a name="footnote104"></a><a href="#citation104" +class="footnote">[104]</a> It was known to that thorough +scholar, Mr. Swinburne. See <i>Studies in Prose and +Poetry</i>, p. 114.</p> +<p><a name="footnote113"></a><a href="#citation113" +class="footnote">[113]</a> <i>Blackwood</i>, May 1911, p. +672.</p> +<p><a name="footnote119"></a><a href="#citation119" +class="footnote">[119]</a> <i>Morning Leader</i>, 15th July +1905.</p> +<p><a name="footnote122"></a><a href="#citation122" +class="footnote">[122]</a> <i>Cambridge Review</i>, 9th +March 1911.</p> +<p><a name="footnote127"></a><a href="#citation127" +class="footnote">[127]</a> 1st June 1906.</p> +<p><a name="footnote130"></a><a href="#citation130" +class="footnote">[130]</a> 24th February 1911.</p> +<p><a name="footnote139"></a><a href="#citation139" +class="footnote">[139]</a> <i>The Puzzle of Dickens’s +Last Plot</i>, p. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote163"></a><a href="#citation163" +class="footnote">[163]</a> <i>Recollections and +Impressions</i>, by E. M. Sellar, p. 64.</p> +<p><a name="footnote164a"></a><a href="#citation164a" +class="footnote">[164a]</a> <i>Journal of Sir Walter +Scott</i>, vol. ii. p. 422.</p> +<p><a name="footnote164b"></a><a href="#citation164b" +class="footnote">[164b]</a> <i>Cambridge Review</i>, 9th +March 1911.</p> +<p><a name="footnote184"></a><a href="#citation184" +class="footnote">[184]</a> <i>Sir Walter Scott’s +Journal</i>, vol. ii. p. 131.</p> +<p><a name="footnote185"></a><a href="#citation185" +class="footnote">[185]</a> <i>Sir Walter Scott’s +Journal</i>, vol. ii. p. 236.</p> +<p><a name="footnote196"></a><a href="#citation196" +class="footnote">[196]</a> The following may be quoted from +<i>Pickwick</i>:</p> +<blockquote><p>‘“Dismal Jenny?” inquired +Jingle.</p> +<p>‘“Yes.”</p> +<p>‘Jingle shook his head.</p> +<p>‘“Clever rascal—queer fellow, hoaxing +genius—Job’s brother.”</p> +<p>‘“Job’s brother!” exclaimed Mr. +Pickwick. “Well, now I look at him closely, there is +a likeness.”’</p> +</blockquote> +<p><a name="footnote200"></a><a href="#citation200" +class="footnote">[200]</a> Chapter xiii.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PROBLEM OF 'EDWIN DROOD'***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 36311-h.htm or 36311-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/3/1/36311 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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