alings with the Firm of
Dombey and Son, Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation,' published in
book form in 1847. Here we have the pathetic story of Little Paul, the
tragic fate of Carker, the amusing episode of Jack Bunsby with his
designing widow, and the devotion of Susan Nipper, Mr. Toots, Captain
Cuttle, and Sol Gills to the gentle, patient, lovable Florence.

On the 'Personal History of David Copperfield,' published in 1850, and
of Dickens's share in its plot, something has already been said here. It
is perhaps the most popular of all his productions, containing as it
does Mr. Dick, the Peggottys, the Micawbers, the Heeps, Betsey Trotwood,
Steerforth, Tommy Traddles, Dora, Agnes, and Little Emily, in all of
whom the world has been so deeply interested for so many years.

'A Child's History of England' and 'Bleak House' saw the light in 1853.
The romance was written as a protest and a warning against the law's
delays, as exhibited in the Court of Chancery; and it contains the
tragedy of Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, and the short but touching
story of Poor Jo.

'Hard Times,' a tale in one volume, was printed in 1854. It introduces
the Gradgrind family.

'Little Dorrit' appeared in 1857. In this book he returns to the
Debtor's Prison of Micawber and of his own father. Little Dorrit herself
was "the child of the Marshalsea," in which she was born and brought up;
and the whole story is an appeal against the injustice of depriving of
personal liberty those who cannot pay their bills, or meet their notes,
however small. Its prominent characters are the Clennams, mother and
son, the Meagleses, Flintwinch, Sir Decimus Tite Barnacle, Rigaud and
Little Cavalletto.

'A Tale of Two Cities,' a remarkable departure for Dickens, and unlike
any of his other works, was the book of the year 1859. It is conceded,
even by those who are not counted among the admirers of its author, to
be a most vivid and correct picture of Paris during the time of the
Revolution, when the guillotine was the king of France. Its central
figure, Sydney Carton, one of the most heroic characters in romance,
gives his life to restore his friend to the girl whom they both love.

'The Uncommercial Traveller,' a number of sketches and stories
originally published in his weekly journal All the Year Round, appeared
in 1860. They were supplemented in 1868 by another volume bearing the
same title, and containing eleven other papers collected from the same