fully anxious that her not having been to the
great demonstration should be kept a secret. But I say that, like
murder, it will out, and that to hope to veil such a tremendous disgrace
from the general intelligence is out of the question. In one of the
Glasgow papers she is elaborately described. I rather think Miss Alison,
who is seventeen, was taken for her, and sat for the portrait.

Best love from both of us, to Charley, Mamey, Katey, Wally,
Chickenstalker, Skittles, and the Hoshen Peck; last, and not least, to
you. We talked of you at the Macreadys' party on Monday night. I hope
---- came out lively, also that ---- was truly amiable. Finally, that
---- took everybody to their carriages, and that ---- wept a good deal
during the festivities? God bless you. Take care of yourself, for the
sake of mankind in general.

Ever affectionately, dear Georgy.

1848.

NARRATIVE.

In March of this year Charles Dickens went with his wife for two or
three weeks to Brighton, accompanied by Mrs. Macready, who was in
delicate health, and we give a letter to Mr. Macready from Brighton.
Early in the year, "Dombey and Son" was finished, and he was again busy
with an amateur play, with the same associates and some new adherents;
the proceeds being, at first, intended to go towards the curatorship of
Shakespeare's house, which post was to be given to Mr. Sheridan Knowles.
The endowment was abandoned, upon the town and council of
Stratford-on-Avon taking charge of the house; the large sum realised by
the performances being handed over to Mr. Sheridan Knowles. The play
selected was "The Merry Wives of Windsor;" the farce, "Love, Law, and
Physic." There were two performances at the Haymarket in April, at one
of which her Majesty and the Prince Consort were present; and in July
there were performances at Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh,
and Glasgow. Some ladies accompanied the "strollers" on this theatrical
provincial tour, and Mrs. Dickens and her sister were of the party. Many
of the following letters bear reference to these plays.

In this summer, his eldest sister Fanny (Mrs. Burnett) died, and there
are sorrowful allusions to her illness in several of the letters.

The autumn months were again spent at Broadstairs, where he wrote "The
Haunted Man," which was illustrated by Mr. Frank Stone, Mr. Leech, and
others. At the end of the year and at the end of his work, he took
an