Household
Words," and which was the only book he ever wrote by dictation. But, as
at Broadstairs and other seaside homes, he had always plenty of
relaxation and enjoyment in the visits of his friends. In September he
finished "Bleak House," and in October he started with Mr. Wilkie
Collins and Mr. Egg from Boulogne, on an excursion through parts of
Switzerland and Italy; his wife and family going home at the same time,
and he himself returning to Tavistock House early in December. His
eldest son, Charles, had left Eton some time before this, and had gone
for the completion of his education to Leipsic. He was to leave Germany
at the end of the year, therefore it was arranged that he should meet
the travellers in Paris on their homeward journey, and they all returned
together.

Just before Christmas he went to Birmingham in fulfilment of an offer
which he had made at the dinner given to him at Birmingham on the 6th of
January (of which he writes to Mr. Macready in the first letter that
follows here), to give two readings from his own books for the benefit
of the New Midland Institute. They were his first public readings. He
read "The Christmas Carol" on one evening, and "The Cricket on the
Hearth" on the next, before enormous audiences. The success was so
great, and the sum of money realised for the institute so large, that he
consented to give a second reading of "The Christmas Carol," remaining
another night in Birmingham for the purpose, on the condition that seats
were reserved, at prices within their means, for the working men. And to
his great satisfaction they formed a large proportion, and were among
the most enthusiastic and appreciative of his audience. He was
accompanied by his wife and sister-in-law, and on this occasion a
breakfast was given to him after his last reading, at which a silver
flower-basket, duly inscribed, was very gracefully presented to _Mrs._
Charles Dickens.

The letters in this year require little explanation. Those to his wife
and sister-in-law and Mr. Wills give a little history of his Italian
journey. At Naples he found his excellent friend Sir James Emerson
Tennent, with his wife and daughter, with whom he joined company in the
ascent of Vesuvius.

The two letters to M. Regnier, the distinguished actor of the Theatre
Francais--with whom Charles Dickens had formed a sincere friendship
during his first residence in Paris--on the subject of a projected
benefit to Miss Kelly, need no fu