Dicken's Last Letter

There was never a great scandal so promptly suppressed—at least at a distance—by a word from one of the persons most interested, as in the recent case of the gossip about the separation of Dickens and his wife. His card about it in the Household Words was frank, and manly, and conclusive. Every body knew there must be a great deal that was not said. Parents do not part after more than twenty married years together wihout a depth of tragical history that is not to be easily sounded.

But it is evident that the little whispers of busy tongues in London have been stinging Dickens to the quick. He could not bear it, and he has authorized the publication of a private letter which treats the subject more in detail. This is a very great mistake and misfortune. The first card was called for, and it was a generous shield of his wife as well as a conclusive defence of their conduct. But the last letter is a kind of justification of himself and consequent implication of his wife, which, however properly he might have breathed to a friend, is almost an outrage when published to the world.