A hundred years ago
From the 'Spectator,' II June /870—The author who attained by far the greatest popularity ever won in a lifetime. Charles Dickens, died on Thursday, at his home at Gadshill. after an illness of little more than twenty-four hours. His death is attributed to a paralytic stroke. He had had threatenings of some such seizure a short time ago, but seemed quite to have iv- covered his health; and, certainly if the three numbers already issued of his new tale,—"The Mystery of Edwin Drood,"—be any gauge of the power of his brain, he had not been so vigorous for many years back. Many of his old admirers, who had in some degree fallen off from Mr. Dickens, had been attracted by the freshness and originality of his new tale, and had returned to their allegiance. ... Probably no writer in any country ever earned so great a fortune by his pen as Mr. Dickens. Perhaps he is the only English writer of whom it can be truly said that in any one line in which Shakes- peare was not only great, but at his greatest, this other was greater than he. But as a humourist, we think it is true of Dickens,— Juliet's nurse and Mrs. Gamp are both great creations, but Mrs. Gamp is the greater of the two.
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