Page:Hopkinson Smith--In Dickens's London.djvu/186

IN DICKENS'S LONDON reminiscences, some of the author's reasons for wishing to become his own editor.

The idea had taken possession of Dickens, he said, as early as 1845, his object being to start a periodical owned, edited, and entirely controlled by himself, through which he might not only publish his novels, but also the stories, short articles, and other writings of people whose philanthropic and humanitarian ideas were like his own. In pursuance of this plan Household Words saw the light on March 30, 1850, and was continued until May 16, 1859, when, owing to a regrettable piece of personal feeling on Mr. Dickens's part, the property was sold under an order in chancery and bought on behalf of Charles Dickens for 3,500, and merged into All the Year Round, which he had established a few months before.

He told me, too, of the many attempts made by Dickens and his friends to decide on a proper title for the new venture, among them The Hearth, The Forge, Charles Dickens&apos;s Own, and the final triumph as shown in an exultant letter written to Forster in which Mr. Dickens says:

"I'm dining early, before reading, and write literally with my mouth full. But I have just hit upon a name that I think really an admirable one—especially with the quotation before it, in the place where our present 'H. W.' quotation stands.

"'The Story of our lives, from year to year.'—Shakespeare.

"'ALL THE YEAR ROUND'

"A WEEKLY JOURNAL CONDUCTED BY CHARLES DICKENS."

And then he told me of another letter in which Dickens, writing from Tavistock House, said: "I have taken a new 118