Dickens's Christmas Books - complete online versions

The Christmas Carol, The Chimes, Cricket On the Hearth, Battle Of Life
& The Haunted Man & the Ghosts's Bargain with Illustrations.

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	INTRODUCTION.                                 xxi
	3.—THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. The history of the third of the Christmas books is unevent­ful enough, and nothing like the storm and stress of the Chimes period is to be found recorded in connection with the Cricket on the Hearth in Charles Dickens's Life or Letters. Indeed there is only one allusion to any difficulty con­nected with the story, and that is contained in a letter of the 31st of October, 1845, in which Charles Dickens announced that he was at a dead lock with the story, and described himself as being sick, bothered, and depressed, add­ing, " I never was in such bad writing cue as I am this week, in all my life." But even this was not fairly attributable to the Cricket, and arose principally, no doubt, from the fact that he was at that time engaged on the preparations for a very serious enterprise—the starting of the Daily News. The first idea of the Cricket had reference to the weekly or monthly periodical which Charles Dickens always had in his mind, and which at that time he proposed to issue weekly, at three halfpence if possible. The notion was that it was to be "partly original, partly select; notices of books, notices of theatres, notices of all good things; notices of all bad ones; Carol philosophy, cheerful views, sharp anatomisation of humbug, jolly good temper; papers always in season, pat to the time of year; and a vein of glowing, hearty, generous, mirthful, beaming reference in everything to Home and Fire­side ;" and was to be called the Cricket, with the motto, " A cheerful creature that chirrups on the Hearth. Natural History!'' In further strong recommendation of the idea, he wrote to Mr. Forster thus :— Now don't decide hastily till you've heard what I would do. I would come out, Sir, with a prospectus on the subject of the Cricket that should put everybody in a good temper, and make such a dash at people's fenders and armchairs as hasn't been made for many a long day. I could approach them in a different mode under this name, and in a more winning and immediate way than under any other. I would at once sit down upon their very hobs ; and take a personal and confidential position with them which