THE DICKENS CENTENNIAL.

An unusual interest attaches to Professor Copeland's reading in the Union this evening. It may be called Harvard's only recognition of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with whose amiable characters nearly all of us are familiar. In New York a committee of which T. Roosevelt '80 is chairman, last night gave a banquet at which the best known writers of the country paid tribute to the author of "Pickwick". This evening the same committee will organize a mass meeting where Dr. Van Dyke, H. W. Mabie, and William Watson, of London, will speak. Were it not for Professor Copeland, it is doubtful if any of us would take an interest in Dickens today other than to hear that William Watson, of London, read an original poem in commemoration of the anniversary "before a large and cultured audience."

To those who recently heard Professor Bliss Perry's brilliant lecture on "Dickens", in Comparative Literature 12, or to those who are already familiar with the inimitable Dick Swiveller, the Artful Dodger, Mr. Pecksniff, with his air of injured innocence, Miss Sarah Gamp or her omnipresent friend Mrs. Harris, little urging to hear Professor Copeland need be given. To those unacquainted with some of the most familiar and lovable characters in fiction, the reading this evening offers a rare opportunity in this land of plenty.