The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-30 00:00:00

The Funeral of Mr. W. M. Thackeray.

(THIS DAY.)

To-day the mortal remains of the late William
Makepeace Thackeray were consigned to their last
earthly resting-place, in All Souls Cemetery, in the
presence of a large number of literary and other
friends, who attended to pay respect to his memory.
The funeral procession, which was one of extreme
simplicity, left the residence of the deceased in the
Kensington-palace-gardens, at eleven o'clock. It
consisted of a chief mourning coach, in which were
the Rev. John Thackeray, Captain Shaw, the
brother-in-law of the deceased, Mr. James Rood,
his cousin, and the Hon. E. Curzon. There were
ten private carriages, in the following order—those
of Mr. Martin Thackeray, Mr. Lowe, Lord Gardner,
Sir W. Frazer, Earl Granville, Mr. Macaulay,
Q.C.osir James Colville, Mr. Bradbury, of the
firm of Bradbury and Evans.
The funeral procession arrived at the cemetery
at a few minutes past 12 o'clock at which time there
were between 1500 and 1600 present, most of them
congregated in front of tha chapel doors.
Amongst them we noticed Mr. Robert Bell, Mr.
Charles Dickens, Mr. Mark Lemon, the Rev. Dr.
Rudge, Mr. Robert Bel), Mr. Leech, Mr Isaac
Butt, M.P., Mr. Charles Matthews, Mr. Howel
Morgan, the High Sheriff of Merionethshire, Mr.
W. H. Russell, the historian of the Crimea, Mr-
Lawrence, Mr. O'Dowd, the Aldermen of London
(Masters of the Charterhouse in which Mr.
Thackeray was educated), Mr. H. Cole, Mr. Rich-
mond, Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Theodore Martin, Mr.
Cresswell, Mr. C. L. Gruneisen, Mr. R. Browning,
Sir J. Carmichael, &c.

The solemn service of the church was said in
the small mortuary chapel at the western end of the
cemetery, by the Rev. Charles Stuart, of King's
College, London. The pressure of persons anxious
to obtain admission into the chapel was intense, but
there was no confusion, and every word which was
spoken was distinctly audible.
At the close of the chapel service, the precessio❑
was reformed, and, preceded by the minister,moved
to the grave, which is situated on the south side of
the cemetery, and near to the dead wall, which
abuts upon the canal. There a dense crowd collected,
and the chaplain at once continued the service.
The body was lowered into the grave in
solemn silence, amidstthe consolations which the
burial service of the Church of England so patheti-
cally provides.
Having taken a last glance at the grave which
contained the remains of their departed friend, the
vast assemblage dispersed.
The coffin was an extremely plain one, covered
with black cloth, and bearing a simple inscription
setting forth the day of the birth and that of the
death of the deceased.

The Misses. Thackeray were present in the ceme-
tery during the service, and were naturally much
affected.

On the Day of the Great Satirist-Humourist's
Funeral, one of the periodicals his genius, in its
time, the most signally adorned—Punch,—appro-
priately comes forth with that genial, kindly,
charming tribute to his memory :
While generous tributes are everywhere paid
to the Genius of him who has been suddenly called
away in the fulness of his power and the maturity
of his fame, some who have for many years enjoyed
the advantage of his assistance and the delight of
his society would simply record that they have lost
a dear Friend. At an early period in the history
of this periodical he became a contributor to its
pages, and he long continued to enrich them, and
though of late he had ceased to give other aid than
suggestion and advice, he was a constant member of
our council, and sat with us on the eighth day from
that which has saddened England's Christmas.
Let the brilliancy of his trained intellect, the
terrible strength of his satire, the subtlety of his
wit, the richness of his humour, and the catholic
range of his calm wisdom, be themes for others :
the mourning friends who inscribe these lines to
his memory think of the affectionate nature, the
cheerful companionship, the large heart and open
hand, the simple courteousness, and the endearing
frankness of a brave, true, honest Gentleman, whom
no pen but his own could depict as those who knew
him would desire