The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-02 00:00:00

MR. THACKERAY S SECOND LECTURE.
S ill grt-ater numbers of the world of literature and
fashion crowded to Mr. Thackeray's second lecture on
Thursday. The subjecta chosen were Congreve and
Addison. The former was a character almost made for
the pencil of the author of " Vanity Fair." Congreve
was a disciple of foppery and fun, dissipation and art;
a fine gentleman, with fine parts; and, to crown all, pas-
sing worthless.

The opening was quite in the old characteristic style.
We are reminded how, just before the Reform Bill, the
young gentlemen of the "Union," at Cambridge,
were
of opinion that great noblemen who owned boroughs
s 4 always had their eye on the club as a place
• to get politicians from; how Jones, of John's,
&c., supported our sacred institutions, or denounced
isK
priestcrafr, with that idea always present to
. them. This introduced the mention of the large crop
of places given to literary men in Addison and Coe-
: greve's time; how a neat copy of Latin verses, or a
happy " ode" on a public event, made a young colle-
gian's fortune. Congreve was then formally introduced
as an example of extreme literary prosperity; how
everything went well with him; how he was beau, wit,
• and lover—ambrosial, irresistible, magnificent. He was
described as a delightful rascal; as a gay disciple of the
" eat-and-drink-for to-morrow-we-die" school. As for
. his comedy, that Mr. Thackeray characterised as essen-
tially pagan or heathen. He illustrated the effect pro-
duced by an examination of it, now-a-days, by a sin-
gularly happy metaphor—it was like visiting Pompeii,
and seeing Sidlust's house there, in the ruins. The
Ice cake and wine in the jars. The jester's laughing
skull—the breast of a dancing girl. The charred ban-
quet table. He pointed out with a sad ridicule its im-
f morality—the father treated as a dotard—the husband
14 as a victim. He exposed in a style at once mournful
% and quizzical the hollowness of a gaiety that had no
. love in it, and produced the happiest t ff. ct by in-
terspersing earnest reprobation of the system with
laughter at what was superficially absurd in it; for in-
, stance when making out our comic writer something
i% very like a scoundrel, be jested at his conceit, and dui
not even spare bis wig. Hence this part of his discourse
twas like a sermon where you saw the sinner—not only
as sinner but as the individual of every day life. And
you were reminded at last that Congreve left his money,
' not to Mrs. Bracegirdle, who did want it, but to the
1/6 great lady, who did not want it at all.
% Addison is obviously one of Mr. Thackeray's greatest
favoiritts. He sketched his life throughout, dwelling
on its notable incidents with a pleasant commentary, the
charm of which consisted in this—that it was always
social and familiar, treating Addison as Addi-
-14 son himself treats Sir Roger de Coverley, with
,% a philosophical familiarity. He was noways bigoted in
ts doing 'this task of biography, for he took to pieces the
ad
famous figure of the angel in his " Campaign," and
, plainly treated the poem as containing a great deal of
,% mere staff. Apropos of the said angel, he showed that
tt was the founoutiou of the writer's fortune, and got him
his first great step in the world. "Ab 1" exclaimed he,
playfully at this point, " these sort of angels' visits
are few and far betw, en to men of letters. It is not often
that angels' wings flutter at second-floor windows."
Addison, he said; was undoubtedly one of the very greatest
geniuses, and this made it natural that he should net
have bean much given to praising too much. He sel-
dom praised any but the very highest men, but he
bowed down with delight to the imperial genius of
Milton. However, Mr. Thackeray did not seem to
think that he liked to praise young Mr. Pope the
great satirist very much. He would not have
dispraised him, perhaps, but—it Mr. Addison's men
,% had done so, he didn't think Mr. Addison would have
, taken his pipe out of his mouth to tell them to stop.
..... Addison was indubitably a good-hearted kind man, a
benevolent, pure-minded man towards his fellow-crea-
tures; if he had no very startling virtues, he surely had
ice, no vices—scarcely a fault, except one which he was
known to be rather addicted to—his fondness for wine.
Without this ho would have been, the lecturer announced
(very characteristically), " a more perfect man—and
without it we should not have loved him so much."
• There was, we observed, a sort of particular ex-
-136 pectancy as Mr. Thackeray came to the part where he
;, spoke of Addiaon'i marriage. He narrated agree-
ably how he wrote to young Lord Warwick, de
scribing the warbling of the nightingales. These
nightingales were intended to warble in the ear
of Lord Warwick's mamma. He married the
re* countess, and died in Holland House three years
after that splendid but uncomfortable union. The lea
Curer next characterised Addison as a "man's man,"
and as one of the most determined "club men" of his
day. Women he judged of superficially, and knew little
of them. Oae only he knew well, and her he did nut
think very mach ofl
The concluding part of the lecture dealt more parti-
cularly with the great man's literary character. He de-
scribed him as the gentlest of satirists; one who pointed
out to you in a delightful m :nner the foibles of your
neighbour, and, turning his head over his shoulder, whis-
pered to, him good.
At this point of the disquisition Mr. Tbackeray read
very eff ctively some choice specimens of the Addisonian
humour, and concluded in a high and serious strain,
after reading one of his most famous poems, by a warm
description of tie susceptibility to religious impressions.
. Nothing could have been more satisfactory altoisether
than the reception of the lecture by the crowded au-
dience, and, indeed, it was perhaps even more than the
last one, a delightful specimen of the author's power.-
Morning l'aper.