The southern press., 1851-07-23
From the London Naes.
Mr. Thaskeray,s Lertures.

yesterdays lecture, the last OF Mr.. Thackeray's
series.
/ He began by sketching the facts Of Sterne's
life. He was the son of an officer IN anarching
! regiment, who died from wound in duel--a
rough, good fellow, who marched on till he met
with the fatal goose who put termination TO
his existence. Young Lawrence went TO school
at Halifax; to Jesus College, Cambridge and
ultimately got the living Of Sutton, 10 Yorkshire.
Mr.. Thackeray's first comments on his charac-
ter were founded on his love affairs. lie was
found addressing the lady whom he married
With the most sentimental passion. lie spoke
of her as flower But such fountain rs Mr..
! Sterne's love was not for one rose only No.
When years he'd passed over he wrote, In a let.
ter to friend, in dog latin, ard very sad dog.
latin, that he wished his wife was dead She
4 bored him. il would seem. And he wrote
letters full Of sentiment 20 Eliza" his dear
child,' and SO on--a Mrs. Draper. the wife of an
Indian official, much respected Ia that quartz, Of
the globe; yet scarcely bad she sailed from Do
yer, in 1867, than the worn-out old scamp was
offering his heart 10 somebody else. Soon after
wards his cadaverons body was consigned 10
Pluto To be sure there were signs OF grace
| in his last letteis--thosc to his daughter, his
letters to whom usually breathed love and kind
ness.
| ~
ons case, that Of man who had to bring his in
ner life, his tears his smiles, his hopes his fears,
before the public for mopey. Did ne feign in.
dignaton! Did he assumed Did he pretend |!
Could he trust himself! Was he not tempted
to cant! How much was true sensbity--how
much false Where did the truth end and the
les begin! He 1.-THE lecturer) had some time
before passed the evening with French singer.
This man, after singing for n long time, to The
pain of many of his hearers, chdns0ns of ques-
| tionable character--sang sentimental one. lie
did it charmngy; everybody was moved, and
nobody more than the singer himself. Now,
Sterne had something like that about him. He
blubbered over his paper; he had a lucrative
art of weeping; he utilised his anguish. Sterne
often, Mr. Thackeray confessed, Disguised him.
!" He looks his reader in the face; he watches
what effect he has on him : he seems tn say Do
cry" Great humorists laughed naturally out
4 of their great manly hearts, but this man never
let his reader alone. Sterne was great jester,
not n great humorist. You could fancy you saw
him laying down his carpet before beginning to
perform on it.
For instance. let us look at his Sentimental
Journey Did not he seem TO go deliberately
prepared to make matter of it all! He had no
sooner landed than he began to make, as the
actor says, business" Could ANYBODY be.
lieve oil the sentiment genuine! He whmp-
cred over a-dead donkey, over which ANYBODY
| (said Mr.. Thackeray) may cry "who likes"
That dead donkey was cooked in piquant sauce.
In fact, the donkey had a fine funeral--an
elegant hearse, the mourner with white pocket
handkerchief, and all got up for purposes of
| scenic effect. That do key had been used be-
fore (Here he read the well-known passage con-
corning tilt " Tristram Shandy.") The critic
Che resumed) who could not see in this des-
cription, sentiment humor and wit, must be hard
TO please. And the peasent life in the south
was excellently described BY him-aTan Of the
keenest enjoyment aud sensibility. But il was
a painful fact that scarcely one page Of Sterne
was perfectly pure: there was a latent corrup-
ton in what he did faint Of bad. You saw
the satyr eyes glaring through the leaves. How
different this from the pure sunny pages Of one
of his successors of to-day-a man for whose
books one was grateful---the author of David
Copperfeld"
With this allusion to Charles Dickens,
which drew forth loud applause from the au-
dience, the lecturer passed from Sterne TO
Goldsmith
What fortune had Goldsmith had in our his.
tory To be the most beloved Of English
authors, what lot was that The pleasant
gentle, wandering mnstrel--it was delightful 10
see how. through all his career, he affectionately
turned his eyes to home. lie peoped his books
with the figures Of home. The charm Of his
works was in the fact they contained his
character, his simple honest regrets, his love
and sympathy. "Our love for him is halEpity."
Whom did he ever hurt? He bears no weapon
but his harp; with that be passed into every
palace and cottage delights all ranks and classes
Goldsmith, not less than Fielding. had the
| r 4 - -
love Of truth through distress and difficulty. He
was never so friendless but he could have
friend somewhere: If he had w bis flute he
could delight the poor with that; was never 40
poor but he could spare something TO poorer
he could pawn his trousers 10 save his landlord
Z from goal lie certainly endured great distress
and pain; one could scarcely bear to read If IL
Won felt m anger when YOU heard of his being
hort, such As you felt at hearing of cruelty ex-
ercised towards woman or child
Mr.. Thackerav then mentioned the various
wellknown anecdotes Of Goldsmith. and referred
with respect 10 his biographers, to the industry OF
Prior the eloquence Of Forster. and the love Of
| Washington Irving lie also quoted some Of
the fine Z lines in The Deserted Village and rc-
| ferred with delicate tenderness 10 his love for
| Mary Horneck, the Jessamy Bride" He al
luded TO the extravaganza Of his later life, but
called on his bearers TO remember how con-
stantly he shared what he had with bis numer-
Gus dependents, and appealed to their sympathy
and pity "Think" he exclaimed, of the pom
sioner weeping ut his erave-think Of the righte.
Gus pen that wrote his epitaph.' How well the
world has paid back all the love he had for IL
| His figure seems 10 be with us STILL and pleading
to us in favor of the poor.
|
! Having announced that this was the last Of
his discourses, Mr. Thackeray took occasion TO
declare his opinions on subject on which he is
known to entertain strong 0nes--the relation Of
men Of letters TO society" He protested
markedly against the complaint that l. sometimes
made Of their being neglected. awe do" he
said, "meet with kindness" He urged that
no laws or regulations conld have saved the men
he had been treating of from the troubles which
they brought upon themselves. lie maintained
that society treated man with due regard 10
what he did and was; il gave him fair place and
fair play. lie ridicuIed all absurd pretensions on