The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1851-08-06

'hO iduh ullh llc VI utCINuIB, anu II tnpTc
was one point in bis assailants on which be
dwelt with savage Partially, it was their ab-
ject poverty. He it was who brought the
notion Of vile Grub-strect before the minds
of the general public he il was who created
such associations as author and rags-author
and dirt-author and gin. The occupation
of authorship became ignoble through his
graphic descriptions of misery, and the lit
erary profession was for long time de-
stroyed.
"Pope's well known affection for his moth
err on which Mr.. Thackeray feelingly expa-
tiatod, and the love which his friends enters
tanned for him, were introduced as a senti-
mental relief in describing the character of
a man whose career Mr.. Thackeray COM
pared to that Of great general, obtaining
his end by series of brilliant conquests."
HoGARTH, sMoLLETT, AND FIELDING,
In his fifth lecture" says the Leader,
MIR. Thackeray dwclt at great lcrgth on
Hogarth, and pointed out how much of hissuc.
cess lay in the simple conventional morals of
his works; gave a graphic analysis of the
Marriage Ia Mode and the Idle and Indus
frious Apprentices 4; and humorously sei forth
1ogarth's pretensions to the sublime in bis.
torical painting Smolleu was dismissed in
few pleasant paragraphs. Fielding called
out the hearty admiration Of the author of
PANTY Fair; and amidst the panegyric there
were some admirable passages, notably one
on the scorn and hatred Richardson and
Fielding unaflcctedly felt for each other and
the sincerity which may animate even the
most contemptuous criticism. The opinions
Thackeray stamps with his authority, we
constantly find open 10 question; but
il is not as Course of Criticism that those
Lectures have their inexpressible charm,
and it would be possible for man to dissent
in toto from the views put forth, while at the
same time he held them to be among the
most delightful lectures he ever listened to-
srERNE AND GOLDSMITH.
In the sixth and last lecture Of the course,
Mr.. Thackeray's subjects were Stcrne and
Goldsmith. He stigmatzed severely all
Stcrne's relations with women, showed up
the sham sensibility which wept through his
writings, dwet on the perilous thing it was
to make market of ones sorrows, and sell
the deepest experiences of ones life at so
much per volume, and wound up with an en-
phatic condemnation of the pruriency Of
Sterne's writings, contrasting that pruriency
with the purity of Dickens. All the gencr-
osity, sweetness, and improvdence of Gold |
smiths Irish nature were earnestly and eeni- |
ally presented.
This course Of lectures has been described |
as 4" a review of the humorists, by their mas
ter" but Mr. Thackeray is not humorist-
at least humor is not his distinguishing quail |
ity he is cold satirist, sneelng at human.
ity, and in all his writings never exhibiting
a spark Of the genial fire which should COM
mend an author to the affections of his read
ers. Gentlemen may be amused by him
he may be even punctilious ard sincere in |
the observance of all honorable conduct
but judging him by his works, he is one of
the last men living whom any person with
the instincts of a gentleman would admit to
his friendship Some of his books are amaz-
ingly clever, but others, as the KickleJurvs
on tie Rhine, are hut unredeemable vulgar
ity. lie has been taken up very much by
the snobs-a class somewhat remarkable for
of their real relations
and we find the snobs of this country as we'll
as of England lauding the sairst as an ene>
my ol their own peculiar casle. This is a
mistake: Mr.. Thackeray has painted to the
life the sentimental snob indeed, but he is
himself chief of different and far less
endurable class in this division OF the race
the snOb cynical and supercaiOus.