The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-04-01

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| Mn. THAcgERAys LAST LEcTuRE.-The canclu-
sine lecture ofMr Thackerays second course OF three
| vas delivered by him last night, at the Athe-
$50, Tbose who have attended them with one &C.
.ora axpress the warmest praise of them, and &C.
sno,wledse the delight with which they followed the
lecturer in his course of just crictism and brilliant
sketches of the characters of of the greatest
wits satirists and poets that ever lived.
sterne and Goldsmith were his themes, last
night and his discourse was one of the best of the
course. Beginning at the beginning" he gave a
sketch of Sterne's father, who was Lieutenant in
the armies of Anne and fought under the great MARI
borough in Flanders the of that terrible swear
ing his sen commemorated. The Lieutenant was a
fiery little fellow, testy and choeric, and was run
through in quarrel about goose with brother Off
Ger. Lawrence Sterne-or Lau. Sterne, as he once
wrote himself on ne WHY washed wall, with school
boy foretaste of immortality born IN us, and
spent the first years of his life in camps and barracks,
with his father He went to Halifax for education,
and finally graduated in Jesus College, Cambridge
He next took the gown and wife, through whose
means he after got living His conduct in his
conjugal relations by means exemplary: his
tenderness and affection being most displayed on pa
per- Lackadaisical sentimentaty pervades nearly
all his letters except those to his daughter Lydia,
which breathe symptoms of sincere and manly af-
| lection.
The lecturer, with much pungency, characterized
| the school of which Sterne the founder. They
were whining, wheeling class-dropping the ever
ready tear, and ourishing the perumed cambria
| every occurrences class, making marketable COM
pa,hy as lazy mendicants have done, by exhibiting
their sores CT counterfeiting Sterne had, by
nature facility Of weeping which he had cultivated
until he reduced tear-making to daily livelihood
He would blubber in his study, and rehearse in pr-
yate the scenes meant be extemporizsd on proper
occasions. He lacked the and naturalness of
Rabelais and Swift. Their traits and points, which
flowed as it were spontaneously from their great
depths of original hulnor from him as ifmade
to order and bore the marks OF deliberate stranng
or effect. The Sentimental Journey" with all its
charms and pathos, to this chsrge-it ap-
peered TO be deliberate experiment sensibili-
ties and attempt to make weep without cause,
or regard TO nature. We mourning procession,
and were forcibly called on to don sabes and
join the pageant. We saw the sable hearse decked
out in all the livery ofwoe and followed by the
iGl nlutes. We looked within and there was dead
donkey lying in state! While Mr.. accorded to
Sterne great powers of description, he thought there
were few of his scenes and pages which did not
tain things that might have been left out without in
jury.
The lecturer made most graceful acknowledgment
of the debt of gratitude due to the great writers
past ages, those who had afforded innocent and
healthful amusement, and those who had furnished
these combined with instruction. He also alluded to
obligations due living authors and incidentally paid
handsome tribute to Dickens.
Proceeding to speak of Goldsmith, he was man,
Mr. T. said, who had not only been read but loved by
the world He the most loveable of English au-
thors No writer had touched his readers at
many points. The sympathies and tenderness of ma
ture which mark and dignity youthful innocence,
were CONCEALED in him; but continued to over
flow fresh and pure.
The lecturer gave exceeding ~ interesting &C.
count of Go!dsmith's life and personal adventures,
and called to mind many a remembered scene invest
ed with charms. Children universally loved
Godsnth and long after he served usher, he never
met his former pupils without smile, and would
treat them if he could. His loss bewailed with
tears by the poor who had shared his bounty,
as they met on his stairs and this furnished his best
epitaph Goldsn1ith's merits, author, and the
traits Of his works, especially 1.-THE Vicar of Wake
field - that worldwide classic displayed and
analysed with tenderness and warmth of apprecia-
| ton admirably appropriate.
The lecturer portrayed the reverses and rewards of Ii
terature and its TOR the freedom OF
his opinions and the mperfectons of his efforts Many
of the great authors he had spoken of had carried out
the vast responsibilities of their caing-those who
followed the great harvest of authorship should
member that laughter is great truth is greater and
love supreme all. The first noticed in his
course the greatest of all, in respects and
extorted his admiration but he could not command
his love-he loved Swift least of all, and admired
him most. Of another tSteIne) he had just spoken
harshy of his characters but that had given the
world something that could not die. He had left in
the character of 'Unc!e Toby" legacy of laughter
and love that viii be perrsed with kindled hearts
when generations shall have passed away-when the
population of the teeming earth shall have increased
& thousand fold and millions in America and vast
Australian continent shall use the ancestral accents OF
| their mother English tongue.
| Mr.. Thack cray closed with handsome acknowedg.
rnent of the attentions and hospitality he had been
honored with his brief travels this country and
thankfully and gratefully babe his audience farewell.
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