St. Mary's beacon., 1858-09-02
SELECTED MISCELLANY.
Personalities.
"a chieId's amang you taking notes,
And. fniih. he'll nreni 'eIn ~

Mr.. Thackeray is angry at Grub street. He
will not be disc;isacd; lac will n"i bc criticised
unfayOraMy. None may approach, unless
rcvercutly, the great satriSt; nn mcmbcr of
his club may dceclarc that Pcndcnuis has a
broken ncsc. AMI in Iced, it cannot he plea
sant, when ones nnse is broken, to have that
fact brni'el TO all the world; it is not particu-
larly well-brcd IN Grub street tn npunce it.
OIe would hardly care to make his own rcpu-
tation by picking out flaws in the pccsnnnt ap-
penrancc of his neighbors. But publicity is
one of the penalties to- be paid for fame II
Pendrnnis were nubndy, who would care
about his nose? Great men cannot hope to
escape all sorts of personalities; or, if they do
hope, twill be in vain. The scandal about
Dickens and Bulwer is known t. every one
who has read their novels; Porc's dcfnrnity
WAS famous. AMI Cicero was nckuaucd from
his wArt. 1t amaZcS me that man Of the
world like the author "f Vanity Fair" should
have forgotten this; that he should be So irrita-
b!e ut what is unavoidAbic-at what is. in fact.
complimentary. Pm sure | should consider
myself some degrees nearer to fame, if Grub
STREET thought it worth whole to comment on
the Vasabonls hose. Fortunately, it is well
shaped.
That publicity will always attend any sort
of talent is incnntrovcrtibe 1t must he that
whom ttcy come. Everybody will certainly
rra'l whatever details are published Of impol-
tlnt people, but moi so certainly admire these
who betray confidence in order to publish the
"details IL is 4 nice question how much pub
Ililty greatness must submit tu-hOw muci.
right II has to its privacy. Some trait anu
p1CuliartieS cannot be concealed, and. as al!
who have seen Mr.. Tha,kcray must have no.
ticed the most promi1ent feature Of his face, !
don't think he vas entitled to have Grub
street expelled fom the club But there are
limits to this sort of thing. There arc conf
4 noes, tact or absolute, that no one with in
nate drlcacy can violate Who can contem-
plate cllEly tn" act of tha. barbarian Trclaw-
ncy? ! cannot conceive vulSarcr decd. He
cl1imed 10 bc the friend Of mighty and SEN
sltive spirit; he lad lived ON terms Of close and
personal intimacy with Byron; but even from
hiur III" poet had chosen scrupulouslv - COM
Ceal one secret; and yet when his frivHd lay
cold anl rcSiStlcsS in death. this man could
steal up t. his chamber, and lift the winding
sheet that covered his dcfOrmity-could glut
his curiosity With the sight, aud, worse still
publish t. the world that which, during life
tho magnificent creature would have been mad
d ncd t" have known. | confess do not be-
liCvc Mr. Trclawnev. | would not believe
any man who should be capable of the act he
a;cribrs to himself. ! wonder that lac did not
trcmL'e when lie ru Id aside the shroud
lest the beautiful poet should start frum III,
embrace Of death To bid him beware. How
such lnan could have bec:: tic intimate o
Byron aud Shelley puzzles me. lie could not
only stare at the naked body Of the man ht
hal called friend, with the heartlesS curiosity
of a stranger, but also watched the brains from
which had sprung such exquisite (ancies as
those Of Queen Nab" ard The Cenci" while
they seethcd and bubblcd in their skull, and
then go home aud calmly write description
Of the scene that SickenS whoever reads it.
There surely is some limit tn the right a
friend has to disclose the privacie. Of genius
Indeed, whatever friend knew in confidence
is sacred; whatever revelations of character are
made to you that would not be made excep;
in the sancrity of friendly intercourse, should
be as safe as secrets confiaed in language
Many man. like Trelawncy, secs his friends
mental person naked; finds out. il may be de-
formitics that no other suspects; hut for that
very reason keeps the knowledge, secret.
Even death does not allow him TO parade it
at any rate If he knows evil OF man that
no other imagines, and knows it only from un-
suspe'ting confidence, death does not release
him from the obligation Of sccresy. If YOU
learn gool of friend, scarcely think you
njure him or act diShonorahly by making il
known. But even then, one should be sure
that the publicity will not offend There
arc natures which shrink so painfully from any
species of notorietv that certainly no frichd is
justified in causing them to suffer II, howcv-
err they are Of the sort in whom ali the world
is interested, they must suffer Strangers are
are not Obliged to respect their feelings SC
scrupulously.
But, all personalities arc not unfair. Every
body likes to fancy he detects the originals oi
Mrs. POtiphar and Firkins; we arc all sure who
Mr. Butler aimed at in the history of the viii
cease; and Thackeray himself is said 10 spice
his descriptions by touches of character easily Y
traced - thcir originals in Ionic bathrooms,
ay. and club windows. The preface TO Scott,
novels, in which he relates where he found the
subjects for many Of his immortal pictures
disclO that he tho observed a. often as he
.t.ate1. D"ibtless in Shak$pearc's tune S"rnc
IS atrcc or FaiStaf was extremely Indignant .:
being set down in the players book. Do vi