Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-03-23

He viii not he sliqhted by time; he makes
each new story a memento ofhthe old ones,
by referring the reader TO their Incidents
by bringing anew upon the scene those
/ AZ a'nreS of bis Thought who, having IN farce
and TRAGEDY. esrutted their briefhour, are not
vet allowSdto rest. Thus Il he apparently
determined that during his life at least no
enc oethe cheracters he has drawn shall be
forgotten. Hdead, they can be alluded %
or made 10 re.live in their chlldren II
living, they point new morals and acorn
Like the s-upernumeraries of the opera,
they are always ready for service. lThe
scene may change, the plot may vary, the
occasion differ, but the same persons Will 20
cast in general utility and re-exhibit their
old tricks Of attitude and voice. Here and
there new figures are introduced, but they
are always secondary 10 the Marionettes who
have always composed the theatrical COM
pany Of which Mr.. A. Titmarsh has so long
been manager. e
In The ddventures of Pkilip on his Way
Through the World VIZ meet with many
new faces. sPendennis tells the story. Doc
tor Goodennugh, who attended him 10 that
memorable fever when he came nigh unto
death. in his bachelor quarters in the Temple,
occupies a prominent place. Philips father,
Or. Firmin, a fashionable physician, proves
to be the George Brandon who beguiled little
Caroline Gam into q mock marriage, in "A
Shabby GenteeI Story. That good, simple,
ignorant girl is brought forward as 1.-THE Lit
De Sister, a professional sick-nurse her
vulgar father is established in permanence,
sippipg ginsand-water In the parlor of an
artists lodging house, which his daughter
keeps. .-..l
Lord Ringwood, the father Of the Wis.,
count Oinqbars, Of the former story, appears
q roUe, cynical and vicious. Carries I'M
happy lover, who, as Andrea Fitch, a con-
ceited, half crazed cockney artist, cut such
q grotesque figure, now descends from the
carriage of the rieh old woman who married
him. transformed into q Mr.. Mountfchet,
quite a decent fellow Che has become wealthy,
therefore respectablel and is spoken OF as
simply cratic. The term genius is even
applied to him in q qualified but not ~ironical
sense. Doubtless, ere the tale ends, we
shall have Warrington descendant in a di-
: rect line from Henry Esmond, Marquis, etc,
4 through the Virginian branch of the family
the Rev, Tom Tufthunt, who marries George
Brandon TO Carrie Gam; probably Becky
Sharp, or some Of her friends, relatives and
connections; Peg, of Limavaddy, whom
d Michael Angelo celebrated in a ballad
twenty years ago; Capt. Oostigan lis ht
deadly; the principal characters in tn
Ntcconesj the family names, at least, o
S, many who figured in The PirgiRidns, per
e petuated in their descendants; and repre-
sentatives of nearly every book written by
70 Mr.. Thaekersy since he first took up author
craft.
Already we have a passing ~allusion to tn,
e. clever Young woman who married the ricl
to su~gar-baker in the story just completed il
ne the CorhhiH Magazine. We find her moving
a in good society, recognized by some yer,
fashionable but not quite respectable people
Further developments will probably brinj
~ the whole of Mr.. Thackeray's company int
It. either sight or hearing.
ae One reason of this continual reproduction
of old characters is, no doubt, the ~affectiol
the creator feels for his creations. Proba
is bly, the interest the great novelist o
dramatist feels in the people of his dream, i
is only equaled by that of his spell boun
lt readers. These airy shadows are to hiI
substantial as flesh and blood. His hero
rs the child of many musings and in faithful
d following his adventurous steps, contrivin
a his miraculous escapes, and developing hi
of character, he has learned to know and low
lg him; the shadow seems a reality-a frien
lg and not a phantasy. e.
Dickens confesses this feeling; Hawthorn
alluded to it, and Dumas apologies for nc
n continuing one of his most delightful storie
ck on the ground that the death of PorthC
d. (comrade of Athos, Aramis and D Artagnan
at had so deeply panied him that he had
he grief retired to his country seat, finding
er impossible to write. Beautifully does Schi
Ter say, ''still do the old names bring aga
ut the old feeling;' and Mr.. Thackeray ms
tie find it pleasanter to revive the memories
old successes than to labor in the imagini
IT. ton of new ones.
in 1t is manifestly unfair to criticize a wor
of art before it 10 finished. Mr.. Thackers
disarms censure by continually carrying Of
the personalities of his people into ne
stories, where they may repent and expia
old ~offenses, suffer ~punishments or recei
rewards for their former actions. II
in author thus enters a caveat against sweepir
of judgment or q final verdict.
In effect he says: "You think this an el
re cellent person wait a bit. | will show hi
to you twenty years later. You shall see he
It'll none too good. He can be guilty of g meal
ness, magnanimous as he was in other time
under different circumstances. And tn
unmitigated s%coundrel, as you have pr
ms nounced him, see his remorse sympathii
ur with him in the painfulness of his punisl
he meDt. You can not forgive himP He is bl
humanl are you infallible?" Thus does Il
of philosopher use his art of fiction to teach
hit charitable judgment.
At When the world has learned that the u
x known vices Of the v%irtuous, and the virtu
of the vicious, occasional as both may
M are what attemper society into a homogeu
,ut Gus whole, they will be principally indebt
a for the lesson to him, by his sponsors happi
nd named Makepeaee Thackeray. His writin
to are warnings and protests against her
worship on the one side, and cru
ed partially, leaning to charity, but slight
It'll t'need with cynicism, marks his book
IT. therefore, their construction max
" a reperusal necessary, it does but car
out the plan of the author to inculca
of patience and mercy, by reminding us th
les the springs of human action lie Tar oenea
lie and anterior to mere events and their este
nd sible causes.
ID "Philip" has reached the end of the ff
pus chapter in the CornhW Magazine. Befo
entering on the sixth, not yet published, t
reader will do well to peruse once more Z