The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-01-16
ThsckeraH.

The New York Tribune has this Of
Thsekery:
Mr.. ThaokeTy has made two visits to the
United States; where, it be found some
unfriendly critics, he met with more
congeDisl admirers. lie was nowhere
the object Of more enthusiastic kindness
snd affection than in this country. His
frsnEness Of manner, The bluff burly
uOnchaance Of his carriage, his sin
ceretV Of expression. sometimes amount
ing to bluniness, TO apparent Fudeness
indeed, were cofabiDed With certain ge-
niElily of homor, which, to those who
knew him well, possessed an almost ir
resistible attraction he carried his free
dom from sfectsii,n - an extreme point,
his social realism ives often too sturdi
and athletic for weak and sensitive
nerves; he had bat few sugar plums 20
tickle the palate Of people with taste To-
sweeis; but DO one, not 90 Invalid or -
idiot, could mistake tbe gentle kindnes
Of his besrt or bis possession Of broad
downright generous and cordial nature
The tones Of his voice were the true ex-
preston Of his character. Deep rich,
emphatic, varying with the subject in
hand, if not with eae person addressed,
they betFyed feeling that reached far be
low the sur face, and intelligence that
flowed from mind Of endowmsnts.
Apart from the irony, the persifage
the fun, the exquisite misc5ief, and de-
ligbtful malice which play their impist
prsnks in such : large class Of M
Thsckeray's writings, We have the most
profound sense Of his merits sc great
moral teacher Ia this respect, perhaps
without consciously aiming at it, be wa
one Of the brightest lights Of the age.
His lessons are full Of sound, robust
practical wisdom, worldly wisdom it may
be called; but wisdom suited TO III.
world in which it must be exercised. II
teaches both by flashes Of sarcastic wit,
and by the kindest, gentlest insinua
tions, the worth Of integrity, Of charity,
Of infinite pity, of keeping up heart and
hope, Of siDewy manliness, of serene
eompOsuFe under the evils of life, Of
scOrnful detestation of whatever is base,
trescherous, false or cOwardly. His ssr-
donic grimaces AID cynical ways are
only the vail over bis fac, earnest, pro
found humanities; attracting notice by
their sometimes groiesque expression, but
never concealing quite the tender, kind
~, generous nature of the hirsute, IN
polished man. What 3 world # Wis
dom, Of scquiescence in the higher will,
Of love, Of sentiment, Of pathOs, Of sym
patty, in the gay, rollickiDg, cOnviVial
"Ballad of BOuills, ba'isse, which whose
understands not unders lands not Thack
cray. But such shaggy, prickly nuts as
that, which in various forms abound in
his writings, always contain the sweet
est and most precious meat.
In point of literary execution, Kr.
ThEckerary stands unrivaled among
English writer's. His pelucid style flow s
directly from his parent nature. No one
condeBsss such n wealth of meaning in
such brief phrases. The artless grace
of his composition, though doubtless the
fruit of the highest artistic skill, wins
upon the reader like the confiding nara
tive Of child. Ia its elegant simplic-
ity, its olear-out directness ofexpression,
it's often hOmely, though never careless
vigor, his style has q charm which is
possessed by few writers in any
language, and the like of which is not
easily to be discovered in any literature.
The world has lost in Thackery not
merely one its most delightful writers,
but one Of its most enlightened and ad-
mirably guides. His benignant wisdom,
shining and smiling through the mask
of MephistOphOies which he loved 10
wear, was in harmony with the spirit Of
the ages which demands reality and not
pretense, which often DISCUSSES the deep
er moods, and prefers in its prophets the
inspiration ofnature rather than the as
sertionsOf authority.