Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1879-08-14

mGAs 1a@ 1SGMkA# - @s@t1ssss M&&M ~AA*M&
ness, he bore q very tender end l0vsng
heart In : letter wrstten il 1884, ard
quoted in James Hannsy's sketch. he
expressed himself thus: II bate Juve>
nal, ;" be says. Il mean. J think bin :
trucuIeni fellow; love Horace better
than you do, and rase Churchill much
lover; and - for Swift, yoa haven't
made ne alter ~ opinioa. | admire,
o. rather admit, his power = much =
yoa 90, but + don'k admire giat lind 81
power % much as 1 did 6l1een years
20. Or fwenty. ahall - - Lexe II
! higher inEslIexfazI exercise than H.
tired. and when yon get one or two more
of those young ones yon write % pleas
antly about you'll come over 60 the side
Of the kind wags, I think, rather than
the cruel ones" The pathetic sadness
visible i'm much that be wrote sprung
partly from temperament and partly
from his own private calamities. Loss
of fortune was not the only cause.
when . young man in Paris he mar
ried. and after enjoying domestic hap
piness for several years bis wife caught
fever, from which she never AFTER
ward sufficiently recovered TO be able
to be with her husband and children.
She was the1celorth entrusted TO the
care of kindfamily, where every COM
fort and attention was secured for her.
The lines of the ballad Of the "Bouilla-
baisse'' are supposed TO refer TO this ear
ly time Of domestic felicity:
sAh me how quick the days are fitting!
mind me of . time That's tsgone,
When here I'd sic, as now I'm sitting,
In this same place-but not alone.
A fair yoang form was nestled near me,
A dear, dear facs looked fondly up,
And sweetiy spoke and smiled 20 cheer me-
There's no one now TO share my cup"
In debating TO, his amanuensis the
composition Of the lectures on the
-Four Georges" he would light cigar,
pace the room for few minutes, and
then resume his work with increased
cheerfulness, changing hIs position very
frequently, so that he was sometimes
sitting. standing. walking. or lying about.
His enunciation was always clear and
distinct, and his words and thoughts
were so well weighed that the progress
OF writing was bat seldom checked. He
dictated with calm deliberation, and
showed no visible feeling even when
he had made humorous point. His
whole literary career was one OF unre-
mitting industry; he wrote slowly, and,
like George Eliot, gave forth hrs thoughts
in such perfect form that he rarely re-
Quired TO retouch his work. His hand
writing was neat and plain, often very
minute, which led to the remark that II
all trades failed he would earn sixpen-
ces by writing The Lords Prayer and
the Greed in The size Of one. Unlike
many men OF less talent, he looked upon
caligraphy a. one ofthe fine arts. When
at the height Of his fame he was satisfied
when he wrote six pages day, gener-
ally working during the day, seldom al
night. An idea which would only be
slightly developed in some ofhis shorter
stories he treasured up and expanded
in some Of his larger works.
While Alfred Tennyson, the future
Laureate, @received the gold medal al
Cambridge given by the Chancellor oi
the University for The best English
poem, the subject being .'Timbuctoo, 2
we find .Thackeray satirizing the sub
ject in humorous paper called the
Snob. Here are few lines from his
clever skit on the prize poem:
'Srhere stalks the siger-shere the lion roass,
Who sometimes eats the luckless blackamoors;
All that he leaves Of them the monster throws
To jackals vultures, dogs eats, kites, and crows
His hunger thus the forest monarch giufs,
And then lies down 'neath called cOcoanuts -
The personal appearance Of Thscke-
ray has been frequently described. His
nose, through m early accident. was
misshapen; il was broad at the bridge,
and stubbed al the end. He was near.
sighted; and his hair at forty was al
ready. gray. but massy and abundant:
his keen and kindly eyes twinkled some
times through and sometimes over his
spectacles. A friend remarked that
what he "should call the predominant
expression Of his countenance was conr-
age-a readiness to face the world on
its own terms" Unlike Dickens, he
took no regular walking exercise, and,
being regardless of the laws of health,
suffered in consequence. In reply TO
one who asked him II be had ever re-
ceived the best medical advice, his re-
ply was: "Whst IL the use Of advice II
You don't follow its They tell me not
to drink. and ! do drink. They tell me
not to smoke, and I do smoke. They
tell me not 10 eat, and do eat. In
short, do everything that I am desired
not to do; and therefore what am I TO
lexPect !" And so one morning he was
found lying. like DR.. Chalmers. in the
sleep OF death, with bis arms beneath
his head, after one Of his violent attacks
Of illness. 10 be monrned b. his maiheE
and daughters, who formed his house
hold, and by . wider public beyond,
which bad learned to love him through
his admirable works. :.