The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-04-12
"reminiscences of .rhackeray.
lAtlantic.l


When 1 saw Mr.. Thackeray pass our car
riage door knew him, and therefore captured
him. DESTROYS of making way for him. re-
marked to my fellow travellers, Frenchman
and his wife: 81 would like to make place
for Mr.. Thackeray." The fact that named
Mr.. Thackeray made no impression, apparent-
ly, upon my French friends. / annotated my
remark by saying: "Mr. Thackeray, the cele-
brated English author" Same Indifference
Having hailed Mr.. Thackeray and got him in
stalled, as a preliminary remark I referred to
my effort to explain his status to my neigh
bors, and to the impression had made. He
laughed and said: "Oh, it takes fifty years
for an English reputation to travel to France"
Indeed, something strongly confirming that
view happened only last year. To Congress
of literary men called to meet in Paris, invita-
tions were sent out to foreign authors of dis
tinction to be present, and among them to
Thackeray and DickensD He discussed the
reasons for the American revolution-claim-
ing that the resistance of our ancestors to the
stamp act was unjustifable. am afraid the
case for the defence was weak, for at that time,
being college graduate, think had studied
almost everything man ought to know for his
literary salvation except American history.
The interest OF the conversation centered on
his treatment Of women in his works. 1t be-
ing represented that he took low view of
female character, his reply literally was:
would you have me describe them other
than they are?" That, of course, provoked a
discussion as to the facts. He became commu-
NEGATIVE about himself; he spoke of his candi-
dacy for Parliament, what it cost him-a large
amount of money, which he named. He stood
for the University of Oxford, and was beaten
hvrS pNIxA U-1A D~-1 -
wards, believe, unseated for bribery 1 asked
him how they took his treatment of the
Georges in those killing lectures. He said the
arstocracy had cut him. He spoke particular
ly of Lord Wensleydale, the Baron Parke of
the lawyers. He and " nseydale had long
been friends, "but after the lectures" said
Thackeray, che cut mescompletely'
remarked to Mr.. Thackeray that he had
yentured no criticisms upon our people after
his return home; and that should be glad to
He replied promptly: 1.-THE abuse heaped by
the newspapers on one another; and it wasn't
cleverly done, with the exception of Phila-
delphia editor, and told them to keep watch
on him." II MIR. Thackeray could come again,
what would he say? The remarks which were,
perhaps, of the deepest interest related to the
style of authors. One sentence can never be
forgotten: "If were to write as 1 would like
would adopt the style Of Fielding and Smol-
lett; but society would not tolerate it,
The discassion now going on between real
ism or naturalism and sentimentalism or IDEAL
SIN is here foreshadowed. OF course we have
to condemn much that Fielding and Smollett
wrote, and what Zola writes, because they
speak too plainly, grossly if you like; but it
remains essentially true that their style, as a
style, is now fighting for recognition with some
chance of success. Thackeray. has, to my
mind, not only been influenced in his style by
his models, Fielding and Smollett but by the
style in which fiction is treated by the best
French authors The condensed, incisive, edi-
grammatic and natural style of Thackeray is
clearly characteristic of the modern French
school of fiction.