The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-11-15
THE GREAT novKLIsrs.
fExchange-I


 anything but methocical, and he found the duties of editorship especially irk- some Communications from his con- tributors, and especially the would-be ones, annoyed and even distressed him to an almost incredible degree l remem- Der his complaining of one of them with a vigor and irritation ~hieh amused me exceedingly. A young fellow had sent him a long story, for which be demanded particular attention from the greatest of novelists,s upon the ground that he had sick sister entirely dependent on him for support Thaekeray was touched bs the appeal, and wrote his correspondent a long letter, enclosing some pecanisry ss- sissance, but urging him in candor and true kindness to al once turn his mind to some other industry. The reply which this letter called forth from the young gentleman was couched in the mos, of- fensive terms conceivable, and ended by telling the greatest of novelists that, although he had attained by good luck the ,op of the tree he would one day ind himself where he deserved to beat the bottom of il. For my part" said Thackeray (upon Mir PAyn's sho~ing some premoni,op symptoms of suffoca- uon), |" l see little te laugh at. What a stupid, ungrateful beast the man must be And fl l ever waste another half hour again in writing to creature of that sort, .cAll me horse, or worse"
 What Thackersy-a well qualified critic, indeed--wroie of Dickens he also certainly felt By way of confirming this ayerment. Mir. pAyn refers to long con- versation that he once had with Thack cray upon the sublect: IL was before the shadow least oy trivial matter, afer all had come between them, bu, l am sure tha; would not have altered his opinion. Of course, there were some points on which he was less enthusiastic than on others; the neigh, of the literary pedestal on which Dickens stood, vas he thought, for some reason to be deplored for his own sake. There IS nobody to tell him when anything goes srong. he said Dickens IS the sultan, and Wills IS his grand vizier.' But on the whole hts praise was as great as l; was gener- ous It is,' concludes the author, :" a satisfaction to me 10 remember that our two great novelists became friends again before death took all that i, could take of them away l walked back with the sur vivor from the others funeral al kensel Green, and from what Dickens sad on that occasion l can bear witness 10 the fact,
 As 10 his persona opinion of Dickens, the writer of these "reminiscences de clares that he now f.els the same love and admiration with which he ap- ksr0 hA .I nrst meeting What indeed. astou- ished even me, remember a, ,he tune. was tha, personal acquaintance with him increased rather than dlminished hIs marvellous attraction for me In general socie.y, especially if il had been of an artificial kind; have knosn his manner to betray some sense of effort bu, ID d company with whom he could feel al home l have never met a man more natural or more charming. He never wasted tune ID commonpt-ces though lively talker, he never uttered plats,ude and what he had to say he said as if he meant .ss On an occasion which many oi my readers viii cali io mind, he once spoke ot himself as very human: : he did so of course in deprecafory sense he was the last person Tn the world 10 affec, 10 possess any other nature than tn a, of ms feiloss. When some one sad, How wicked the world is, he answered .
 True: and what satisfaction il IS tha, neither you nor belong to it. But the fact IS, it was this very humanity ,ha, as his charm. Whatever there was of him was real, without padding; and whatever was genuine in others had a sympathetic sxw A. D. to tell us that "the subject, ho~ever, which most interested Dickens land in a less degree this vas also the case with Thackeray( was the dramatic--nay. even the melodramatic-side of human nature He had stories without end, taken from the very page of life, of quite differen, ki1d hom those with which he made his readers familiar. There arc. indeed. in- dications of tals tendency in his writings, as in the tales interpefsed in <. Pickwick," In the ahaadoned commencement of Humphreys Clock" and more mark edly in his " Occasional Sketches v bu, they were much more common in his private talk"
 In another chapter Mir. PAyu points out that Mir. Dickens was an excellent man of business, though in early life he made great pecuniary mistakes by an impa- uence of disposition, a desire to get things settled and done with which IS shared by many men of letters to theii great loss. He was painstaking, accu- rate and punctual to a fault: and the trouble he took abou, other peoples af- fairs, especially in his own calling, is al most incredible.
 Troliope is characterized by Mir. PAyn as the least literary man Of letters he ever met Indeed" he says, had 1 not known him for the large-hesrted and natural ran that he vas. should have suspected him oi some affectation in this respect. Though he certainly took pleasure in writing novels, doubt whether he took any in reading them and upon his conversation quite as much as from his remArks upon me subject in his autobiography, l should judge he had not read dozen, even of Dlckens' in his ite. His manners were rough, and. %