New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-17
THACKERAY AND DICKENS.
HERMAN MERIvALEs "REMINISCENCES.

HERMAN MERIvALE'S "REMINISCENCES
From Temple Bar
The power of ia king to an audience Gossip ThacKDr
had cnIiousy. Like many literary men, ne wa,
once bitten by the political gadhy. LAKE, most most oi
them he soon recovered from the bite, though nnie
certain man of letters Of the present day, with wno
the results have boon, and are, rather inifed
Thackeray stood for Parliament at Oxford and was
bappy for himself and mankind, beaten by Mr. Cad-
wo one OF those amlablo and appropriate politicians
who do particular harm or good where thcy aio,
and are therefore better there e had to give eciuo
directly on his return London, and all were anxious
to hear II no would make any illusions TO MS oain
palgn. Very quietly and confdentally no peaine"
through his spectaclcs, and began -
Street Of certain ancient City and tho roar Of
laughter made lecturer and audience close ali1 Hon
once "Nothng like dramatic surprise TO Degd
WITH" no used to say. Like all good anu uhspolioS.
souls he loved the play Asking llstless friend
o,~I ilko good play "Oh get OUT said
Thacoray al said the play you don't even e 16de
stand what mean He liked TO hear tho nddi or,
tune up and to be we'll in his place before each aes
began and It all out. What contrast 10 cer,ain
products of tho present day, who make the stalls loon
hey are nocome I'm when tho second act Is hall over
and hopelessy wonder what tho storys about tnousr
they wouldn't have understood IL 1ncy nps' and
all and the despair OF snch play n @1 IF
actors as still believe In the old.fashoned REALISM u
real laughter" and real tears" -.
No paygoer OF this class was Gossip ThacReray.
When a mere slip OF boy, remember MN asI1ns
me and broherboy who was staying at my I alhcrS
horse dust like hImEhc invited me, and whom hintcd
oSS'vo ont them love boys") to dine with him at
the old historic Garck in Kngst ana 70 g 81 in
tho New Cut-Queen Ylctorfa'S own theayVer, az NO
Brown called Ito the transporting mcoura,n.
Of the day. No socd to cross the i tbe simple
old Surrey drama has migrated bodily lh1o d token
vlrtuous hero, oppressed maiden ana a ana that
tho place of the Wcstend melodrama Dy on t,e 81
used to be- the elaborate play OF the po ou Ur
"The Dead Heart" or OF the colleen ba| S ,htn,r
most scona and passions OF The Vic" We were
inst old enough to resent such tissue of impr99so
lies from beginning end tho late Baron Ma IN
Uoyest. who would rather have written Victoria
mclodrama than vanity T nays S SoHeH arc
" rbac,,orav,s hair was OF that lOvellest shade IN
mar fine Of texture and Of pure |3,e sIih v,ctortas
deep interest in tho sIneringS o oI tSc rcsscclc
own heroine he was leaning over INC me- No stalls
With his head between his hands there were no sess
a tho vc vckte from the gai ba ,TTn Of IT,
The dear old man did not look UP; He merely naa
recourse to his handkerchief, and Observed ,hats
heather gods, / believe, never used to 40 tna.,
Hb that was an Ambrosian night. ! have had some
Of them in my tine, with some OF the cholee sps'
of tho past, for whom there Is nothing nov" 'hsn
When he treated boys, It was with no nngenerou s
views about bed. After the play he carried US 1o on
70 Fyans's TO be greeted by Paddy Green with Dear
boy dear boy, to eat such baked potatoes as never
have been baked since and listen well into INC sma
hours to tho divine voices of the boys In fraoT1 WORK
of rich pOrtraiture of bygOne heroes Vi 'no s'"s0
Thacheray loved the boys woes! :.
Some years afterward, asked my dear old host il
he remembered our dining with him az 1he Gsp,cn
what | gave yon for dinner. Beefsteak and aPrc9355
omeette.o I felt immensely pleased that he shouIu
deem0e If % once, and said So 8Ycs' said he,
twinkling in his inimitable way. always eiNo
boys bcefsteak and apricot Omelette" email as lh,s
story IS It is rather TO the point Just now fOr IL
"a an exact specimen of lie good-natured chair IN
which Thackeray Liked TO indulge, particularly WIN
Youngsters who loved him the better for 1t II they
had any sense at ALL Yet 1t IS precisely what his
dctractors have called Immature cyncsm' ana tho
Lord knows what.
once, and once only, tho great novelist had a
play produced. It ran one night, ana haa INC
honor of being among the players FOR, IN truth,
no had To do what lesser than no have done, ana
produce It himself as his own manager IL was, III
fact amateur performance BY way Oh AS Wan
the comedy manager of the day, who had decided
that It impossible for tho stage. THINK mag
Wigan was right. Needless to say that 1t was
spenddly written, and full Of the touches OF language
and character which only It's author could give. ~.
there was a lack of dramatic incident and movement
the female charac ters too many, and pfeuoml-
mated too much; and the talk, good as It Vas was
book-tak rather than play -talk, vital difference
and in itself a reason why tho man can so
seldom excel succeed, in the two branches OF
fiction Thackeray turned bad play into capt ,I
vc form admirably. feel sure that If man is to
succeed I'm the two lines though he may use tho
onite INDEPENDENTLY If you want to be good
uovcl.st, don't make novel out of a play. III you
want to be good dramatst reverse the receps Srlts
W. EMPTY HOUSE THEATRICALS.
NEVER ACTED.
On Monday and Tuesday, Feb "a and 90 15G2,,
VIII be presented New Comedy, In Acts, calicu-
1.-THE Wolves and the Lamb.'
Then follows the cast-includng, with myself my |
old college friend Sir Charles Young, VINO, IN inc |
irony OF fate died only the other day, Just after tut
filling lifelong dream and being numbered among
the successful dlamatsts as author OF jim t.e lU
man Morgan John O'COnnell, the llberators son;
Foctt Synge a literary man himself OF note, ana
Minister al the Sandwich ISLANDS; goo 0 Gd
tin Twss of the Kemblc blood the first amateur low
comedian of his day Mrs. Ca9elld since wen Known on
Cole. the hero OF the South Kensington Museum and
Iusprcr of famous parody IN Punch, .,
Il built my Cole lordly treasure house.; -
Thackeray's youngest daughter, who afterwarl be-
came the wife OF Leslie stephen, and has long since
Joined The majority with her fathor--aas for she
last. not least, the great himself He declined
Q speaking part' on the ground that he couldn't
possibly learn such poor words words ana fail oy e en
lain. to hold out his hands and say, Bless you, my
children in pantomime, to actors and audience,
sound of much applause ard no little tearfulness 1t
was when Thackeray so came forward TO welcome
his friends and guests for the first time to the new
house he had Just built himself on Palace Green. |
said It was house warming and the place was stu
except for the occasion Hence the ".
Empty House, which has probably puzzled my rcai,,
ers even more than II puzzled the company VI all
things Thackeray loved a pun-and the worse Il was;
himself and two things he insisted on. First that
there must be announcement to this effect" Dur.
Ing this piece the theatre will nT 9T Wbcb az
that period Supplying half the theatres in Lon,
don-and, secondly that W: Empty House must head
the bill IIumbly tried to persuade tho great maa
that the joke was unworthy Of him but he insisted
that It was very much Whittier than anything IN mo
play, and he would have i. "; NJ Z were his IN
with Thackeray, as with Michael Angelo. the art