New-York tribune., 1891-03-08
THACKERAY.
A GOOD, BUT NOT THE IDEAL, BIOGRAPHY

LIFE OF W. NJ THACKERAY BY Herman Mer!vale
and Frank I. Marzals. 16mo. pp. 235. Walter
Scott.
The conditions under which this biography was
written were in one respect peculiar. as Is lndi-
Gated in the predatory note by NJ. Marzials. The
book, he states was begun by Mr.. Merivale. "who.
however, found himself unable 10 finish more than
the first six chapters and the supplementary
chapter on Tlackerays friendships, which he had
intended 10 incorporate into his narrative The
task of completing the volume then devOlved on
Mr.. Marzials, who says that " Mr.. Merivac was
not primarily responsible for the choice Of his sue
cessor, and has had no opportunity of seeing what
the latter has written" 4 divided authorship in
these circumstances could hardly be expected to
produce the happiest results, but we are bound to
say that in the present instance no ilchects have
flowed from the arrangement, some little repeti-
tion being the only apparent consequence. Those
who open the volume expecting to find in It the
lona-desired Life" of Thackeray will. it may as
well be said at once, be disappointed. Indeed, it
has already become serious question whether the
time has not even now passed when the right kind
of a biography of him could have been written.
For the writers of this volume lament continually
the absence of material for their purpose, and the
material which they seek in vain is precisely such
rs could alone be supplied by the rccollections OF
Thackeray's contemporaries :--of the men VINO
lived in free and familiar intercourse with him ::
who met him at the Garrick and the Athenaeum
and the booksellers and the various haunts OF
men of letters artists. actors and politicians who
had had their feet under his mahogany or had enter
tained him at their own houses who had worked
with him on THE Cornhill" or on Punch; who
had kept in touch with him throughout his too
brief career, and who knew him as no man can
be known by those who come after him
Mr.. Marzials holds that Thackeray, in his hasty
speech often quoted. could not have intended 10
convey o desire that biography of him should
ever be written. What he really wished the al-
thor believes, was that false or disgusting HE
of him should be printed. Everything that he
desired. it was felt ought to be Observed; and SO
the Years slipped away, and the precious lrrecov-
erablc opportunities for gathering facts about tins
noble genius and beautiful character were neglect
ed until to-day nearly all who belonged to his
reriod have followed him to the land of shadows.
and whoever seeks to write his biography is driven
to tnrn over the lamentably small bundle of we'll
threshed straw which constitutes the staple OF sur
viving knowledge concerning him. The volume
before us is written by two men, one OF whom
had some personal knowledge Of Ihackeray But
he was a boy when the great author was approach
ing the end of his life and his memory is that OF
a boy, reverential and apprcciatlve beyond ques-
tion but sparsely furnished with the matter most
desired Mr.. Merivae has been enabled, through
The kindness of Thackerays family, and especially
of his daughter MIS-. Ritche, TO use certain " Me-
MORALS of the Thackeray family In so far
however as these documents have any reference
TO Thackeray himself, they treat merely OF his
youth. and they are principally concerned WITH
genealogical facts The amount of fresh matter
in the memoir and especially of anecdcte, rs un-
happily very small, scarcely any material addition
being made TO our knowledge of what may DE
called the mature period of his life.
It is unnecessary to follow the statements which
treat of the ancestors of Thackeray. 1t is enough
TO know that lie came of an old and good family.
and that not a few of its members had achieved
honorable distinction in various ways. When we
come TO Thackerays own youth the record is
blurred and indistinct. Hardly vestige remains
Of his experiences at the CharterhouSc schooi.
Nearly all that can he perceived is that there
was nothing in his childhood and boyhood to pre-
figure his future greatness. One trait alone ne
developed thus early. and that was fondness for,
and native skill in, drawing, together with turn
fol caricature 1t is interesting to know that,
,ven 10 the last, Thackeray cherished strong
affection for art and not surprising that he Should
have believed a great artist lost when he finally
embraced literature as profession. Nor was the
fancy nearly so fallacious as such notions COM
monty are for whoever has studied the naive and
curious drawings with which he illustrated 50
much of his own work must have recognized III
those crude designs grasp of character. power
and faculty of expression, and remarkable ac-
cord with the thought sought to be represented
often lacking in the far more technically perfect
work of the most accomplished illustrators. The
works Of Dickens gained much from the wonder
fully sympathetic and penetrating illustrations OF
Hablot X. Brown who indeed deserves to be en-
titled the prince of book illustrators, for no Other
artist has so completely asslmiatcd the concep'
tons of his author, truly and exactly clothed
them with form. Something of this great gift IL
10 be discerned in Thackeray's designs There is
never anything wooden or perfunctory about them
They extend the meaning conveyed in the text
They stand for ideas and express character; and
TO such work there necessarily goes the genuine
artistic soul
After the Charterhouse came Cambridge, ana
here, too, the gaps in the record are frequent
Thackaray did not take his degree, out went
abroad and saw men and cities. lie inherited
a competence amounting, Mr.. Marzials thinks. to
$500 year; about enough to spoil the HE OF
any Young man of indocnt temperament, but
hardly enough to marry upon. But Ihackeray
was not destined to be spoiled in that way. Just
what his young manhood was we do not know
bu. there is single incident which seems to hint
at the possibility that it may have been ora
geuse,' as the French say. In the last chapter
of this life Mr. Merivale gives some interesting
particulars about the recognition by Thaclseray
OF the original model of one of his characters ana
at the same time he made o confession. The story
is told on the authority Of Sir Theodore Martin,
who was an intimate friend Of the author Z" The
two," says Mr.. Merivale. were walking one after
noon through the payrooms al Spa-l tell the
story in Sir Theodore's words, for am not like
TO find better-and stopped at the rougc-etnolr
table to look on. Thaclleray touched his elbow
and asked him 10 look at q tall man. in q seedy