New-York tribune., 1891-03-08

nested the cpiso0e OF the Bundecund Bank, in
"The Newcomes Before he lost his money and
while travelling on the Continent, he visited WEI
mar. and made the acquaintance of Goethe, lor
whom he expressed much admiration. though ne
preferred the writings of Schiller Then followed
the Partisan sojourn, which furnished so much ma
terial for charming sketches and stories and blts
of criticism. When the blow fell which threw
him upon the world he did not lose courage for
q moment, but at once began to write with Vcfs'-
tility and brillancy which, twenty years later,
would have made him famous in SIN months
One of the most singular circumstances in
Thackeray's literary career is. indeed the 'ardl-
ness of the recognition of his genius. Even Van
ity Fair" was not an immediate success and be-
fore that masterpiece began TO appear he had
written enough admirable things to set up
dozen ordinary authors in reputation. There
was the Book of Snobs' there was the
Great Hoggarty Diamond there were the
"Yellowplush Papers There were the Ballada
of Policeman n" There were scores of pieces
every one of which stamped with true genius
and was perfect in its kind To-day we read ana
re-read all these writings with never-satcd en-
ioymcnt. How perennially delightful. for eX-
ample. is "The Irish Sketch Book" chronicle OF
that tour in the Emerald Isle which brought him
the acquantance-to ripen into lifelong Trend
ship-of the genial Charles Lever. How bright
and fresh is the Tour from Cornhill TO Cairo,
which among other gems comprises that set OF
verses, at once roclling and pathetic, entitled
| "The White Squall." va can fail to wonder.
moreover that so mastery production as Barry
Lyndon"-a story quite unique in literature
should have fallen ineffective upon the British
public! 1t is true that much OF all thls 1lhc
work appeared in and credited to Punch,
and thus the authors individuality was more or
less obscured, while he habltnally employed
"noms-de- plume. such as Samuel Iitmarsh. but
it would be impossible to-day for any such
transcendent work to appear in any periodical
without creating an instant and impcrous demand
for full information to the personality OF the
writer. In the forticS no such curiosity appears
to have existed: indeed, so little did even probes
sional men of letters know of one another that
we find the Editor of The Edinburgh Review
writing TO London for information concerning ono
W. NJ Thackeray whom he has heard mentioned
as zone Of the best writers Punch II had
beon suggested that this man Thackeray would
be good hand for light articles, and the cautious
and canny Macvcy Napier pointed out that "onc
requires t. be very much on ones guard in on
gaging with mere strangers In Journal IKE
Tie Ednbro' it is always OF importance TO keep
up in respect of names.
When poor Thackcray did write an article for
"The Ednbro' his manuscript was so rdthlcSsly
edited" that he cried out i'll pain at the mutila-
tions though his literary standing was as yet TOO
insecure to allow him free expression OF his opln-
ion. In 1912 n new and dire misfortune hcfell him
His young wife, whom he loved very dearly, bccamH
insane. and had TO be consigned TO an asylum
Thackeray was essentially domestic man. lie
appreciated and needed home. and the more s"
since he now had tie care and charge Of three
mOtherlcss children. This sorrow never was re-
moved from him. In one sense 1t fpoiled MS
life and it might easily have cmbittercd II.
But. despite all that has been said to the
contrary. Thackeray a sunny natured, sweet
tempered man, and he kept this sane and whole
some spirit to the end. Sad, indeed. he OCCASION
ally was. and well he might be- for in addition 10
that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick,
and in addition TO that domestic sappointmcn:
and grief which he could not but carry with him
always, he suffered for years from physical com
plant which at intervals rackcd him with sever
est pain. SO it is no wonder that he was not
ever in high spirits. or that sometimes his mood
in society was subducd or even sombrc. l}r'
turn TO his writings. and then. when the soul Of
the man is expressed most faithfully, mark the
tone of what those who fail 10 understand him
call cynical and bitter. lie lacked hypocrisy and
cant and vice and shams and frauds of every kind
Jaw through all social pictures and gauged-as in
the case Of Louis the Fourteenth-thc p'iful per
sonaity that lay beneath the flowing periwig and
robes of state and ceremonial tappings. But in the
| very heat and stress Of his whitening exposures
| a strain of pity, Of tenderness, was visible
| His anger never rescmbled the "s0cva indic-
natio" of Swift. lie always made allowances and
| recalled saving clauses, and pleaded At last foT
communication of sentence. The deep humanity
in him did not overcome his sense OF justice, but
it softencd and broadcned his Judgment.
| lie was n social man and sociable. Yet even
| here he had obstacles to overcome The first time
he was put up at the Athenaeum he w@s black
| ballcd year later the cub reversed Judgment
which dscreditcd it alone. and thenceforth Thack-
cray spent much of his time and did much Of his
work at the club. His time Of probation had
| been long. Twelve years Of hard work inicrvencd
between the loss Of his money and his elevation 10
| fame through the publication of Vanity Fair.
| After this period the materials for any intimate
account Of his life arc mostly wanting. and even
| for the earlier period must look quite rs much
| to his own novels as to the recol'cctions Of his
] contemporaries Indeed. Mr.. Marzals thinks that
| the life Of Thackcray between S33 and Si7 may
| he reconstructed from his works Perhaps that
| is going too far. since see here that even
| distant attempt to follow out the idea leads tho
| biographcr in a sea of wild conjecture. For cX-
| ample il is conceded that "Pcndcnnis' is partly
autobiographical: but if 50, thinks Mr.. Mar2iaIs.
| Thackeray must have had Fothcrngay cpisole
in his life. This is a clear " non scquitur7 but he
proceeds to play with the notion and goes as
nearly as he dare venture toward assuming it to
| he soon iot or tittIe of evidence, save
| scrap of letter. which may mean anything. and
most probably means nothing. The fact is that
| this kind OF reconstruction from novclis'S works
is perilous in the extreme and should he vigorously
eschewed by every sober and serious biographcr
| II affords only tie kind of guidance which, OF
old the Cornish wreckcrs furnished forth TO ships
at sca by hanging q lantern 20 a holsn's neck and