The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-15
THACKERAY IN AMERICA.
What He Thought About the South, slav-
cry and New York.

cry and New York.
From the London Times. r4ss..
To the Editor of the Times: The &C.
companying letter of w. NJ. Thackeray's,
written to a relative during his Ameri-
can tour has Just come into my possess
sion. Strange to say, 1t has been in the
same hands for over 40 years, and come
to me direct from the house to which II
was originally addressed. 1t is in the
original envelope bearing Thackeray's
monogram, and is marked per Cunard
steamer April g."
A visiting card inscribed "Mr. Thack-
cray, Miss Thackeray," accompanies the
letter; the words 80 sorry in pencil
marked thereon tell their own tale of a
disappointed call. Believe me. yours very
faithfully, Clara Willard.
Teddington, Middlesex. Oct. IS.
Clarendon Hotel, New York. April 5.
1S53-My Dear Mrs. Bayne: received
your kind letter at Washington, where /
passed some three weeks pleasantly
enough among the great folks of the re-
public, and receiving a great deal of HIS
pitality from them and our minister. Mr..
Champion, the most hospitable of all
possible diplomatists. 1 saw the two
presidents Uhey came together to, my
lecture). and dined at the White House
in the reign of the late sovereign, Mr..
Fillmore. Then 1 went away into Vfr-
ginia, crossing the pretty Rappahanna
(where you know the Esmond family had
their large estates). 1t gave me a queer
sensation to see the place, and fancied
the story was actually true for a minute
or two-and that one might ride over yon-
der hills and come upon the old Mansion
house, where the little colonel lived with
his jealous wife. But what am / talking
of? Colonel Esmond is forgotten in this
country, and / suppose is ours. Here the
reign of novels is for a very brief season
indeed, and my Novel" and ''Villette"
have long since had the better of Mr.. Es-
mond and his periwigged companions. 1
have not made a fortune in four months,
but a snug little sum of money. which
will grow. let as hope, now have made
a beginning. Perhaps / may come back
another year with another venture. but
all this depends upon the fates and to-
morrow, of which no man Is the master.
At Charleston / met your young kins-
man, Rankin, who met with a mishap,
poor fellow, at the hotel. where he was
robbed of eco. great slice out of a SUBJ
alteran's travelling supply. / shall see
him again in Montreal next week, most
probably, where / shall find winter still
lingering in the lap of May, having left
spring, and almost summer, a fortnight
since at Savannah and Charleston
have come away from the South not
so Mortified as perhaps / ought to be
with slavery. which in the towns is not
by any means a horrifying institution.
The negroes in the good families are the
happiest, LATEST, comfortablest race of
menials. They are kept luxuriously In
working time and cared for most benevo-
lently in old age-one white does the
work of four of them, and one negro
that can work has his old parents very
likely and young children that can't. IL
is the worst economy-slavery--that can
be; the clumsiest and most costly do
nestle and agricultural machine that ever
oil Cab md
the TRADES of the abolitionists nayn't
destroy II. but common sense infallibly
will before long, and every proprietor
would be rid of his slaves II he could. not
in the cotton growing states, i mean. but
In households and in common agricultu-
raj estates.
II is a drearily unpicturesque country.
for the most part. ] have not seen a
dozen picturesque views through all my
wanderings. nor ever cared to use a PEN
ell, except to sketch a negro or5t two rand
these are wonderful for their grotesque-
ness. oddly and pathetic drollery, so to
speak. oh, what a comfort IL will be to
see the old country again. and TO shut up
these wearisome lectures! i am so sick
of them that / vow to revolt day after
day. II is only the thought of those
young ladies at Paris that makes me
continue this ambulatory quack business.
1 have made many kind and pleasant
friends. some whom 1 hope to like and
remember all my life. There are just as
good mot so many ladies and gentlemen
here as with us. and / have lost my
heart twice or thrice quite as sausfaq-
torily and recovered II. too. Ipf IN fhe
least injured by the temporary abstrac-
ton. during my stay here. The luxury
of this city is prodigious. and surely Solo
! mon in all his glory or the Queen of She
ba. when she came to visit him in state,
was not arrayed so magnihcently as
these New York damsels. 1 send my very
best regards to all our kinsfolk and
J friends, and that Judicious critic who pre-
ferred reading about Marlborough to see
ing wellington's obsequies. L hope, ID.
I ", to be home before many months are
I over, and i am always yours most sin
| rnr,lv w. NJ Thackerav