New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-14

THE. TH!AllG.KERAYS u INpLA ANp t S2ME
Hunter. X. g. $. l.. NJ. A., IL. D. Octave.
lHl Lnnhnn: IIrnrl FrONdr.

CALCUTTA GRAVES. .By. Sir William Wilson
Hunter. X. g. 5. l.. NJ. A.. IL. u. Octave.
PIP 1877 London: Henry Frowd".
Very little is known concerning the early life
of Thackeray. To that little Sir William Hunter
adds some oc the mellowcst, kindest and most
graceful pages which it has been our good fort
une to discover in the minor literature of bog-
raphy This is an unpretentious book brief and
discursive. and the eXactinG reader may even
complain that not enough attention has been
paid to the family whose annals would be sup
posed 20 fiji the entire volume. But one must
grant the author his point Of view, one must take
him as the genial chrOnicler that he is wander
ing among old Calcutta graves and feeling too
many impulses Of loyalty and tenderness at sigh.
Of this heroic name or that to pass the crumbling
record without some appreciative words. More
over his first somewhat long chapter. which IS
devoted TO the first years If the British power
i'm India and is fun of valuable historical! notes
really provides just tn" needed Introduction 10
survey Of the Thackcra" ancestry. The fanny
was rooted deep in English soil. but for over p
hundre years it sen its representatives TO IN
dia. and thei, nam, is Identified with some % the
most importani developments in the history Of
Great Britains Eastern Empire
1t was in the hands Of John Company then, and
wrctchcd methods by which thu Court Of Drec-
tors essdyed 10 build up thet enterprise For
Warren III IStngS he has the admiration of
man who can weigh Macauay for Wha' the lat
ter is worth and he is on the side Of the great
Govrrnor-Genpral throughout displaying once
more the pcrfdous conduct Of Francis and his
colleagues the colossal nature Of the obstacles
which Hastings had to overcome overcome
them he did. in the long run. and the resolute
temper Of the man must have seemed nobler
than ever To those who watched his bearing be-
fpre the House Of Commons i'm 1873 Sir William
Hunter does not mince matters when writing Of
Hastings and other heroes He thinks that the
niggardIv and commercial spirit OF John Com
pany whit worse than the factional in
gratitude and spite of the Governments; and
when h. comes To TN, pathetic. If not tragcal,
efforts o. job Charnock to found Calcutta he
makes his reader experience feelings akin 10 his
own. feelings that trench on disgust. But there
are other sides to the narrative. Witness this
memorial of a lads heroic conduct in the year Of
the Black Hole. when Admiral Watson came to
the rescue:
BILLY" Spoke was the son @: Captain Henry
Spoke. Of the Kent. which carried the Admirals
I'D pcnnant AT her miZZcntOpmast. During the
capture OF the French settlement. Chandarnagar
or Fort Orleans on the Hugh. as it called. |
the Kent received liN cannOn-shot through her
grape her masts and rigging hacked to pieces /
and within three hours all of her crew lay !
wounded or dead captain Spoke and his SON.
ldd Of sixteen years, tht doctor says, were struck
al the same moment. The wounded captain see |
ing his boys leg hanging only by the skin. re-
marked To the Admiral Indeed. sir this was a |
cruel shot TO knock down both the father and the !
son" Nh Wason's heart was too full to make |
the least reply writes the surgeon. disjonted |
sentences from whose narrativ" may complete |
the tale. After doing what he could for the |
father. DR.. Ives went 10 the son. But the lad !
would not allow him 10 touch the leg until the /,
surgcan assured him upon my honor that his |
fathers wound had been dressed ana promised !
well "Then.' replied the boy pray, sir look II |
dress this poor man who is grOanine 80 sadly |
beside me- Il told him that he had already been |
taken care of. lie calmly observed. Sill fear |
You must amputate above the Joint | replied. !
Ny dear | must" Upon which he claspcd both |
his hands together, and lifting his eyes in the |
most dcvout ana fcrvcnt manner towards !
heaven. h. offered NJ the following short but |
earnest petition: Good God do Thou enable me |
to behave worthy of my fathers son | then |
performed the operation above the joint Of the |
ln'" bat during the whole time the intrepid |
outh never spake word on uttered groan /
that could be- heard at yard distance"
Young Spoke died soon after in Calcutta We !
have cited The touching description Of his cour- /
agcous end because 1t shows the stuff of which |
the men were made who were being sent out.
soldiers and civilians, to consolidate the growing /
territories of the Company. The novelists ,
grandfather. William Makepeace Thackeray.
went ont in l1GO. with a Writershin in the East
India Companys service, and Sir William Hun
ter has traced four Of his sons with at least
fourteen Of his descendants and cOaterals in
the records Of Bengal administrative history
They were all civilians but they rendered great
service to their country. and the novelists ia Their
richmond Thackcray. seems - have been n
brilliant factor In the renovation OF the mode ~
collecting the revenue. He was prosperous too
and would seem 10 have been conspicuous i'm the
social gayeties ~ Calcutta. Sir William Hunter
alludes 10 n "masqued bah OF peculiar splendour"
when Thackrray. the Honorable Mountstuart
Ephinstonr and two other young civilians gave
IN lNoi 1t was one of the great social happen.
ings Of that time His house was richly adorned
ana he Was an important inquire when I'm 1910
being then in his twenty ninth year he married
one of the beauties Of Calcutta He had him.
SELF an attractive personality" says our author
ana goes on 10 quote a note Of Mrs Rltchies an
the portrait viii hangs to-day I'm her drawing
room. ~ Is that Of ii very Young man i'm an old
fashioned iress and brass buttons and ,vbito
handkerchief round his neck win brown hair
ialIlhg loose, win bright soft hazel eyes and
arched black eyebrows. The face IA long and
narrow the nose ID long. the complexion ia clear