, 1898-07-14
FAMOUS CHARACTERS
eoME OF THOSE DRAWN FROM LIFE
BY NOTED AUTHORS.
Writefs Who Made Enemies by Their Sa-
tires On Living Persons-Dante Wrote
His Entyaies In Hades and Micn.ei Al.
eelo Painted Them There.

eelo Painted Them There.
The characters in the writings of
most eminent novelists are living reali-
ties. We see them around us; we rccoy-
nize them in our relatives, our ~acquaint-
ances, and, if not blinded by vanity,
frequently in ourselves. Who has not
numbered among his friends some indi-
vidual who is the living walking image
Of o character made immortal by the
pen of a Dickens or a Thackeray. And
rest assured, my dear sir or madam,
that while you are recognizing in some
one else q character that agrees in every
detail with one that the world has learn
cd to laugh at or to love in the works
of the great writers, some one else is
discovering the same thing about you.
The world is full of the characters, &C.
centric, serious and great, hat literary
genius has thrown n halo around. 1t is
easy to ascribe n reason for this. Most
of the characters in the books of Thack-
cray, Dickens, Tennyson, Scott and the
list of great authors We're drawn from
lay figures selected by the writers from
among the people with whom they were
acquainted.
The most recent instance of this is
Sherlock Holmes. The Scotch pro-
fessor upon whom Conan Doyle founded
the great detective has been recognized
and has been written up again and
again until he is as well known as the
detective.
The original Of the character of Mi
cawber, who eternally looked for some
thing to turn up, was Charles Dickens
own father, as is well known, while
the weak and easily victilmGrd MIS-.
Nickleby was the mother Of the novel
list. Boythorn in "Bleak House eau sed
q quarrel between Dickens and Walter
Savage Lander, for the latter recog-
nized in the character his Owl peculiari-
ties and resented tho fact that he had
been SO treated. Leigh Hunt was angry
with Dickens because the famous char
acter Of Harold Skimpolc, in the same
book, rescmblcd his maunorisms SO
closely that there was no possibility Of
the likeness not being recognized.
The original of Thackcray's Bulwig
in yellow Plush Papers was no other
than Bulwer, and there was Il tremen.
dous row over the naming of u murder
ess in one Of his books Catherine Hayes,
which was the name of n famous song
stress. Andrew Archdehne was the
original of Thacleray's Foker. Arch
define never forgave ~Thackeray the lib
erty taken with him. The celebrated
DR.. Cornish was Thackcray's Portman,
and young Grubstreet in the "Virgin-
ians" was Edmund Yates to a dot. Co.'S
tigan in 1.-The Roundabout Papers was
q composite figure built on the peculiari-
ties of several living people, as Thack-
cray himself acknowledged.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was kept busy
after the publication of 1.-The House of
Seven Cables assuring q large and
ever multiplying army of P%ynchcons
that his character of that name had not
been drawn from life. So easily were
Charlotte Bronte's characters in "Shir-
ley" recognized by their originals that
the latter called each other by their fic-
titious names.
Byron wrote Of his own peculiaritics
of life and temperament in his verse:
Alfred de Musset did the same thing;
Nine. de Stael depicted herself in 500
rhine" and "Delphine" and Thack-
eray's portrait can easily be recognized
in Pendennis. DIR. Holland is supposed
to be the original of the villain in his
novel of Bitter Sweet and many
people believed that Amelie Rives Chan
Ter was the original of her heroine in
"The Quick or the Dead;'' Charles
Reade admitted that he was his W lay
G~,r, -, <lrn nv, NJ %l,n ,,n,nS,-, 81 D,1f,,
Charlotte Bronte was Jane Eyre, and
George Eliot was a composite Of Rom6la.
Maggie Tulliver and possibly Dorothea;
Goldsmith was his own original in
1.-THE Good Natured Man, while Field.
ing was the original of Tom Jones.
Dante wrote his enemies in hell and
Michael Angelo painted them in. Dry
den was noted for his satires on living
persons. Pope actually erased the name
Of one Of his characters and put Colly
Cibber's in its place. Byron heavily
scored his critics and Bulwer did n like
Office for Tennyson. Bulwer was rather
accomplished in this respect. He satir-
lied The Athenaeum Magazine i'll Paul
Clifford" Even George ~ of England
was depicted rs the keeper of u low den
in the same novel.
Tennyson repaid Bulwer in his II
slaughts both i'll "a Character and in
1.-THE New Timon and the Poets" Cap
tain Marryat, who wrote such humor.
Gus naval stories, notably "Feter Sim
pie, +" once sent n challenge to Professor
Maurice because the latter used his
name for n character i'll "Eustace Con-
way Browning scored Wordsworth
in 1.-THE Lost Leader" He also, at va
rious times in his career, caricatured
Cardinal Wiseman, Napoleon III, and
John Home, the spiritualist. The latter
figured as Sludge, the medium. Even
our WI Whittier made Daniel Webster
figure in M Of his compositions.
Nine. de Stael drew Talleyrand's
characteristics 10 pointedly that the
portrait was recognized by the French
statesman, who resented it in one of
his famous mots. When Alfred de Mus
set and George Sand returned from the
escapade irto Italy. they proceeded to
score eaeI other in novels they soon
after print,4. Mrs. Gore, Mrs. Trollope
and Lady ihorgan used the personal ele-
ment repeatedly, while to come upon
the real intention Of Disraeli's novels
requires = key bringing in the names of
many pror. inent people in England
Exchange.
An I~nsinnasion.
II supIs u, if I had to cat mule meat