The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-01-27

Dec. "a, 1858, many sketches of his life have
been written, notably Theodore Taylor's
''Thackeray, the Humorist and Man Of Let
ters."i Mirruate's Outline of Thackeray as
Novelist" and Mrs. Ritchie's Biographical
Introductions.' The last-named was the
contribution Of loving daughter and re-
Vealed much of the home life and thought of
the great author. But none of these writings
have arisen to the dignity of complete biog-
raphy and full review of the great novel
| lists life work, so that Mr.. Melville's volumes
| come to occupy space which had not been
filled. j.
Thackeray was born In Calcutta, July H.
| 1911, his father being collector of the Cal
cutta district. His father died when the
boy was years old. The young widow, a
very beautiful woman of %, with her son.
stayed with relatives in Calcutta until 1917.
whensthe young boy was sent to England for
his education. He was lovable boy, all
| found warm friends in his granduncle Moore's
at the manor house at Hadley, and his aunt
| Mrs. Richie. It was from her house that
Thackeray wrote his first letter to his mother
Zone amusing anecdote of this time" says
Mr.. Melville, has been preserved. His aunt
one day found that her husbands hat fitted
the little boy, and she was so astonished, and
perhaps alarmed. that she at once took him
| to Sir Charles Clark, the eminent physician,
who smilingly told her not 10 be afraid. He
has large head, but there's good deal in
It, No doubt in after years the doctor was
much surprised to find how much was in that
head. At his death his brain weighed nearly
Atty eight and half ounces" Soon after
| her boys departure Mrs. Thackeray married
an officer, Captain Smyth who. to his honor
be it said. always proved father and true
friend to the boy and man. Speaking Of
his schoolboy character, writer in the Corn
hill Magazine is quoted as saying in later
years:
HE. ,(Thackeray) was then eminently good
IN oil ia11v no bc1
and nothing of a tyrant or bully: Instead Of
a blow or threat, can just hear him saying
to one of them: 'Hookt' "a sobriquet Of 8
son of the late Bishop Carr of Bombay, go
ZIP and fetch me volume of Ivanhoe out OF
my drawer, there's a good fellow; in thu
| which you may take for YOURSELF The penny
was indeed rather problematical, but still
realized sufficiently often to produce excite
ment in the mind OF the youth thus addressed.
and would make the service willing one.
When disappointed it was more than prob
able that the victim would call Tiaackeray a
great snob for misleading him, title for
which the only vengeance would be Il hulnOr-
GUS and berignant smile.
I'm the two or three years am recording /
scarcely ever saw Thackeray seriously angry,
or even his brow wrinkled with frown. He
has been called cynic. 1t is doubtful il a real
cynic could ever be manufactured out Of d
boy who had such powers as he had of sar-
CaSm and who used them so little unkindly.
Thackeray had nearly all the materials that
usually go to the making of a frst-class
| classical scholar. He had wonderful memory,
an absolute faculty of imitation; he had the
power of acquiring language, and an intense
admiration of the beautiful. He got to love
his Horace, but never was thorough CLASH
cal scholar.
HE had no school industry, No one in
those early days could have believed that
there was much work in him. or that he would
ever rise to the top of any tree by climbing.
His beau-1deal was the serious and sublime.
He was too familiar with, too much mastcref
the humorous, to think as much of that mas
h terry as his admirers did. have heard him
speak in terms of homage to the genius OF
Keats that he would not have vouchsafed to
the whole tribe Of humorists.
|. II recall him as rosy-faced boy, with dai X
curling hair and quick, intelligent eye, ever
twinkling with humor and good humor. He
was stout and broad set and gave no promise
of the stature which he afterward reached.
He was already known by his faculty for
making verses, chiefly parodies. 1 only re,
member one line Of one parody on poem or
L. E. LIS about 'Violets, Dark Blue Violets;
Thackeray's version was 'Cabbages, Bright
Green Cabbages,' and we thought it very
witty
Thackeray's sense of humor was keen. He
was quick in repartee and was notable for
high sense Of honor. He was not a model
student in his classes. but would neglect his
study to write humorous parody at any time
when the mood struck him. At 10 he entered
| Cambridge, where he spent two years and
left without taking degree. He was one of
| the most valued contributors to 1.-THE Snob, "
| the college paper, and his biographer asserts
h that 'Thackerays university career at Cam
bridge did him an immense amount or good
| Among other things he says: "Cambridge
| fixed his social status and he was never a
| Bohemian. and was always faithful to the
| traditions of the class in which he was born
| and bred" Sir Walter Bagehot says: eve
should ever bear In mind that the value OF the
| English university training consists more in
! the youthful friendships there formed than
| in the actual studies and examinations 1t
was in 1881 that he entered himself as a
| student of law at the Middle Temple But
! he failed to become Interested and as soon
| as he became Of age he dropped 1t at once and
! turned his attention to literary work and to
! travel Paris was his favorite resort, and he
entered into all social gayeties with zest;
and remarks: II loved to mix with the gifted
| and artistic Bohemian lions" He tried paint
| ing, but soon became convinced that it was
| not his forte. In 1885 he returned to Lon
don and it proved turning point In his life
| Major Smyth his stepfather, conceived the
idea Of starting a newspaper with capital OF
| $300,0O0 In this he placed most of his OWL
money and Young Thackeray the bulk of his
| patrimony, he being the Paris correspondent
The scheme was failure and both lost
heavily
| In 1886 Thackeray was married at Paris tc
Miss Isabella Getkin Eneagh Shave pretty
| young Irish girl. Thackeray had met Miss
| Shave at his grandfather's and Che told his
eldest}daughter) he lost his heart to her wher
he heard her sing. He was five and twenty
now, but entirely dependent upon his salary
as Paris correspondent Of the Constitutional
| He was not afraid Of the future and would
l never admit the imprudence of the step he
| had taken. This author says: "The marriage
was very happy one, and, in spite of the fail
ure Of the Constitutional, work was abundant
and the future promising"
''It was about the year 1860 that he wrote
to an old Charterhouse friend: Now we arc
half century old, and the kind hand which
wrote the name in the books, in that fine, we'll
! remembered writing, Is laid under the gras;
| which will cover us old gentlemen, too, ere
long, after our little life's journey is over
And the carriage is going down hill. isn't 1t
| Mine Is, after having had some pleasant trav-
cling, after being we'll nigh upset. after, being
patched UP again, after being robbed by foot.
pads, ETC., etc. The terminus can't be fa
| off-a few years more or less. wouldn't care
| to travel over the ground again, though
i have had some pleasant days and dear com
| panions.' To another friend he said: Ivan!
to tell you that I shall never see you again
| I feel that am doomed. know that this
| will grieve you; but look in that book and
am sure you will find something that vii
! please and comfort you The something
Twas prayer in which he prayed that he
might never write a word inconsistent with
/ the love of God or the love of man; that III
might never propagate his own pre5udfces, OF
i pander to those of others; that he might al.
ways speak the truth with his pen. and that
| he might never be actuated by q love OF greed.
And particularly remember, Mr.. Synge has
/ written, that the prayer wound up with the
/ words: For the sake OF Jesus Christ, oul