The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-08-13

We have often met with the phrase
that this or that is "a liberal educa-
tion," and its authorship is variously
given. 1t has been attributed to many
persons who know not Of it. 1t was
in fact a coinage, we believe, Of Sir
Richard Steele-"glorious Dick" a CO.
author of the famous 1.-The Spectator"
of Queen Anne's time, with Joseph Adj
olson. He also wrote and published
The Tattler.' He was the favorite
of the great Thackeray-see his incom-
parable Lectures on Wit and m
one of the most fascinating books IN
nineteenth century literature. For
more of steele see Thackeray'S favorite
novel and most finished and artistic
as to style, and a great n withal,
Henry Esmond" Steele said that to
love a fair lady of quality lis a liberal
education" In a very pleasant work
recently published by Lady Russell
called "SwaIlowfeld,' the name of the
famous old home in England at which
people OF fame had dwelt for ten or fiji
teen generations, or even longer, the
late Sir George Russell tells of Thack-
cray and Dickens of both of whom he
saw much. The following will be sure
to interest the genuine Thackerayan:
"One evening at Thackeray's house,
about two years before his death, when
Twas talking with him n his daugh-
tiers. I said: Tell me, Thackeray,
which is your own favorite among your
works?' He said: Tell me first which
is yours. I replied, The NegcOmes.'
Miss Thackeray expressed her prefer
ence for 'Pendennis.' and her sister, 1
think, shared her opinion. Thackeray,
after a pause, said, with emphasize
give his wordS-'We1 1 should like to
stand or fall by 'Esmond.'"
He and Dickens went together to the
funeral of Thackeray. The two writ
ers had become alienated, and yet
Thackeray often praised in his writ
ings his one great rival. Dickens said
to Russell: well, I am bound to say
nothing ever took place between
Thackeray and me face to face, which
was not to his honor"
Dickens, Russell says, was the most
charming companion he ever knew.
He never appeared to lead; still less
did he n~onopolize conversation, but
a the peculiar art Of drawing out
the best from everybody. . He
loved children. and all children took to
him at. once" Thackeray greatly ad-
mired Henry Fielding's coarse out i'm
mortal novel Tom jones' but Dickens
did not and said it "rouses my con-
tempt and even went further,
strange to say. and said that except
ing Blifl there is not an original char
acter in the book."
It asked Dickens which he regarded
as the greatest work of prose fiction.
without doubt, Don Quixote," he
said, I" and Gil Bias would have been
if Don QuiXote' had never been writ
ten" He thought Forster's Life of
Goldsmith" the best biography in the
language, excepting always the un-
rivalled work of Boswell"
If he had read Lockhart's Life of
Scott" he gave a curious critical deliv-
eranc TreveJyan's Life of Macau-
lay" had not been written. Dickens
thought that his own best novel was
un~questionably David Copperfeld."
Sir George says that Thackeray's
gifted and now famous daughter Anne,
thought "Pendennis' her fathers best
and We are sometimes almost if not al
together of that opinion. We were so
delighted a few years e in our last
reading of it that W. would turn 20