The Washington herald., 1911-07-23

From Cambridge Thackerav wan. ..
Weimar. in Saxony, and betwe.n that
pleasant little university CITY On ~.
banks of the lin. and Paris. hs sn.nt
several years of his youth. His mother
and his stepfather. Maj Carmioba.,
smyth. the prototype of his Col. New
come then were living in Devonsbir.
This is not the time to enter into Track
eray's literary career. Just one little
quotation. In dainty dialogue between
pen and albums Thackeray makes tina
pen, speaking to its master, say:
| Since he my faithful seryies did enuss
To follow him through his queer pilzrimasa
I've drawn and written many line and pasa
|
I've helped him to pen many line for brad
Thackeray had a hard struggle, but Il
brought him fame as well as social suo-
cess, and enabled him to procure hap
pier home for his children. He died on
Christmas Eve. 1853, passing away
quietly in the night. The last words his
Pen ever wrote were: And he passed
away in a perfect peace" They had
been intended for his unfinished novel.
Denis DuvaL" the Manuscript Of which
Is in the possession Of Lady Ritchie.
for paying tribute to the ''Carthusian OF
the Carthusians'' than the old gray
clositers of the Charterhouse. He loved
these old buildings. with the great
hall and its noble oak roof and paneled
walls. where once had been the monks
refectory. He also loved the little
chapel where he and his comrades Of
the Carthusian school used to SIT Here
also. as all lovers of Col Newcome.
Thackeray's most noble character, know,
that old man answered to ths last sum-
mons:
Just as the bell struck, q peculiar
sweet smile shone over his face. and he
lifted up his head a little, and quickly
said, .Adsum.' and fell back. II was
the word we used at school when names
were called. and he whose heart was
that Of a little child. had ansered TO
his name, and stood in the presence OF
the Master"
The spirit Of Thackeray, his good
humor, his delight in every craftsman
ship Of his art, his very boyishness.
haunts the old room in the Charterhouse.
where the exhibition IL his works was on
view.
To all lovers of the master there Is a
thrill at the sight of the original manu-
scripts OF "Esmond.' 'Pendennis," Van
ity Fair" THE Newcomes," and THE
Virginians." In the pages, especially Of
"Esmond'-the- fairest flower of his
genius-one turns with reverence, read
ing those magic lines as they came from
the writer's brain, but set down, not in
a fever Of inspiration. with swift and
scrawl, but with exquisite neat
ness OF penmanship. and with hardly any
1t Ii evident that Thaokeray
in the appearance of his manu-
script, and wrote with a sense Of pleas
ure in the very style Of his handwriting,
as a painter gets pleasure from the
Of his work. He wrote as
a rule on small-sized paper. and the
of Denis Duval," for ex-
ample. is written on note paper bearing
the address of Palace-Green, Kensington.
There was a very interesting collection
Of Thackerays drawings in that exhi-
bition. and looking at them, one won-
iers whether after all he would have
been a failure had he pursued art rather
than literature. Some of his drawings
have a fine spirit OF caricature, while
some OF his portraits are daintily, and
.ven delicately drawn. He wrote some
1000 letters a year. and the exhibition
contained many interesting specimens of
his correspondence, among them being a
note to Charles Dickens. FLANEUR
Copyright. 1911. ty Court Gossip syndicatsl