The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-12-06
Thack e~ay and the Kitchen Folk

| ! anu tue NNVuFU TWIN
The great underlying cause of the
great fundamental trbuation Of do
nestle life. the problem of domestic ser
vice. has been discovered The riddle,
why servants go wrong, has been solved
and the answer is "THACKERAY." Yes.
/ TuAcKERAy. the sane THACKERAy you
mean. the cynical. genial. cruel. kind.
cold bloodcd. warm hearted WILLIAM
MARrPEACr. is the wicked conjuror who
has turned the heads and upset rhe no.
I lions Of THOMAS and MARY JANE and
driven Brown. JONES and ROBINSON
and their respectable better halves to
the kitchencttc. the lobster palace and
the supcr-tango.
The discovery has been made by an
anonymous genius in the London Spec
fdtor. who crystallizes his thesis in
| these sentences
"THAcKHRAY dealt a blow AT domestic
service which Il has never quite recovered
| from. He made IL ridiculous. IL was the
one bad turn than he did to English So
| ciety."
Ii is easy to fll out the diagram.
! Education has made rapid progress.
All the standard novels are cheap. and
the serious man reads them in pref
erence TO modern trash. Result: the
class from which domestic servants
spring has learned of JEAMEs DE IA
PLUCHr and MORGAN. 1t has realized
| that domestic service Is ridiculous. Am.
| bilious young men won't marry the
parlor maid and >elf-respecting young
women turn up their noses at the foot
man. So the young man looks for a
cheap clerkship and the young woman
goes into factory in order that their
matrimonial prospects may not he cont
promised.
Perhaps some persons might say y
was unfair to blame 1t all on TuACk-
ERAy. The inmitable "BoZ" had also
his crack AZ the gentlemen below stairs.
! The "selections'' whom SAM WELLER
met Mt that "swarry" at Bath whercat
| Il leg of mutton with the usual trim
minis" and rum shrub were the main
attractions were not exactly drawn IL
spirit W lfSl"Nllul
are made no, only ridiculous hut -
! impudent. conceited and trracherous rs
/ THACKFRAY nj his worst could have
/ pictured them. brTIMER Is u consider
/ able scoundre too. distant and quiet
as the north pole" and always making
honest DAVID feel So young. Miss MlaGs
/ is a shocking huSsy. But DICKENs was
NOT one sided on the servant question,
! and even IL lie made PFGGorTY and SAM
WELLER absurd he bestowed upon them
hearts of gold.
| ON the contrary, TuACKTRAY never
had q good word or u tolerant thought
! for one Of the servant class. Indeed. i
! is hardly too much "a say that lie de
graded his genius in the concentrated
effort which hc lavishcd upon making
all alike seem crXcomhS and ingrates
without redceming trait. "Jeanes's
Diary" AMI the "Yeliowplush Papers
are delicious hut somewhat excessive
! fooing. They might he forgiven. bur
the savage portrayal of MORGAN, the
/ hlacknailing valet Of Major PENDEN-
MIS- the theving French maid of BECKY
/ SHARP. the ROunla bout Paper on board
wages and numerous other hints and
sketches display such unqualified ven
ON against all sorts Of donlcsics and
the class they spring from that II re-
mains a freak hard to account for u
the great novelist's makeup.
The servant has been more or less
Al Al. -
immcmorai and has been treated not
uncommonly in the satirlcal vein. La
poRfLLo and Mr.. Fac with sundry Abb
gals of the Restoration drama take the
tribe from the INSCRIPTIONS side. but
usually with II gaycty aud appreciation
of their clever rnguery which disnrIns
resent ment. Needless Ia say thar from
/ pamela ANDREWS down 10 EsrHIR WA
TERs the feminine contingent have been
found by very considerable masters coa.
genial material for heroncs. Here and
there the lash may be- laid on harder .
Dean SWIFT once dipped his pen in gall
and NORWOOD to caStigate the humble
seryitors Of society of both genders
But. on the whole, II is true that THACR-
FRAY remains their hlttcrest literary
| foe No one else waged war on them
from chapter 10 chapter and book TO
book war in which there was hardly
an exception and no relpnting.
Yet il may hc doubted whether
THACKERAY has caused the present re-
action against domestic work or has
had any considerable share in it. II is
doubtful whether the causes are in any
degree bOokiSh. There are realities
enough in the seamy side of household
drudgery 10 account for general re-
luctance tn enter II, But above and h..
yond this there are the new ambition
and opportunity born of modern condi-
tlons, notably the education Of children.
The Spectators discovery" Is not IN
! interesting but II is to be taken rather
ms administrative than real. II Is NOT
because they find that any author or
group of authors and their readers have
been scornful toward service that the
Young people avert their faces from t.
to-day. hut because they have them
selves acquired some of the standa rds
of their quondam "betters' and so view