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The mournful news was +repeated at many a Christmas table, +that he, who had led the simple +Colonel Newcome to his solemn and touching end, would +write no more. The circumstance was so startling from +the suddenness of the great loss which society at large had +sustained, that it was some time before people could +realise the dismal truth of the report.</p> + +<p>It will be easily understood, without elaborating on so +saddening a theme, with how much keener a blow this +heavy bereavement must have struck the surviving relatives +of the great novelist. It does not come within our +province to speak of the paralysing effect of such emotion; +it is sufficient to recall that Thackeray's death, with its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_VIII" id="Page_VIII">viii</a></span> +overwhelming sorrow, left, in the hour of their trial, his +two young daughters deprived of the fatherly active mind +which had previously shielded from them the graver +responsibilities of life, with the additional anxiety of being +forced to act in their own interests at the very time such +exertions were peculiarly distracting.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that the author of 'Vanity +Fair' had but recently erected, from his own designs, the +costly and handsome mansion in which he anticipated +passing the mellower years of his life; a dwelling in +every respect suited to the high standing of its owner, +and, as has been said by a brother writer, 'worthy of one +who really represented literature in the great world, and +who, planting himself on his books, yet sustained the +character of his profession with all the dignity of a gentleman.'</p> + +<p>In such a house a portion of Thackeray's fortune might +be reasonably invested. To the occupant it promised the +enjoyment he was justified in anticipating, and was a solid +property to bequeath his descendants when age, in its +sober course, should have called him hence. But little +more than a year later, to those deadened with the effects +of so terrible a bereavement as their loss must have +proved when they could realise its fulness, this house must +have been a source of desolation. Its oppressive size, its +infinitely mournful associations, the hopeful expectations +with which it had been erected, the tragic manner in which +the one dearest to them had there been stricken down; +with all this acting on the sensibilities of unhealed grief, +the building must have impressed them with peculiar +aversion; and hence it may be concluded that their first +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_IX" id="Page_IX">ix</a></span> +desire was to leave it. The removal to a house of dimensions +more suitable to their requirements involved the +sacrifice of those portions of the contents of the larger +mansion with which it was considered expedient to dispense; +and thus Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods +announced for sale a selection from the paintings, drawings, +part of the interesting collection of curious porcelain, +and such various objects of art or furniture as would otherwise +have necessitated the continuance of a house as large +as that at Palace Green. These valuable objects were +accordingly dispersed under the hammer, March 16 and 17, +1864, and on the following day the remainder of Thackeray's +library was similarly offered to public competition. +To anyone familiar with Thackeray's writings, and more +especially with his Lectures and Essays, this collection of +books must have been both instructive and fascinating; +seeing that they faithfully indicated the course of their +owner's readings, and through them might be traced many +an allusion or curious fact of contemporaneous manners, +which, in the hands of this master of his craft, had been +felicitously employed to strengthen the purpose of some +passage of his own compositions.</p> + +<p>Without converting this introduction into a catalogue +of the contents of Thackeray's library it is difficult to particularise +the several works found on his book-shelves. It +is sufficient to note that all the authorities which have been +quoted in his Essays were fitly represented; that such +books, in many instances obscure and trivial in themselves, +as threw any new or curious light upon persons or +things—on the private and individual, as well as the public +or political history of men, and of the events or writings to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_X" id="Page_X">x</a></span> +which their names owe notoriety, of obsolete fashions or of +the changing customs of society—were as numerous as the +most ardent and <i>dilettanti</i> of Thackeray's admirers could +desire.</p> + +<p>The present volume is devised to give a notion, necessarily +restricted, of certain selections from these works, +chiefly chosen with a view of further illustrating the bent +of a mind, with the workings of which all who love the +great novelist's writings may at once be admitted to the +frankest intercourse. It has been truly said that Thackeray +was 'too great to conceal anything.' The same candour is +extended to his own copies of the books which told of +times and company wherein his imagination delighted to +dwell; for, pencil in hand, he has recorded the impressions +of the moment without reserve, whether whimsical or +realistic.</p> + +<p>A collection of books of this character is doubly interesting. +On the one hand were found the remnants of +earlier humourists, the quaint old literary standards which +became, in the hands of their owner, materials from which +were derived the local colouring of the times concerning +which it was his delightful fancy to construct romances, to +philosophise, or to record seriously.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the present generation was fitly +represented. To most of the writers of his own era it was +an honour that a presentation copy of their literary offspring +should be found in the library of the foremost +author, whose friendship and open-handed kindness to the +members of his profession was one of many brilliant traits +of a character dignified by innumerable great qualities, and +tenderly shaded by instances uncountable of generous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XI" id="Page_XI">xi</a></span> +readiness to confer benefits, and modest reticence to let the +fame of his goodness go forth.</p> + +<p>Presentation copies from his contemporaries were therefore +not scarce; and whether the names of the donors were +eminent, or as yet but little heard of, the creatures of their +thoughts had been preserved with unvarying respect. The +'Christmas Carol,' that memorable Christmas gift which +Thackeray has praised with fervour unusual even to his +impetuous good-nature, was one of the books. The copy, +doubly interesting from the circumstances both of its +authorship and ownership, was inscribed in the well-known +hand of that other great novelist of the nineteenth century, +'W. M. Thackeray, from Charles Dickens (<i>whom he made +very happy once a long way from home</i>).' Competition was +eager to secure this covetable literary memorial, which +may one day become historical; it was knocked down at +25<i>l.</i> 10<i>s.</i>, and rumour circulated through the press, without +foundation, we believe with regret, that it had been secured +for the highest personage in the State, whose desire to +possess this volume would have been a royal compliment +to the community of letters.</p> + +<p>Nor were books with histories wanting. George Augustus +Sala, in the introduction to his ingenious series of +'Twice Round the Clock,' published in 1862, remarks with +diffidence: 'It would be a piece of sorry vanity on my part +to imagine that the conception of a Day and Night in London +is original. I will tell you how I came to think of the +scheme of "Twice Round the Clock." Four years ago, in +Paris, my then master in literature, Mr. Charles Dickens, +lent me a little thin octavo volume, which I believe had +been presented to him by another master of the craft, Mr. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XII" id="Page_XII">xii</a></span> +Thackeray.' A slight resemblance to this opuscule was +offered in 'A View of the Transactions of London and +Westminster from the Hours of Ten in the Evening till +Five in the Morning,' which was secured at Thackeray's +sale for forty-four shillings.</p> + +<p>Thus, without presuming to any special privileges, we +account for the selection of literary curiosities which form +settings for the fragments gathered in 'Thackerayana,' +The point of interest which rendered this dispersion of certain +of Thackeray's books additionally attractive to us may +be briefly set forth.</p> + +<p>In looking through the pages of odd little volumes, and +on the margins and fly-leaves of some of the choicest +works, presentation copies or otherwise, it was noticed that +pencil or pen-and-ink sketches, of faithful conceptions suggested +by the texts, touched in most cases with remarkable +neatness and decision, were abundantly dispersed through +various series.</p> + +<p>It is notorious that their owner's gift of dexterous +sketching was marvellous; his rapid facility, in the minds +of those critics who knew him intimately, was the one great +impediment to any serious advancement in those branches +of art which demand a lengthy probationship; and to this +may be referred his implied failure, or but partial success, +in the art which, to him, was of all cultivated accomplishments +the most enticing. The fact has been dwelt on +gravely by his friends, and was a source of regret to certain +eminent artists best acquainted with his remarkable +endowments.</p> + +<p>The chance of securing as many of these characteristic +designs as was in our power directed the selection of books +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XIII" id="Page_XIII">xiii</a></span> +which came into our possession in consequence of the sale +of Thackeray's library; it was found they were richer in +these clever pencillings than had been anticipated.</p> + +<p>An impulse thus given, the excitement of increasing +the little gathering was carried further; many volumes +which had been dispersed were traced, or were offered +spontaneously when the fact of the collection became +known. From books wherein, pencil in hand, passages had +been noted with sprightly little vignettes, not unlike the +telling etchings which the author of 'Vanity Fair' caused +to be inserted in his own published works, we became +desirous of following the evidence of this faculty through +other channels; seeing we held the Alpha, as it were, +inserted in the Charterhouse School books, and the later +pencillings, which might enliven any work of the hour +indifferently, as it excited the imagination, grotesque or +artist-like, as the case might be, of the original reader, +whether the book happened to be a modest magazine in +paper or an <i>édition de luxe</i> in morocco.</p> + +<p>A demand created, the supply, though of necessity +limited, was for a time forthcoming. The energy, which +fosters a mania for collecting, was aided by one of those +unlooked-for chances which sustain such pursuits, and, +from such congenial sources as the early companions of +the author, sufficient material came into our possession to +enable us to trace Thackeray's graphic ambition throughout +his career with an approach to consistency, following +his efforts in this direction through his school days, in +boyish diversions, and among early favourites of fiction; as +an undergraduate of Cambridge; on trips to Paris; as a +student at Weimar and about Germany; through magazines, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XIV" id="Page_XIV">xiv</a></span> +to Paris, studying in the Louvre; to Rome, dwelling +among artists; through his contributions to 'Fraser's,' and +that costly abortive newspaper speculation the 'Constitutional;' +through the slashing Bohemian days, to the +period of 'Vanity Fair;' through successes, repeated and +sustained—Lectures and Essays; through travels at home +and abroad—to America, from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, to +Scotland, to Ireland, 'Up the Rhine,' Switzerland, Italy, +Belgium, Holland, and wherever Roundabout 'sketches by +the way' might present themselves.</p> + +<p>The study which had attracted an individual, elicited +the sympathy of a larger circle. The many who preserve +mementos similar to those dispersed through 'Thackerayana' +enlarged on the general interest of the materials, +and especially upon the gratification which that part of the +public representing Thackeray's admirers would discover +in such original memorials of our eminent novelist; and +which, from the nature of his gifts, and the almost unique +propensity for their exercise, would be impossible in the +case of almost any other man of kindred genius.</p> + +<p>Selections from the sketches were accordingly produced +in <i>facsimile</i>, only such subjects being used as, from their +relation to the context, derived sufficient coherence to be +generally appreciable.</p> + +<p>The writer is aware that many such memorials exist, +some of them unquestionably of greater worth in themselves +than several that are found in the present gathering; +but it is not probable, either from their private nature, the +circumstances of their ownership, or from the fact that, in +their isolated condition, they do not illustrate any particular +stage of their author's progress, that the public will ever +become familiar with them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XV" id="Page_XV">xv</a></span></p> + +<p>'Thackerayana' is issued with a sense of imperfections; +many more finished or pretentious drawings might have +been offered, but the illustrations have been culled with a +sense of their fitness to the subject in view. It is the +intention to present Thackeray in the aspect his ambition +preferred—as a sketcher; his pencil and pen bequeath us +matter to follow his career; we recognise that delightful +gift, a facility for making rapid little pictures on the inspiration +of the moment; it is an endless source of pleasure to +the person who may exercise this faculty, and treasures up +the most abundant and life-like reminiscences for the delectation +of others. It will be understood as no implied +disparagement of more laboured masterpieces if we observe +that the composition of historical works, the conception +and execution of <i>chefs-d'œuvre</i>, are grave, lengthy, and +systematic operations, not to be lightly intruded on; they +involve much time and preparation, many essays, failures, +alterations, corrections, much grouping of accessories, +posing of models, and setting of lay-figures; they become +oppressive after a time, and demand a strain of absorption +to accomplish, and an effort of mind to appreciate, which +are not to be daily exerted; long intervals are required to +recruit after such labours; but the bright, ready <i>croquis</i> of +the instant, if not profound, embalms the life that is passing +and incessant; the incident too fleeting to be preserved on +the canvas, or in a more ambitious walk of the art, lives in +the little sketch-book; it is grateful to the hand which jots +it down, and has the agreeable result of being able to +extend that pleasure to all who may glance therein. If it +was one of Thackeray's few fanciful griefs that he was not +destined for a painter of the grand order, it doubtless consoled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XVI" id="Page_XVI">xvi</a></span> +him to find that the happier gift of embodying that +abstract creation—an idea—in a few strokes of the pencil +was his beyond all question; and this graceful faculty he +was accustomed to exercise so industriously, that myriads of +examples survive of the originality of his invention as an +artist, in addition to the brilliant fancy and sterling truth +to be found in his works as an author.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-016.jpg" width="263" height="364" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XVII" id="Page_XVII">xvii</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdpg" colspan="2"><span class="s08">PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Voyage from India—Touching at St. Helena—School days at the Charterhouse—Early +Reminiscences—Sketches in School Books—Boyish +Scribblings—Favourite Fictions—Youthful Caricatures—Souvenirs of +the Play</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Early Favourites—The 'Castle of Otranto'—Rollin's 'Ancient History'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Thackeray's last visit to the Charterhouse—College days—Pendennis at +Cambridge—Sketches of Universities—Sporting subjects—Etchings at +Cambridge—Pencillings in old authors—Pictorial Puns—The 'Snob,' +a Literary and Scientific Journal—'Timbuctoo,' a Prize Poem</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Early Favourites—Fielding's 'Joseph Andrews'—Imitators of Fielding—The +'Adventures of Captain Greenland'—'Jack Connor'—'Chrysal; +or, the Adventures of a Guinea'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Continental Rambles—A Stolen Trip to Paris—Residence at Weimar—Contributions +to Albums—Burlesque State—German Sketches and +Studies—The Weimar Theatre—Goethe—Souvenirs of the Saxon city—'Journal +kept during a Visit to Germany'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_89">89</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XVIII" id="Page_XVIII">xviii</a></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Thackeray's Predilections for Art—A Student in Paris—First Steps in +the Career—An Art Critic—Introduction to Marvy's 'English Landscape +Painters'—Early Connection with Literature—Michael Angelo +Titmarsh, a contributor to 'Fraser's Magazine'—French Caricature +under Louis Philippe—Political Satires—A Young Artist's life in Paris—Growing +Sympathy with Literature</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">'Elizabeth Brownrigge: a Tale,' 1832—'Comic Magazine,' 1832-4—'National +Standard and Literary Representative,' 1833-4—'Flore et +Zéphyr, Ballet Mythologique,' 1836—On the Staff of 'Fraser's Magazine'—Early +Connection with Maginn and his Colleagues—The Maclise +Cartoon of the Fraserians—Thackeray's <i>Noms de Plume</i>—Charles +Yellowplush as a Reviewer—Skelton and his 'Anatomy of Conduct'—Thackeray's +Proposal to Dickens to illustrate his Novels—Gradual +Growth of Thackeray's Notoriety—His Genial Admiration for 'Boz'—Christmas +Books and Dickens's 'Christmas Carol'—Return to Paris—Execution +of Fieschi and Lacénaire—Daily Newspaper Venture—The +'Constitutional' and 'Public Ledger'—Thackeray as Paris Correspondent—Dying +Speech of the 'Constitutional'—Thackeray's Marriage—Increased +Application to Literature—The 'Shabby Genteel Story'—Thackeray's +Article in the 'Westminster' on George Cruikshank—First +Collected Writings—The 'Paris Sketch-Book'—Dedication to M. Aretz—'Comic +Tales and Sketches,' with Thackeray's original Illustrations—The +'Yellowplush Papers'—The 'Second Funeral of Napoleon,' +with the 'Chronicles of the Drum'—The 'History of Samuel Titmarsh +and the great Hoggarty Diamond'—'Fitzboodle's Confessions'—The +'Irish Sketch-Book,' with the Author's Illustrations—The 'Luck of +Barry Lyndon'—Contributions to the 'Examiner'—Miscellanies—'Carmen +Lilliense'—'Notes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand +Cairo,' with the Author's Illustrations—Interest excited in Titmarsh—Foundation +of 'Punch'—Thackeray's Contributions—His comic Designs—The +'Fat Contributor'—'Jeames's Diary'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Increasing reputation—Later writings in 'Fraser'—'Mrs. Perkins's Ball,' +with Thackeray's Illustrations—Early Vicissitudes of 'Pencil Sketches +of English Society'—Thackeray's connection with the Temple—Appearance +of 'Vanity Fair,' with the Author's original Illustrations—Appreciative +notice in the 'Edinburgh Review'—The impression produced—'Our +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_IXX" id="Page_IXX">ixx</a></span> +Street,' with Titmarsh's Pencillings of some of its Inhabitants—The +History of Pendennis,' illustrated by the Author—'Dr. +Birch and his Young Friends,' with illustrations by M. A. Titmarsh—'Rebecca +and Rowena'—The Dignity of Literature and the 'Examiner' +and 'Morning Chronicle' newspapers—Sensitiveness to Hostile Criticism—The +'Kickleburys on the Rhine,' with illustrations by M. A. +Titmarsh—Adverse bias of the 'Times' newspaper—Thackeray's reply—An +'Essay on Thunder and Small Beer'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Commencement of the Series of Early Essayists—Thackeray as a Lecturer—The +'English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century'—Charlotte +Brontë at Thackeray's Readings—The Lectures repeated in Edinburgh—An +invitation to visit America—Transatlantic popularity—Special +success attending the reception of the 'English Humourists' in the +States—'Week-day Preachers'—Enthusiastic Farewell—Appleton's +New York edition of Thackeray's Works; the Author's introduction, +and remarks on International Copyright—Thackeray's departure—Cordial +impression bequeathed to America—The 'History of Henry +Esmonde, a story of Queen Anne's Reign'—The writers of the Augustan +Era—The 'Newcomes'—An allusion to George Washington +misunderstood—A second visit to America—Lectures on the 'Four +Georges'—The series repeated at home—Scotch sympathy—Thackeray +proposed as a candidate to represent Oxford in Parliament—His liberal +views and impartiality</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Curious Authors from Thackeray's Library, indicating the course of his +Readings—Early Essayists illustrated with the Humourist's Pencillings—Bishop +Earle's 'Microcosmography; a piece of the World Characterised,' +1628—An 'Essay in Defence of the Female Sex,' 1697—Thackeray's +Interest in Works on the Spiritual World—'Flagellum Dæmonum, +et Fustis Dæmonum. Auctore R. P. F. Hieronymo Mengo,' 1727—'La +Magie et L'Astrologie,' par L. F. Alfred Maury—'Magic, Witchcraft, +Animal Magnetism, Hypnotism, and Electro Biology,' by James +Baird, 1852</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="s08">ENGLISH ESSAYISTS OF THE GEORGIAN ERA.</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Early Essayists whose Writings have furnished Thackeray with the Accessories +of Portions of his Novels and Lectures—Works from the +Novelist's Library, elucidating his Course of Reading for the Preparation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XX" id="Page_XX">xx</a></span> +of his 'Lectures'—'Henry Esmond,' 'The Virginians,' &c.—Characteristic +Passages from the Lucubrations of the Essayists of the +Augustan Era illustrated with original Marginal Sketches, suggested by +the Text, by Thackeray's hand—The 'Tatler'—Its History and Influence—Reforms +introduced by the purer Style of the Essayists—The +Literature of Queen Anne's Reign—Thackeray's Love for the Writings +of the Period—His Gift of reproducing their masterly and simple style +of Composition; their Irony, and playful Humour—Extracts from +notable Essays; illustrated with original Pencillings from the Series of +the 'Tatler,' 1709</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Extracts of Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Humourists,' +from Thackeray's Library, illustrated with Original Marginal Sketches +by the Author's hand—The Series of <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian,'</span> 1713—Introduction—Steele's +Programme—Authors who contributed to the 'Guardian'—Paragraphs +and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Characteristic passages from the Works of Humorous Writers of the 'Era +of the Georges,' from Thackeray's Library, illustrated with original +Marginal Sketches by the Author's hand—<span class="smcap">The 'Humourist,'</span> 1724—Extracts +and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Humourists,' from +Thackeray's Library, illustrated by the Author's hand, with Marginal +Sketches suggested by the Text—<span class="smcap">The 'World,'</span> 1753—Introduction—Its +Difference from the Earlier Essays—Distinguished Authors who +contributed to the 'World'—Paragraphs and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_318">318</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XXI" id="Page_XXI">xxi</a></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S FAMILIARITY WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE +SATIRICAL ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Characteristic Passages from the compositions of the 'Early Humourists,' +from Thackeray's Library, illustrated by the Author's hand with original +Marginal Sketches suggested by the Text—The '<span class="smcap">Connoisseur</span>,' +1754—Introduction—Review of Contributors—Paragraphs and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Humourists,' from Thackeray's +Library; illustrated by the Author's hand with Marginal Sketches +suggested by the Text—<span class="smcap">The 'Rambler,'</span> 1749-50—Introduction—Its +Author, Dr. Johnson—Paragraphs and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_370">370</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S FAMILIARITY WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE +SATIRICAL ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Early Humourists,' from +Thackeray's Library, illustrated by the Author's hand with original +Marginal Sketches suggested by the Text—The '<span class="smcap">Mirror</span>,' Edinburgh, +1779-80—Introduction—The Society in which the '<span class="smcap">Mirror</span>,' and +'Lounger' originated—Notice of Contributors—Paragraphs and Pencillings</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_408">408</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Thackeray as an Illustrator—The 'North British Review' on Thackeray—Illustrations +to 'Men of Character'—'The Whitey-brown Paper +Magazine'—'Comic Tales,' illustrated by Thackeray—Allusions to +Caricature Drawing found throughout his writings—Skits on Fashion—Titmarsh +on 'Men and Clothes'—Bohemianism in youth—Hatred of +Conventionality—Sketches of Contemporary Habits and Manners—Imaginative +Illustrations to Romances—Skill in Ludicrous Parody—Burlesque +of the 'Official Handbook of Court and State'</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_436">436</a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_XXII" id="Page_XXII">xxii</a></span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Thackeray as a Traveller—Journey in Youth from India to England—Little +Travels at Home—Sojourn in Germany—French Trips—Residence +in Paris—Studies in Rome—Sketches and Scribblings in Guide-Books—Little +Tours and Wayside Studies—Brussels—Ghent and the +Béguines—Bruges—<i>Croquis</i> in Murray's 'Handbooks to the Continent'—Up +the Rhine—'From Cornhill to Grand Cairo'—Journeys to +America—Switzerland—'A Leaf out of a Sketch-Book'—The Grisons—Verona—'Roundabout +Journeys'—Belgium and Holland</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_465">465</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdh">Commencement of the 'Cornhill Magazine'—'Roundabout Papers'—'Lovel +the Widower'—The 'Adventures of Philip on his Way through +the World'—Lectures on the 'Four Georges'—Editorial Penalties—The +'Thorn in the Cushion'—Harass from disappointed Contributors—Vexatious +Correspondents—Withdrawal from the arduous post of Editor—Building +of Thackeray's House in Kensington Palace Gardens—Christmas +1863—Death of the great Novelist—The unfinished Work—Circumstances +of the Author's last Illness—His Death</td> +<td class="tdpg"><a href="#Page_488">488</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p6 b20">THACKERAYANA.</p> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Voyage from India—Touching at St. Helena—School days at the Charterhouse—Early +Reminiscences—Sketches in School Books—Boyish Scribblings—Favourite +Fictions—Youthful Caricatures—Souvenirs of the Play.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-023.jpg" width="225" height="308" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">View of Life as seen through the Charterhouse Gates</p> +</div> + +<p>The fondness of Thackeray for lingering +amidst the scenes of a boy's daily life in a +public grammar school, has generally been +attributed to his early education at the +Charterhouse, that celebrated monastic-looking +establishment in the neighbourhood +of Smithfield, which he scarcely disguised +from his readers as +the original of the familiar +'Greyfriars' of his works +of fiction. Most of our +novelists have given us in +various forms their school +reminiscences; but none +have produced them so +frequently, or dwelt upon +them with such manifest +bias towards the subject, +as the author of 'Vanity +Fair,' 'The Newcomes,' +and 'The Adventures of +Philip.' It is pleasing to think that this habit, which Thackeray +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +was well aware had been frequently censured by his critics as +carried to excess, was, like his partiality for the times of Queen +Anne and the Georges, in some degree due to the traditional reverence +of his family for the memory of their great-grandfather, +Dr. Thomas Thackeray, the well-remembered head-master of +Harrow.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 160px;"> +<img src="images/i-024.jpg" width="160" height="251" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">An Exile</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 138px;"> +<img src="images/i-024-copy.jpg" width="138" height="351" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Sentry</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Sketches of Indian life and Anglo-Indians generally are abundantly +interspersed through Mr. Thackeray's writings, but he left +India too early to have profited much by Indian experiences. He +is said, however, to have retained so strong an impression of the +scene of his early childhood, as to have wished in later life to revisit +it, and recall such things as were still +remembered by him. In his seventh +year he was sent to England, and when +the ship touched at St. Helena, he was +taken up to have a glimpse of Bowood, +and there saw that great Captain at +whose name the rulers of the earth had so often trembled. It is +remarkable that in his little account of the second funeral of Napoleon, +which he witnessed in Paris in 1840, no allusion to this +fact appears; but he himself has described it in one of his latest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +works—the lectures on 'The Four Georges,' first delivered in +the United States in 1855-56, and afterwards described by the +<i>Athenæum</i> as 'an airy, humorous, and brilliant picture of English +life and manners, produced by honest reading out of many books, +and lighted with the glow of individual sympathy and intellect.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 99px;"> +<img src="images/i-025-copy.jpg" width="99" height="298" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A highly respectable Member of Society</p> +</div> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 120px;"> +<img src="images/i-025.jpg" width="120" height="337" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Master of Arts</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>We fancy that Thackeray was placed under the protection of +his grandfather, William Makepeace Thackeray, who had settled +with a good fortune, the fruit of his industry in India, at Hadley, +near Chipping Barnet, a little village, in the churchyard of which +lies buried the once-read Mrs. Chapone, the authoress of the +'Letters on the Improvement of the Mind,' the correspondent +of Richardson, and the intimate friend of the learned Mrs. Carter +and other blue-stocking ladies of that time.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-026.jpg" width="129" height="329" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Man of Letters</p> +</div> +<p>In the course of time—we believe in his twelfth year—Thackeray +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +was sent to the Charterhouse School, and remained there as +a boarder in the house of Mr. Penny. He appears in the Charterhouse +records for the year 1822 as a boy on the tenth form. In +the next year we find him promoted to the +seventh form; in 1824 to the fifth; and in +1828, when he had become a day-boy, or +one residing with his friends, we find him in +the honourable positions of a first-form boy +and one of the monitors of the school. He +was, however, never chosen as one of the +orators, or those who speak the oration on the +Founder's Day, nor does he appear among the +writers of the Charterhouse odes, which have +been collected and printed from time to time +in a small volume. We need feel no surprise +that Thackeray's ambition did not lead him +to seek this sort of distinction; like most +keen humorists, he preferred exercising his +powers of satire in burlesquing these somewhat +trite compositions to contributing +seriously to swell their numbers. Prize +poems ever yielded the novelist a delightful +field for his sarcasms.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-026-copy.jpg" width="221" height="150" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Early efforts at Drawing</p> +</div> + +<p>While pursuing his studies at 'Smiffle,' +as the Carthusians were pleased to style +'Greyfriars,' Thackeray gave abundant evidences +of the gifts that were in him. He scribbled juvenile verses, +towards the close of his school days, displaying taste for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +healthy sarcasm which afterwards became one of his distinctive +qualities, at the expense of the prosaic compositions set down as +school verses. In one of his class books, 'Thucydides,' with his +autograph, 'Charter House, 1827,' are scribbled two verses in +which the tender passion is treated somewhat realistically:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Love 's like a mutton chop,</p> +<p class="i1">Soon it grows cold;</p> +<p>All its attractions hop</p> +<p class="i1">Ere it grows old.</p> +<p>Love 's like the cholic sure,</p> +<p>Both painful to endure;</p> +<p>Brandy 's for both a cure,</p> +<p class="i1">So I've been told.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>When for some fair the swain</p> +<p class="i1">Burns with desire,</p> +<p>In Hymen's fatal chain</p> +<p class="i1">Eager to try her,</p> +<p>He weds as soon as he can,</p> +<p>And jumps—unhappy man—</p> +<p>Out of the frying pan</p> +<p class="i1">Into the fire.</p> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-027.jpg" width="86" height="121" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-027-copy.jpg" width="86" height="130" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>As to the humorist's pencil, even throughout these early days, it +must have been an unfailing source of delight, not only to the owner +but to the companions of his form. 'Draw us some pictures,' the +boys would say; and straightway +down popped a caricature of a +master on slate or exercise paper. +Then school books were brought +into requisition, and the fly-leaves +were adorned with whimsical +travesties of the subjects of their +contents. Abbé Barthélemy's +'Travels of Anacharsis the +Younger' suggested the figure of a wandering minstrel, with battered +hat and dislocated flageolet, piping his way through the world in +the dejected fashion in which those forlorn pilgrims might have +presented themselves to the charitable dwellers in Charterhouse +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +Square; while Anacharsis, Junior, habited in classic guise, was sent +(pictorially) tramping the high road from Scythia to Athens, with +stick and bundle over his back, a wallet +at his side, sporting a family umbrella +of the defunct 'gingham' species as a +staff, and furnished with lace-up hob-nailed +boots of the shape, size, and +weight popularly approved by navvies.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-028-copy.jpg" width="144" height="127" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'A Gingham'</p> +</div> + +<p>Then Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary +was turned into a sketch book, and supplemented +with studies of head-masters, +early conceptions of Roman warriors, +primitive Carthusians indulging disrespectful gestures, known as +'sights,' at the rears of respectable governors, and boys of the +neighbouring 'blue coat' foundation, their costume completed +with the addition of a fool's or dunce's long-eared cap.</p> + +<p>Fantastic designs, even when marked by the early graphic +talent which Thackeray's rudest scribblings display, are apt to entail +unpleasant consequences when discovered in school-books, +and greater attractions were held +out by works of fiction.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-028.jpg" width="175" height="230" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">In a state of suspense</p> +</div> + +<p>Pages of knight-errantry were +the things for inspiration: Quixote, +Orlando Furioso, Valentine +and Orson, the Seven Champions, +Cyrus the Grand (and interminable), +mystic and chivalrous legends, +quite forgotten in our +generation, but which, in Thackeray's +boyhood, were considered +fascinating reading;—quaint romances, +Italian, Spanish, and Persian +tales, familiar enough in those +days, and oft referred to, with accents +of tender regret, in the reminiscences +of the great novelist. +What charms did the 'Arabian Nights' hold out for his kindling +imagination,—how frequently were its heroes and its episodes +brought in to supply some apt allusion in his later writings! It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +seems that Thackeray's pencil never tired of his favourite stories +in the 'Thousand and One Nights,' precious to him for preserving +ever green the impressions of boyhood. How numerous his unpublished +designs from these tales, those who treasure his numberless +and diversified sketches can alone tell. We see the thrilling +episode of 'Ali Baba' perched among the branches, while the +robbers bear their spoil to the mysterious cave, repeated with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +unvarying interest, and each time with some fresh point of humour +to give value to the slight tracings.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-029a.jpg" width="316" height="269" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 121px;"> +<img src="images/i-029-copy-3.jpg" width="121" height="165" alt="" /> +<div class="caption">Fancy sketch</div> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 94px;"> +<img src="images/i-029-copy.jpg" width="94" height="103" alt="" /> +<div class="caption">A worthy Cit</div> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 117px;"> +<img src="images/i-029.jpg" width="117" height="134" alt="" /> +<div class="caption">A Grey Friar</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-030-copy.jpg" width="333" height="217" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-030.jpg" width="156" height="291" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Blueskin</p> +</div> + +<p>'Make us some faces,' his school-companions would cry. +'Whom will you have? name your friends,' says the young artist. +Perhaps one young rogue, with a +schoolboy's taste for personalities, +will cry, 'Old Buggins;' and the +junior Buggins blushes and fidgets +as the ideal presentment of his progenitor +is rapidly dashed off and +held up to the appreciation of a +circle of rapturous critics. 'Now,' +says the wounded youngster, glad to +retaliate, 'you remember old Figgins' +pater when he brought Old +Figs back and forgot to tip—draw +him!' and a faithful portraiture of +that economic civic ornament is +produced from recollection.</p> + +<p>The gallery of family portraits +is doubtless successfully exhausted, +and each of the boys who love +books, calls for a different favourite +of fiction, or the designer exercises +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +his budding fancy in summoning monks, Turks, ogres, bandits, +highwaymen, and other +heroes, traditional or imaginary, +from that wonderful +well of his, which, +in after years, was to pour +out so frankly from its +rich reservoirs for the +recreation, and improvement +too, of an audience +more numerous, but +perhaps less enthusiastic, +than that which surrounded +him at Greyfriars.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 193px;"> +<img src="images/i-031-copy-2.jpg" width="193" height="328" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Virtue triumphant</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 225px;"> +<img src="images/i-031-copy.jpg" width="225" height="348" alt="" /> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-031.jpg" width="236" height="215" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Early Recreations—Marbles</p> +</div> + +<p>Holidays came, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +with them the chance of visiting the theatres. Think of the +plays in fashion between 1820 and '30; what juvenile rejoicings +over the moral drama, over the wicked earl unmasked in the +last Act, the persecuted maiden triumphant, and virtue's defenders +rewarded. Recall the pieces in vogue in those early days, to +which the novelist refers with constant pleasure; how does he +write of nautical melodramas, of 'Black Ey'd Seusan,' and such +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +simply constructed pieces as he has parodied in the pages of +'Punch:' such as Theodore Hook is described hitting off on +the piano after dinner. Think of Sadler's Wells, and the real +water, turned on from the New River adjacent. Remember Astley's, +and its gallant stud of horses. How faded are all these glories in +our time, yet they were gorgeous subjects for young Thackeray's +hand to work out; and we can well conceive eager little Cistercians, +in miniature black gowns and breeches, revelling over the splendid +pictures, perhaps made more glorious with the colour box. How +many of these scraps have been treasured to this day, and are now +gone with the holders, heaven knows where?</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-032.jpg" width="393" height="443" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-033.jpg" width="384" height="313" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Then there was 'Shakespeare,' always a favourite with 'Titmarsh.' +Think of the obsolete, conventional trappings in which the +characters of the great playwright were then condemned to strut +about to the perfect satisfaction of the audience, before theatrical +'costume' became a fine art! And then there were Braham, and +Incledon, and the jovial rollicking tuneful 'Beggar's Opera.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +Behold the swaggering Macheath, reckless in good fortune, and +consistently light-hearted up to his premature exit.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-034.jpg" width="172" height="206" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Captain</p> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="o1">'<i>Since laws were made for ev'ry degree,</i></p> +<p><i>To curb vice in others, as well as me,</i></p> +<p><i>I wonder we han't better company</i></p> +<p class="i5"><i>Upon</i> Tyburn <i>tree!</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>But gold from law can take out the sting:</i></p> +<p><i>And if rich men like us were to swing,</i></p> +<p><i>'Twould thin the land, such numbers to string</i></p> +<p class="i5"><i>Upon</i> Tyburn <i>tree!</i>'</p> +</div> +<hr class="l15" /> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>'<i>The charge is prepar'd, the Lawyers are met;</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>The Judges all rang'd (a terrible show!)</i></p> +<p><i>I go undismay'd—for death is a debt,</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>A debt on demand,—so take what I owe.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Then, farewell, my love—dear charmers, adieu;</i></p> +<p><i>Contented I die—'tis the better for you;</i></p> +<p><i>Here ends all dispute the rest of our lives,</i></p> +<p><i>For this way at once I please all my wives.</i>'</p> +</div></div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-035.jpg" width="610" height="406" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>In his 'English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century,' our +author does not forget to pay his honest tribute to Gay, some +of whose verses we have just quoted.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-036.jpg" width="138" height="242" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>At the tree I shall suffer with pleasure,</i></p> +<p><i>At the tree I shall suffer with pleasure,</i></p> +<p class="i3"><i>Let me go where I will,</i></p> +<p class="i3"><i>In all kinds of ill,</i></p> +<p><i>I shall find no such Furies as these are.</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>Thackeray's predilections for the stage survived the first flush of +enthusiasm, and, like most of his pleasures, flourished vigorously +almost throughout his career.</p> + +<p>It may be fresh in the recollections of most of his admirers +how in 1848 he describes, in his great work, <i>Vanity Fair</i>, a visit +to Drury Lane Theatre—the vivid colouring of which picture outshines +his entire gallery of theatrical sketches.</p> + +<p>The stout figure and slightly Mosaic cast of countenance of +Braham will be recognised opposite, gorgeous in stage trappings, as +he appeared in the opera of the 'Lion of Judah;' Thackeray also +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +dedicated to him another portrait, with a copy of mock laudatory +verses, in the 'National Standard,' to which engaging production +some allusion will be found under the notice of the author's earlier +contributions to periodical literature.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-037-copy.jpg" width="287" height="299" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Mr. Braham</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-037.jpg" width="194" height="193" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-038-copy-2.jpg" width="325" height="247" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Speculation</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 144px;"> +<img src="images/i-038-copy.jpg" width="144" height="223" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Quixote</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 181px;"> +<img src="images/i-038.jpg" width="181" height="189" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A formidable foe</p> +</div> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 133px;"> +<img src="images/i-039-copy-2.jpg" width="133" height="294" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Roman sentry</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 173px;"> +<img src="images/i-039.jpg" width="173" height="335" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Spanish Don</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-039-copy.jpg" width="291" height="229" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Rouge et Noir</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ center"> +Early Favourites—The Castle of Otranto—Rollin's Ancient History. +</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-040.jpg" width="197" height="192" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The references made by +Thackeray to the romances +which thrilled the sympathies +of novel-readers in his +youth are spread throughout +his writings. In the 'Roundabout +Paper' devoted to +reminiscences of fictions +which delighted his schooldays, +he whimsically deplores +that Time, among other insatiable +propensities, should +devour the glories of novels, +and especially of those which have befriended his youth; that +no friendly hand should take the volumes down from their long +rest on the library shelves; that the profits of the forlorn novelists +should dwindle infinitesimally as the popularity of their bantlings +fades, until limbo finally takes them into indefinite keeping.</p> + +<p>In another paper, 'De Juventate,' he makes an earlier record +of his partiality for the imaginary companions of his boyhood. +After alluding to the games of his time, which he finds little +changed, Mr. Roundabout reverts to his favourite old novels, +and challenges the present day to rival their attractions, as far as +his boyish imagination was concerned. 'O "Scottish Chiefs," +didn't we weep over you? O "Mysteries of Udolpho," didn't I +and Briggs minor draw pictures out of you, as I have said?'</p> + +<p>On the title-page of one of his old class-books, 'The Eton +Latin Grammar,' we find fanciful scribblings, in the manner of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +Skelt's once famous theatrical characters, of schoolboy versions +of Sir William Wallace triumphing over the fallen Sir Aymer +de Valence, while Thaddeus of Warsaw, attired in a square Polish +cap, laced jacket, tights, and Hessian boots, his belt stuck round +with pistols, is gallantly flourishing a curly sabre.</p> + +<p>Sketches of this picturesque nature seem to have held a +certain charm over the novelist's fancy through life; the impressions +of his boyhood are jotted down in all sorts of melodramatic +fragments.</p> + +<p>Similar reminiscences, applying to different stages of our +writer's career, and forming portions of the illustrations to +'Thackerayana,' will be recognised throughout this work.</p> + +<p>We endeavour to trace sufficient of the thread of the once +familiar story of 'The Castle of Otranto' (published in 1782, the +fourth edition), enlivened with highly droll marginal pencillings, +to assist our readers in a ready appreciation of the point and character +of the little designs, as it is more than probable that, by +this time, the interest and incidents of the original fiction are +somewhat obscured in the memories of our readers. We follow +the words of the author as closely as possible.</p> + +<p>'Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter. +The latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called +Matilda. Conrad, the son, was only fifteen, and of a sickly constitution; +he was the hope of his father, who had contracted a +marriage for him with the Marquis of Vicenza's daughter, Isabella. +The bride elect had been delivered by the guardians into Manfred's +hands, that the marriage might take place as soon as Conrad's +infirm health would permit it. The impatience of the prince +for the completion of this ceremonial was attributed to his +dread of seeing an ancient prophecy accomplished, which pronounced—"that +the Castle and Lordship of Otranto should pass +from the present family, whenever the real owner should be +grown too large to inhabit it."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-042.jpg" width="274" height="396" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Young Conrad's birthday was fixed for the marriage; the +company were assembled in the chapel of the castle, everything +ready,—but the bridegroom was missing! The prince, in alarm, +went in search of his son. The first object that struck Manfred's +eyes was a group of his servants endeavouring to raise something +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +that appeared to him a mountain of sable plumes. "What are +ye doing?" he cried, wrathfully; "where is my son?" A volley of +voices replied, "Oh! my lord! the prince! the helmet! the +helmet!" Shocked with these lamentable sounds, and dreading +he knew not what, he advanced hastily,—but what a sight for a +father's eyes! He beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost +buried under an enormous helmet, a hundred times larger than +any casque ever made for human being, and shaded with a proportionable +quantity of black feathers. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-043.jpg" width="99" height="117" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-043-copy.jpg" width="102" height="139" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-043-copy-2.jpg" width="199" height="131" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The consternation produced by this murderous apparition did +not diminish. Isabella was, however, relieved at her escape from +an ill-assorted union. Manfred continued to +gaze at the terrible casque. No one could explain +its presence. In the midst of their senseless +guesses, a young peasant, whom rumour had +drawn thither from a neighbouring village, observed +that the miraculous helmet was like that +on the figure in black marble, in the church +of St. Nicholas, of Alonzo the Good (the original +Prince of Otranto, who died without leaving an ascertained heir, +and whose steward, Manfred's grandfather, had illegally contrived +to obtain possession of the castle, estates, and title). "Villain! +what sayest thou?" cried Manfred, starting from +his trance in a tempest of rage, and seizing the +young man by the collar. "How darest thou +utter such treason? Thy life shall pay for it!" +The peasant was secured, and confined, as a +necromancer, under the gigantic helmet, there +to be starved to death. Manfred retired to his +chamber to meditate in solitude over the blow +which had descended on his house. His gentle +daughter, Matilda, heard his disordered footsteps. +She was just going to beg admittance, when Manfred suddenly opened +the door; and as it was now twilight, concurring with the disorder of +his mind, he did not distinguish the person, but asked angrily who +it was. Matilda replied, trembling, +"My dearest father, it +is I, your daughter." Manfred, +stepping back hastily, +cried, "Begone, I do not want +a daughter;" and flinging back +abruptly, clapped the door +against the terrified Matilda. +His dejected daughter returned +to her mother, the pious Hippolita, who was being comforted +by Isabella. A servant, on the part of Manfred, informed the +latter that Manfred demanded to speak with her. "With me!" +cried Isabella. "Go," said Hippolita, "console him, and tell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +him that I will smother my own anguish rather than add to +his."</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-044.jpg" width="195" height="137" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-044-copy.jpg" width="170" height="135" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'As it was now evening, the servant, who conducted Isabella, +bore a torch before her. When they came to Manfred, who was +walking impatiently about the +gallery, he started, and said +hastily, "Take away that light, +and begone." Then, shutting +the door impetuously, he flung +himself upon a bench against +the wall, and bade Isabella sit +by him. She obeyed trembling. +The iniquitous Manfred +then proposed, that as his son +was dead, Isabella should espouse him instead, and he would +divorce the virtuous Hippolita. Manfred, on her refusal, resorted +to violence, when the plumes of the +fatal helmet suddenly waved to and +fro tempestuously in the moonlight. +Manfred, disregarding the portent, +cried—"Heaven nor hell shall impede +my designs," and advanced to +seize the princess. At that instant +the portrait of his grandfather, which +hung over the bench where they had +been sitting, uttered a deep sigh, +and heaved its breast. Manfred was distracted between his pursuit +of Isabella and the aspect of the picture, which quitted its +panel and stepped on the floor with a grave and melancholy air. +The vision sighed and made a sign to Manfred to follow him. +"Lead on!" cried Manfred; "I will follow thee to the gulph of +perdition." The spectre marched sedately, but dejected, to the end +of the gallery. Manfred followed, full of anxiety and horror, but +resolved. The spectre retired. Isabella had fled to a subterranean +passage leading from the Castle to the Sanctuary of St. Nicholas. +In this vault she encountered the young peasant who had provoked +the animosity of Manfred. He lifted up a secret trap-door, and +Isabella made her escape; but Manfred and his followers prevented +the flight of the daring stranger. The prince, who expected to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +secure Isabella, was considerably startled to discover this youth in +her stead. The weight of the helmet had broken the pavement +above, and he had thus alighted in time to assist Isabella, whose +disappearance he denied. A noise of voices startled Manfred, who +was alarmed by fresh indications of hostile evidences. Jacques +and Diego, two of his retainers, detailed the fresh cause of alarm. +It was thus: they had heard a noise—they opened a door and ran +back, their hair standing on end with terror.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-045.jpg" width="326" height="116" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-045-copy.jpg" width="69" height="96" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"It is a giant, I believe," said Diego; "he is all clad in armour, +for I saw his foot and part of his leg, and they are as large as the +helmet below in the court. We heard a violent motion, and the +rattling of armour, as if the giant was rising. Before we could get +to the end of the gallery we heard the door of the great chamber +clap behind us; but for Heaven's sake, good my lord, send for +the chaplain and have the place exorcised, for it is certainly +haunted." The attendants searched for Isabella in vain. The +next morning father Jerome arrived, announcing that she had +taken refuge at the altar of St. Nicholas. He came to inform +Hippolita of the perfidy of her husband. Manfred prevented him, +saying, "I do not use to let my wife be acquainted +with the affairs of my state; they are not within +a woman's province." "My Lord," said the holy +man, "I am no intruder into the secrets of families. +My office is to promote peace and teach mankind +to curb their headstrong passions. I forgive +your highness's uncharitable apostrophe; I know +my duty, and am the minister of a mightier Prince than Manfred. +Hearken to Him who speaks through my organs." The good +father—to divert Manfred by a subterfuge from his unhallowed designs—suggested +that there might, perhaps, be an attachment between +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +the peasant and his recluse. Manfred was so enraged that he +ordered the youth who defied him to be executed forthwith. The +removal of the peasant's doublet disclosed the mark of a bloody arrow. +"Gracious Heaven!" cried the priest, starting, "what do I see? it +is my child! my Theodore!" Manfred was deaf to the prayers of +the father and friar, and ordered the tragedy to proceed. "A +saint's bastard may be no saint himself," said the prince sternly. +The friar exclaimed, "His blood is noble; he is my lawful son, and +I am the Count of Falconara!" At this critical +juncture the tramp of horses was heard, the +sable plumes of the enchanted helmet were +again agitated, and a brazen trumpet was sounded +without. "Father," said Manfred, "do you go to +the wicket and demand who is at the gate." "Do +you grant me the life of Theodore?" replied +the friar. "I do," said the prince. The new +arrival was a herald from the Knight of the +Gigantic Sabre, who requested to speak with the Usurper of Otranto.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-046.jpg" width="88" height="120" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Manfred was enraged at this message; he ordered Jerome to +be thrust out, and to reconduct Isabella to the castle, and commanded +Theodore to be confined in the black tower. He then +directed the herald to be admitted to his presence.</p> + +<p>'"Well! thou insolent!" said the prince, "what wouldst thou +with me?" "I come," replied he, "to thee, Manfred, usurper of +the principality of Otranto, from the renowned and invincible +knight, the Knight of the Gigantic Sabre: in the name of his Lord, +Frederic, Marquis of Vicenza, he demands the Lady Isabella, +daughter of that prince whom thou hast basely and treacherously +got into thy power, by bribing her false guardians during his +absence; he requires thee to resign the principality of Otranto, +which thou hast usurped from the said Lord Frederic, the nearest +of blood to the last rightful Lord Alonzo the Good. If thou dost +not instantly comply with these just demands, he defies thee to +single combat to the last extremity." And so saying, the herald +cast down his warder. Manfred knew how well founded this claim +was; indeed, his object in seeking an alliance with Isabella had +been to unite the claimants in one interest.</p> + +<p>'The herald was despatched to bid the champions welcome, and +the prince ordered the gates to be flung open for the reception of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +the stranger knight and his retinue. In a few minutes the cavalcade +arrived. First came two harbingers with wands. Next a +herald, followed by two pages and two trumpets. Then a hundred +foot-guards. These were attended by as many horse. After them +fifty foot-men clothed in scarlet and black, the colours of the +knight. Then a led horse. Two heralds on each side of a gentleman +on horseback bearing a banner with the arms of Vicenza and +Otranto quarterly—a circumstance that much offended Manfred, +but he stifled his resentment. Two more pages. The knight's +confessor telling his beads. Fifty more foot-men clad as before. +Two knights habited in complete armour, their beavers down, +comrades to the principal knight. The squires of the two knights, +carrying their shields and devices. The knight's own squire. A +hundred gentlemen bearing an enormous sword, and seeming to +faint under the weight of it. The knight himself on a chestnut steed, +in complete armour, his lance in the rest, his face entirely concealed +by his vizor, which was surmounted by a large plume of scarlet and +black feathers. Fifty foot-guards, with drums and trumpets, +closed the procession. Manfred invited the train to enter the great +hall of his castle. He proposed to the stranger to disarm, but the +knight shook his head in token of refusal. "Rest here," said Manfred; +"I will but give orders for the accommodation of your train, +and return to you." The three knights bowed as accepting his +courtesy. Manfred directed the stranger's retinue to be conducted +to an adjacent hospital, founded by the Princess Hippolita for the +reception of pilgrims. As they made the circuit of the court, the +gigantic sword burst from the supporters, and falling to the ground +opposite the helmet, remained immovable.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-047.jpg" width="383" height="143" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-048.jpg" width="161" height="151" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-048-copy.jpg" width="161" height="122" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Manfred, almost hardened to supernatural appearances, surmounted +the shock of this new prodigy; and returning to the hall, +where by this time the feast was +ready, he invited his silent guests to +take their places. Manfred, however +ill at ease was his heart, endeavoured +to inspire the company with mirth. +He put several questions to them, +but was answered only by signs. +They raised their vizors but sufficiently +to feed themselves, and that +sparingly. During the parley Father +Jerome hurried in to report the disappearance of Isabella. The +knights and their retinue dispersed to search the neighbourhood, +and Manfred, with his vassals, quitted the castle to confuse their +movements. Theodore was still confined in the black tower, but +his guards were gone. The gentle Matilda came to his assistance; +she carried him to her father's armoury, and having equipped +him with a complete suit, conducted him to the postern-gate. +"Avoid the town," said the princess, "but hie thee to the opposite +quarter; yonder is a chain of rocks, hollowed into a labyrinth of +caverns that lead to the sea-coast. Go! Heaven be thy guide! +and sometimes, in thy prayers, remember Matilda!" Theodore +flung himself at her feet, and seizing +her lily hand, which with struggles +she suffered him to kiss, he vowed +on the earliest opportunity to get +himself knighted, and fervently intreated +her permission to swear himself +eternally her champion. He +then sighed and retired, but with +eyes fixed on the gate, until Matilda, +closing it, put an end to an interview, in which the hearts of both +had drunk so deeply of a passion which both now tasted for the +first time.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-049.jpg" width="346" height="386" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We must now crowd the sequel of this remarkable story into +the smallest possible space. In the caverns Theodore recovered +the distracted Isabella; but a knight arrived at the moment of his +happy discovery, and mistrusting her deliverer, while Theodore +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +deceived himself as to the intentions of the stranger, a desperate +combat ensued, and the younger champion gained the victory. The +stranger knight explained his mistake, and revealed himself as the +missing Marquis of Vicenza, father to Isabella, and nearest heir +to Alonzo. He anticipated his wounds were fatal, but he recovered +at the castle. Manfred artfully pursued his unholy designs for a +union with Isabella. He gave a great feast, with this object, but +Theodore withdrew from the revelry to pray with Matilda at the +tomb of Alonzo. Manfred followed him to the chapel, believing +his companion was Isabella, and struck his dagger through the +heart of his daughter. He was overwhelmed with remorse for his +error, on discovering that he had murdered his child. Theodore +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +revealed to Frederic that he was the real and rightful successor to +Alonzo. This declaration was confirmed by the apparition of +Alonzo. Thunder and a clank of more than mortal armour was +heard. The walls of the +castle behind Manfred +were thrown down with +a mighty force, and the +form of Alonzo, dilated +to an immense magnitude, +appeared in the +centre of the ruins. 'Behold +in Theodore the true +heir of Alonzo!' said the +vision, and, ascending solemnly +towards heaven, the +clouds parted asunder, and +the form of St. Nicholas +received Alonzo's shade. +Manfred confessed, in his +terror, that Alonzo had +been poisoned by his grandfather, +and a fictitious will +had accomplished his treacherous +end. Jerome further +revealed that Alonzo had secretly +espoused Victoria, a Sicilian virgin. +After the good knight's decease a daughter +was born. Her hand had been bestowed +on him, the disguised Count of +Falconara. Theodore was the fruit of +their marriage, thus establishing his direct +right to the principality. Manfred +and his virtuous wife, Hippolita, retired +to neighbouring convents. Frederic +offered his daughter to the new prince, +but 'it was not until after frequent discourses +with Isabella of dear Matilda that he was persuaded he +could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom +he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +of his soul,' with which cheerful prospect the 'Castle of +Otranto' is brought to an appropriate conclusion.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-050.jpg" width="482" height="228" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>On the fly-leaf at the end of this worthy novel follows a sketch +suggestive of the out-of-door sports alluded to earlier.</p> + +<p class="p2">An instance of the felicitous parodies to which the works of +grave historians are liable at the hands of a budding satirist is supplied +by 'Rollin's Ancient History,' one of the books of which we +feel bound to give more than a passing notice; we therefore select +the more tempting passages of the eight volumes forming the particular +edition in question, to which a fresh interest is contributed +by certain slight but pertinent pencillings probably referable to a +somewhat later period.</p> + +<h3>SKETCHES ILLUSTRATIVE OF 'ROLLIN'S ANCIENT +HISTORY.'</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Ancient History of the Egyptians, etc. etc.</span></h4> + +<p>'... In the early morning and at daybreak, when their +minds were clearest and their thoughts were most pure, the +Egyptians would read the letters they had received, +the better to obtain a just and truthful +impression of the business on which they had to +decide.'—Vol. I. p. 60.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-051.jpg" width="101" height="255" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-051-copy.jpg" width="129" height="95" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... In addition to the adoration practised +by the Egyptians of +Osiris, Iris, and the +higher divinities, they +worshipped a large +number of animals, +paying an especial respect +to the cat.'—Vol. +I. p. 73.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-052.jpg" width="266" height="460" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Historic Muse supported by the veracious historians.<br /> +<span class="i10"><i>Frontispiece to Vol. I.</i></span></p> +<p class="caption">In this sketch Monsieur Rollin is archly classed among the ranks of the +writers of fiction—a position to which he is entitled from the remarkable nature +of the facts he gravely puts on record.</p></div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-053.jpg" width="185" height="128" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Until the reign of Psammeticus the Egyptians +were believed to be the most ancient +people on the earth. Wishing to assure themselves +of this antiquity, they employed a most +remarkable test, if the statement is worthy of credit. Two children, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> +just born of poor parents, were shut up in two separate +cabins in the country, and a shepherd was directed to feed them +on goat's milk. (Others state that they were nourished by nurses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +whose tongues had been cut out.) No one was permitted to enter +the cabins, and no word was ever allowed to be pronounced in +their presence. One day, +when these children arrived at +the age of two years, the shepherd +entered to bring them +their usual food, when each of +them, from their different divisions, +extending their hands +to the keeper, cried, "Beccos, +beccos." This word, it was +discovered, was employed by the Phrygians to signify bread; and +since that period this nation has enjoyed, above all other peoples, +the honour of the earliest antiquity.'—Vol. I. p. 162.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-053-copy.jpg" width="118" height="342" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Triumphant Statue of Scipio Africanus.—End of Vol. I.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">History of the Carthaginians, etc. etc.</span></h4> + +<p>'... Virgil has greatly altered many facts in his "History of +the Carthaginians," by the supposition that his hero, Æneas, was a +contemporary of Dido, although there +is an interval of about three centuries +between the two personages; Carthage +having been built nearly three hundred +years before +the Fall of +Troy.'—Vol. I. +p. 241.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-054.jpg" width="143" height="126" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-054-copy.jpg" width="317" height="341" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... By the +order of Hannibal a road was excavated +through the bed of the rocks, and this +labour was carried on with astonishing +vigour and perseverance. To open and +enlarge this pathway they felled all the +trees in the adjoining parts, and as soon +as the timber was cut down the soldiers +arranged the trunks on all sides of the +rocks, and the wood was then set on fire. +Fortunately, there being a high wind, an ardent flame was quickly +kindled, until the rock glowed with heat as fiery as the furnace burning +round it. Hannibal—if we may credit Titus Livius (for Polybius<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +does not mention the circumstance)—then caused a great quantity +of vinegar to be poured upon the heated stone, which ran into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +the fissures of the rocks (already cracked by the heat of the fire), +and caused them to soften and calcine to powder. By this contrivance +he prepared a road through the heart of the mountains, +giving easy passage to his troops, their baggage, and even their +elephants.'—Vol. I. p. 406.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-055.jpg" width="264" height="94" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Battle of Cannes.—Vol. I. p. 439.</p> +</div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">History of the Lydians.</span></h4> + +<p>'Crœsus, wishing to assure himself of the veracity of the different +oracles, sent deputies to consult the most celebrated soothsayers +both in Africa and in Greece, with orders to inform themselves +how Crœsus was engaged at a certain hour on a day that +was pointed out to them.</p> + +<p>'His instructions were exactly carried out. The oracle of +Delphi returned the only correct reply. It was given in verses of +the hexameter metre, and was in substance: +"I know the number of grains +of sand in the sea, and the measure of +the vast deep. I understand the dumb, +and those who have not learned to +speak. My senses are saluted with the +savoury odour of a turtle stewed with +the flesh of lambs in a brazier, which +has copper on all sides, above and +below!"</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-055-copy.jpg" width="142" height="185" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'In fact the king, desiring to select +some employment which it would be +impossible to divine, had occupied himself +at the hour appointed for the revelation +in preparing a turtle and a lamb in a copper stewpan, +which had also a lid of copper.'—Vol. II. p. 129. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">History of Cyrus.</span></h4> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="218" height="151" alt="" /> +</div> +<p>'... When the people of Ionia and Æolia learnt that Cyrus +had mastered the Lydians, they despatched ambassadors to him +at Sardis, proposing to be received into his empire, under the same +conditions as he had accorded to the Lydians. Cyrus, who before +his victories had vainly solicited them to +unite in his cause, and who now found +himself in a position to constrain them by +force, gave as his only answer the apologue +of a fisherman, who, having tried to lure +the fish with the notes of his flute, without +any success, had recourse to his net as the +shortest method of securing them.'—Vol. +II. p. 232.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-056-copy.jpg" width="330" height="480" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Herodotus, and after him Justinian, recounts +that Astyages, King of the Medes, +on the impressions of an alarming dream, +which announced that a child his daughter +was to bear would dethrone him, gave +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +Mandane, his daughter, in marriage to a Persian of obscure birth +and condition, named Cambyses. A son being born of this marriage, +the king charged Harpagus, one of his principal officers, to +put the child to death. Harpagus gave him to one of his shepherds +to be exposed in a forest. However, the infant, being +miraculously preserved, and afterwards nourished in secret by the +herd's wife, was at last recognised by his royal grandfather, who +contented himself by his removal to the centre of Persia, and +vented all his fury on the unhappy officer, whose own son he +caused to be served up, to be eaten by him at a feast. Some +years later the young Cyrus was informed by Harpagus of the +circumstances of his birth and position; animated by his counsels +and remonstrances, he raised an army in Persia, marched against +Astyages, and challenged him to battle. The sovereignty of the +empire thus passed from the hands of the Medes to the Persians.'—Vol. +II. p. 315.</p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Ancient History of Greece.</span></h4> + +<p>'The wealthy and luxurious members of the Lacedemonians +were extremely irritated against Lycurgus on account of his +decree introducing public repasts +as the means best suited to enforce +temperance.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-057.jpg" width="165" height="96" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It was on this occasion that +a young man, named Alcandres, +put out one of Lycurgus's eyes +with his staff, during a popular +tumult. The people, indignant +at so great an outrage, placed the youth in his hands. Lycurgus +permitted himself a most honourable vengeance, converting him, +by his kindness, and the generosity of his treatment, from violence +and rebellion to moderation and wisdom.'—Vol. II. p. 526. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Ancient History of the Persians and the Greeks.</span></h4> + +<p>'The Greek historians gave to Artaxerxes the surname of +"Longhand," because, according to Strabo, his hands were so long +that, when he stood erect, he was able to touch +his knees; according to Plutarch, because his +right hand was longer than the left'—Vol. III. +p. 347.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-058.jpg" width="107" height="236" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-058-copy.jpg" width="89" height="134" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The stories related of the +voracity of the Athletes are +almost incredible. The appetite +of Milo was barely appeased +with twenty "mines" +(or pounds) of meat, as much +bread, and three "conges" (fifteen +pints) of wine daily. +Athenes relates that Milo, +after traversing the entire length of the state—bearing +on his shoulders an ox of four years' +growth—felled the beast with one blow of his +fist, and entirely devoured it in one day.</p> + +<p>'I willingly admit other exploits attributed to Milo, but is it in +the least degree probable that a single man could eat an entire ox +in one day?'—Vol. III. p. 516.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-058-copy-2.jpg" width="283" height="94" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... While Darius was absent, making war in Egypt and +Arabia, the Medes revolted against him; but they were overpowered +and forced into submission. To chastise this rebellion, +their yoke, which had until that date been very easy to bear, was +made more burdensome. This fate has never been spared to +those subjects who, having revolted, are again compelled to submit +to the power they wished to depose.'—Vol. III. p. 613. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span></p> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Ancient History of the Persians and the Greeks.</span></h4> + +<p class="center"><i>Death of Alcibiades.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-059.jpg" width="321" height="342" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Frontispiece to Vol. IV.</p> +</div> + +<p>'... Alcibiades was living at that time in a small town of +Phrygia, with Timandra, his mistress (it is pretended that Lais, +the celebrated courtesan—known as "the Corinthian"—was a +daughter of this Timandra). The ruffians who were engaged to +assassinate him had not the courage to enter his house; they +contented themselves by surrounding it and setting it on fire. +Alcibiades, sword in hand, having passed through the flames, +these barbarians did not dare to await a hand-to-hand combat +with him, but sought safety in flight; but, in their retreat, they +overcame him with showers of darts and arrows. Alcibiades fell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +down dead in the place. Timandra secured the remains, and +draped the body with her finest vestments; she gave him the +most magnificent funeral the state of her fortune would permit.'—Vol. +IV. p. 110.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-060.jpg" width="354" height="123" alt="" /> +</div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Retreat of the Greeks from Babylon.</span></h4> + +<p>'... The troops put themselves in marching order; the +battalions forming one large square, the baggage being in the +centre. Two of the oldest +colonels commanded the +right and left wings.'—Vol. +IV. p. 190.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-060-copy.jpg" width="100" height="190" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-060-copy-2.jpg" width="104" height="181" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Agesilaus was in Bœotia, +ready to give battle, when +he heard the distressing +news of the destruction of +the Lacedemonian fleet by +Conon, near Cnidus. Fearing +the rumour of this defeat +would discourage and +intimidate his troops, who +were then preparing for battle, he reported throughout the army +that the Lacedemonians had gained a considerable naval victory; +he also appeared in public, wearing his castor crowned with flowers, +and offered sacrifices for the good news.'—Vol. IV. p. 287.</p> + +<p>'... Artaxerxes resorted to treason unworthy of a prince to +rid himself of Datames, his former favour and friendship for whom +were changed into implacable hatred. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span></p> + +<p>He employed assassins to destroy him, but Datames had the +good fortune to escape their ambuscades.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-061.jpg" width="196" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-061-copy.jpg" width="234" height="154" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'At last Mithridates, influenced by the splendid rewards promised +by the king if he succeeded +in destroying so redoubtable +an enemy, insinuated +himself into his friendship; +and having afforded +Datames sufficient evidences +of fidelity to gain his confidence, +he took advantage of a favourable moment when he happened +to be alone, and +pierced him with his +sword before he was in a +condition to defend himself.'—Vol. +IV. p. 345.</p> + +<p>'... Socrates took +the poisoned cup from +the valet without changing +colour, or exhibiting +emotion. "What say +you of this drink?" he +asked; "is it permitted to take more than one draught?" They +replied that it was but for one libation. "At +least," continued he, "it is allowable to supplicate +the gods to render easy my departure beneath +the earth, and my last journey happy. I +ask this of them with my whole heart." Having +spoken these words, he remained silent for some +time, and then drank the entire contents of the +cup, with marvellous tranquillity and irresistible +gentleness.</p> + +<hr class="l15" /> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-061-copy-2.jpg" width="85" height="230" alt="" /> + +</div> +<p>'"Cito," said he—and these were his last +words—"we owe a cock to Esculapius; acquit +yourself of this vow for me, and do not forget!"'—Vol. +IV. p. 439.</p> + +<p>'... The Greek dances prescribed rules for +those movements most proper to render the figure free and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +carriage unconstrained; to form a well-proportioned frame, and to +give the entire person a graceful, noble, and easy air; in a word, +to obtain that politeness of exterior, if the expression is admissible, +which always impresses us in favour of those who have had the +advantage of early training.'—Vol. IV. p. 538.</p> + +<p>'... After these observations on the government of the principal +peoples of Greece, both in peace and in war, and on their +various characteristics, it now remains for me to speak of their +religion.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-062.jpg" width="127" height="207" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">End of Vol. IV.</p> +</div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">History of the Successes of Alexander.</span></h4> + +<p class="center"><i>Battle of Lamia.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-062-copy.jpg" width="329" height="104" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... The cavalry amounted to 3,500 horse, of which 2,000 +were from Thessaly; this constituted the chief force of the army, +and their only hope of success. In fact, battle being given, it +was this cavalry which obtained the victory, under the leadership +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +of Menon. Lennatus, covered with mortal wounds, fell on the +field of battle, and was borne to the camp by his followers.'—Vol. +VII. p. 55.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Battle of Cappadocia.</i></p> + +<p>'Neoptolemus and Eumenes (the generals in command of the +hostile forces) cherished a personal hatred of each other. They +came to a hand-to-hand encounter, and +their horses falling into collision, they +seized each other round the body, and +their chargers escaping from under them +they fell to the ground together. Like enraged +athletes, they fought in that position +for a long time, with a species of maddened fury, until +Neoptolemus received a mortal blow and expired. Eumenes then +remounted his horse and continued the battle.'—Vol. VII. p. 89.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-063.jpg" width="114" height="79" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The reign of Seleucus was described by the Arabs as the era +of the "Double-horned," sculptors generally representing him decorated +thus, wearing the horns of a bull on his head; this prince +being so powerful that he could arrest the course of a bull by +simply seizing it by the horns.'—Vol. VII. p. 189.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-063-copy.jpg" width="265" height="117" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... Democles, surnamed the Beautiful, in order to escape the +violence of Demetrius, threw himself, while still a youth, into a +vessel of boiling water, which was being prepared to heat a bath, +and was scalded to death; preferring to sacrifice his life rather +than lose his honour.'—Vol. VII. p. 374.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Engagement of Pyrrhus with the Consul Ævinus.</span></p> + +<p>'... Pyrrhus exerted himself without any precaution for his +own security. He overthrew all that opposed him; never losing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +sight of the duties of a general, he preserved perfect coolness, +giving orders as if he were not exposed to peril; hurrying from +post to post to re-establish the troops who wavered, and supporting +those most assailed.'—Vol. VII. p. 404.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-064.jpg" width="338" height="120" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Death of Pyrrhus at Argos, etc. etc.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-064-copy.jpg" width="307" height="377" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... Placing confidence in the swiftness +of his charger, Pyrrhus threw himself into the +midst of his pursuers. He was fighting desperately +when one of the enemy approached +him, and penetrated his javelin through his +armour. The wound was neither deep nor +dangerous, and Pyrrhus immediately attacked +the man who had struck him, a mere common +soldier, son of a poor woman of Argos. +Like the rest of the townswomen, his mother +was observing the conflict from the roof of a +house, and, seeing her son, who chanced to be +beneath her, engaged with Pyrrhus, she was +seized with fright at the great danger to which +her child was exposed, and raising a heavy +tile, with both hands, she hurled it on Pyrrhus. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +It struck him on the head with its full force, and his helmet being +powerless to resist the blow, he became unconscious instantly. +The reins dropped from his hands, and he fell from his horse without +recognition. Soon after a soldier who knew Pyrrhus observed +his rank, and completed the work by cutting off the king's head.'—Vol. +VII. p. 460.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-065.jpg" width="64" height="203" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... A few days after Ptolemy had refused the +peace proposals of the Gauls, the armies came to +an engagement, in which the Macedonians were +completely defeated and cut to pieces. Ptolemy, +covered with wounds, was made prisoner, his head +was cut off, and, mounted on the point of a lance, +was shown in derision to the soldiers of the enemy.'—Vol. +VII. p. 376.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-065-copy.jpg" width="354" height="307" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... The Colossus of Rhodes remained as it +fell, without being disturbed for 894 years, at the +expiration of which time (in the year 672 +of the Christian era) the Sixth Caliph, or +Emperor of the Saracens, having conquered +Rhodes, he sold the remains of +the Colossus to a Hebrew merchant, +who carried it off in 500 camel loads; thus—reckoning +eight quintals to one load—the bronze of this +figure, after the decay, by rust, of so many years, and +after the probable loss of some portion by pillage, still +amounted to a weight of 720,000 pounds, or 7,200 quintals.'—Vol. +VII. p. 650. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-066.jpg" width="70" height="191" alt="" /> +</div> +<p>'Philip returned to the Peloponnesus shortly +after his defeat. He directed all his exertions +to deceive and surprise the Messenians. His +stratagems being discovered, however, he raised +the mask, and ravaged the entire country.'—Vol. +VIII. p. 121.</p> + +<p>'Philammon (the assassin who had been employed +to murder Queen Arsinoe) returned to +Alexandria (from Cyrene) two or three days before +the tumult. The ladies of honour, who +had been attached to the unfortunate queen, +had early information of his arrival, and they +determined to take advantage of the disorder +then prevailing in the city to avenge the death +of their mistress. They accordingly broke into +the house where he had sought refuge, and +overcame him with showers of blows from stones +and clubs.'—Vol. VIII. p. 215.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-066-copy.jpg" width="380" height="143" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-066-copy-2.jpg" width="84" height="217" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... Scopas, finding himself at the head of +all the foreign troops—of whom the principal +portions were Aetolians like himself—believed +that as he held the command of such a formidable +body of veterans, so thoroughly steeled +by warfare, he could easily usurp the crown +during the minority of the king.'—Vol. VIII. +p. 327.</p> + +<p>'... The arrival of Livius, who had commanded +the fleet, and who was now sent to +Prusias (King of Bithynia), in the quality of an ambassador, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +decided the resolutions of that monarch. He assisted the king +to discover on which side victory might be reasonably expected +to turn, and showed him how much safer it would be to trust +to the friendship of the Romans rather than rely on that of +Antiochus.'—Vol. VIII. p. 426.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-067.jpg" width="296" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Funeral Obsequies of Philopœmen.</span></p> + +<p>'... When the body had been burned, and the ashes were +gathered together and placed in an urn, the cortége set out to +carry the remains to Megalopolis. This ceremonial resembled a +triumphal celebration rather than a funeral procession, or at least +a mixture of the two.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-067-copy.jpg" width="338" height="133" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The urn, borne by the youthful Polybius, was followed by the +entire cavalry, armed magnificently and superbly mounted. They +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +followed the procession without exhibiting signs of dejection for +so great a loss, or exultation for so great a victory.'—Vol. VIII. +p. 537.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Attempted Sacking of the Sanctuary.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-068.jpg" width="196" height="178" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... Heliodorus, with his guards, entered the temple, and he +was proceeding to force the treasures, when a horse, richly clad, +suddenly appeared, and threw himself on Heliodorus, inflicting +several blows with his hoofs. The rider had a terrible aspect, +and his armour appeared to be of gold. At the same moment +two celestial-looking youths were observed on each side of the +violator of the sanctuary dealing chastisement without cessation, +and giving him severe lashes from the whips they held in their +hands.'—Vol. VIII. p. 632. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Thackeray's last visit to the Charterhouse—College days—Pendennis at Cambridge—Sketches +of University worthies—Sporting subjects—Etchings at +Cambridge—Pencillings in old authors—Pictorial Puns—'The Snob,' a +Literary and Scientific Journal—'Timbuctoo,' a prize poem. +</p> + +<p>In Thackeray's schooldays the Charterhouse enjoyed considerable +reputation under the head-mastership of Dr. Russell, whose death +happened in the same year as that of his illustrious pupil. No +one who has read Thackeray's novels can fail to know the kind +of life he led here. He has continually described his experiences +at this celebrated school—with the venerable archway into +Charterhouse Square, which still preserves an interesting token +of the old monkish character of the neighbourhood. Only a fortnight +before his death he was there again, as was his custom, on +the anniversary of the death of Thomas Sutton, the munificent +founder of the school. 'He was there,' says one who has +described the scene, 'in his usual back seat in the quaint old +chapel. He went thence to the oration in the Governor's room; +and as he walked up to the orator with his contribution, was +received with such hearty applause as only Carthusians can give +to one who has immortalised their school. At the banquet afterwards +he sat at the side of his old friend and artist-associate in +"Punch," John Leech; and in a humorous speech proposed, as a +toast, the noble foundation which he had adorned by his literary +fame, and made popular in his works.' 'Divine service,' says +another describer of this scene, for ever memorable as the last +appearance of Thackeray in public life, 'took place at four +o'clock, in the quaint old chapel; and the appearance of the +brethren in their black gowns, of the old stained glass and carving +in the chapel, of the tomb of Sutton, could hardly fail to give a +peculiar and interesting character to the service. Prayers were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +said by the Rev. J. J. Halcombe, the reader of the house. There +was only the usual parochial chanting of the <i>Nunc Dimittis</i>; the +familiar Commemoration-day psalms, cxxii. and c., were sung +after the third collect and before the sermon; and before the +general thanksgiving the old prayer was offered up expressive +of thankfulness to God for the bounty of Thomas Sutton, and of +hope that all who enjoy it might make a right use of it. The +sermon was preached by the Rev. Henry Earle Tweed, late Fellow +of Oriel College, Oxford, who prefaced it with the "Bidding +Prayer," in which he desired the congregation to pray generally for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +all public schools and colleges, and particularly for the welfare of +the house "founded by Thomas Sutton for the support of age +and the education of youth."'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="246" height="185" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">First Term</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-070-copy.jpg" width="270" height="160" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Second Term</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-071.jpg" width="407" height="307" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'O crikey, father, there's a jolly great what's-a-name!'</p> +</div> + +<p>From Charterhouse School Thackeray went to Trinity College, +Cambridge, about 1828, the year of his leaving the Charterhouse, +and among his fellow-students there had Mr. John Mitchell +Kemble, the great Anglo-Saxon scholar, and Mr. Tennyson. +With the latter—then unknown as a poet—he formed an acquaintance +which he maintained to the last, and no reader of +the Poet Laureate had a more earnest admiration for his productions +than his old Cambridge associate, Thackeray. At college, +Thackeray kept seven or eight terms, but took no degree; though +he was studious, and his love of classical literature is apparent in +most of his writings, either in his occasional apt two words from +Horace, or in the quaint and humorous adoption of Latin idioms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +in which, in his sportive moods, he sometimes indulged. A +recent writer tells us that his knowledge of the classics—of Horace +at least—was amply sufficient to procure him an honourable place +in the 'previous examination.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-072.jpg" width="162" height="334" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A University Tradesman</p> +</div> + +<p>To the reader who would gain an insight into Thackeray's +doings at Cambridge, we say, 'Glance through the veracious +pages in which he records the University career of Mr. Arthur +Pendennis; you will there at least seize the spirit of his own +college days, if perchance you do not find the facts of the author's +own residence circumstantially stated. Take his studies, for example.'</p> + +<p>Pen's circumstances, tastes, and disposition generally, presuming +the resemblance to be merely accidental, present a tolerably +faithful reflection of those of his biographer at this period. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 96px;"> +<img src="images/i-073.jpg" width="96" height="115" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Mathematical Lecturer</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 136px;"> +<img src="images/i-073-copy.jpg" width="136" height="127" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Classman</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 107px;"> +<img src="images/i-073-copy-2.jpg" width="107" height="129" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Grinder</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 122px;"> +<img src="images/i-073-copy-3.jpg" width="122" height="150" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Plodder</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-073-copy-4.jpg" width="339" height="187" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Horsemanship</p> +</div> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">University Characters</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span></p> + +<p>The entire narrative occupies but scant space; and the chronicler +premises that he shall not describe his hero's academical +career very minutely. He is reticent, for he candidly declares +that this portion of a man's life does not bear telling without +certain reservations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-074.jpg" width="356" height="245" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Vingt-et-un</p> +</div> + +<p>Riding, tandem-driving, and four-in-hands enjoyed in those days +the patronage more largely transferred by the present generation +to boating, cricket, billiards, &c. It was probably at the University +that Thackeray began to take an interest in equestrianism: he +made numberless pictures of horses; indeed, he never hesitated +to draw them in every attitude. There is a certain rude fitness and +grotesque vigour about the animals which he sketched at the period +of life we are describing; but his skill in this respect certainly advanced +with practice, and the horses he had occasion to introduce +into his cuts when his fun was at its height—such, for example, as +the burlesque illustrations which we find scattered about the inimitable +pages of Mr. Punch—were really very original and +spirited; although perhaps they are barely the steeds which would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +be selected by timid riders, but are rather the tremendous creatures +which occur to the imagination.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-075.jpg" width="183" height="158" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'Well on'</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-075-copy.jpg" width="266" height="266" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'Ill off'</p> +</div> + +<p>It is possible that Thackeray's +bill to his livery stable keeper +kept pace with his other expenses; +but his experience in this respect +was not fruitless. When he had +occasion to mix with the world, +and especially while studying +society abroad, it embittered his +judgment against the University +to realise how little return, beyond +that indefinite and somewhat +bumptious quality known as +'tone,' he had really obtained in return for the expenses of a college +career. The youth of the Continent, with whom he had the fortune +to associate for some time, made him conscious, by their own +accomplishments, of those parts of a gentleman's education which +are ignored at our Universities, and which form, it must be confessed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +the standard by which men are chiefly measured beyond +the college walls. His early papers in 'Fraser,' and especially those +supposed to be contributed by the respectable Fitz-Boodle, drawing +upon the experiences he had gained while sojourning amidst +the society of the minor German principalities, speak the truth on +these short-comings in a manner both forcible and unflinching.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-076.jpg" width="391" height="541" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A few University Favourites</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-077.jpg" width="434" height="303" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'Just a little playful'</p> +</div> + +<p>Besides his fancy for etching plates of horses and men of ultra +and parodied fashion, for designing plates of the modern rake's +progress at the Universities, and punning cuts, we may assume that +Thackeray shared with his ideal Pendennis most of those tastes +indulged by lucky youths when life is opening, and reflection does +not trouble them. Like his hero, he enjoyed a fine amateur perception +for rare editions, and had a fancy for the glories of costly +bindings: we are told that the tall copies, the gilding, marbling, and +blind-tooling put on his book-shelves were marvellous to behold. +The same just appreciation of true art which, later on, directed +Thackeray's criticisms of the picture galleries, taught Pen to despise +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +the tawdry and meretricious pictures of horses and opera dancers +which often captivate the judgment of fledglings, and gifted him +with a love for fine prints, for Rembrandt etchings, line-engravings +after Strange, and Wilkie's before the letter; with which he hung his +rooms, to the admiration of those who were capable of understanding +his good taste. His mind did not despise the allurements +of dress; and Pen was elaborately attired. It was a repeated +axiom of Thackeray's, that it was good for a youth at one period +to indulge in this vanity of fine apparel as a preliminary stage +to more developed ambitions of standing well with the world.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-078.jpg" width="235" height="161" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">'Sport in earnest'</p> +</div> + +<p>It will be recollected that eventually Pendennis was plucked; +and a feeling, in some degree morose, and unequivocally indignant, +seems to have taken possession of Thackeray's mind +whenever he dwells on the college careers of the creations of +his fancy. In the 'Shabby Genteel Story,' which he first gave +to the world in the columns of 'Fraser' (1840), he lashes the +system for the defects of the individuals who may have been +perverted by its more injurious influences; nor does he credit the +Universities with conferring any solid advantages. He enquires, +somewhat vengefully, the amount of ruin that has been inflicted +by the temptations to which youths are exposed in such a course of +training as is understood in England by 'the education of a gentleman.' +The 'learning to fight for oneself,' he argues, implants +an early habit of selfishness. With 'a pretty knack of Latin +hexameters, and a decent smattering of Greek plays,' the neophyte +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +has learned, from his forced attendance at chapel, 'to consider the +religious service performed there as the +vainest parade in the world.' He has +learned to forget the gentle affections of +home, and, under certain conditions, to +despise his belongings. If naturally endowed +with an open hand, he has learned +to compete with associates infinitely +wealthier than himself, to despise money +on its own merits perhaps, but to respect it +as a means to the questionable advantage +of gaining admission to the company of +those whose social positions may chance +to be a source of envy to weaker minds. +In return for the two thousand pounds or +so which had been spent in acquiring 'the +tone,' he brings George Brandon—who is +certainly as black a sheep as any University +can produce—abruptly away from his +college, ruined in heart and principle; +boasting a small quantity of classics and +mathematics; with an utter contempt +for his inferiors, an enmity against his +equals; a fulsome desire to be reckoned one of those above him, +and to copy the extravagances +incident +to high position; an +easy, confident address; +sybarite habits, +utter heartlessness, +and tastes which must +be gratified without +scruple as to the +means: 'pretty compensation,' +writes the +author, 'for all he had +lost in gaining them.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-079.jpg" width="400" height="638" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Occasional Canters from 'Childe Harold's (first and last) Pilgrimage'</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-080.jpg" width="126" height="326" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-080-copy.jpg" width="245" height="203" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Taking in toe</p> +</div> + +<p>His pencil would +seem to have been a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +recreation of Thackeray's college days as well as of his later +career. His first efforts in etching on copper were probably produced +about the period of which we treat; the subjects of nearly +all of these plates—none of which, we believe, were ever published—were +evidently suggested by incidents in the career of an undergraduate.</p> + +<p>The margins and fly-leaves of a copy of Ovid's 'Opera omnia,' +one of Black's editions of the Classics (1825), offer various whimsical +illustrations of certain portions of the poems; we incline to +the impression, however, that although some of these parodies +may be referred to Thackeray's college days, to others must be +assigned a considerably later date.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-081.jpg" width="196" height="120" alt="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">P. Ovidii Nasonis Opera omnia.</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-081-copy.jpg" width="161" height="169" alt="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">P. Ovidii Nasonis</span></p> +</div> + +<p class="center">'Remediorum Amoris,' 'Medicaminum Faciei,' et 'Halieutici +Fragmenta.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-082.jpg" width="220" height="175" alt="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Epigramma Nasonis in Amores suos.</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Qui modo Nasonis fueramus quinque libelli,</p> +<p class="i1">Tres sumus: hoc illi prætulit auctor opus,</p> +<p>Ut iam nulla tibi nos sit legisse voluptas:</p> +<p class="i1">At levior demtis pœna duobus erit.</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-082-copy.jpg" width="120" height="166" alt="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Artis Amatoriæ.</span> (Lib. II.)</p> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Ecce! rogant teneræ, sibidem præcepta, puellæ.</p> +<p class="i1">Vos eritis chartæ proxima cura meæ.</p> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-083.jpg" width="128" height="154" alt="" /> +<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Remedia Amoris.</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Hoc opus exegi: fessæ date serta carinæ</p> +<p class="i1">Contigimus portum, quo mihi cursus erat.</p> +<p>Postmodo reddetis sacro pia vota poëtæ,</p> +<p class="i1">Carmine sanati femina virque meo.</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-083-copy.jpg" width="378" height="250" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Death mowing down the Loves</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Another amusement at this period was the designing of pictorial +puns, after the manner introduced by Cruikshank, which was +so successfully practised +by Alken, Seymour, and +Tom Hood.</p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 82px;"> +<img src="images/i-084.jpg" width="82" height="99" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Indian Ink</p> +</div> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 221px;"> +<img src="images/i-084-copy.jpg" width="221" height="257" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Chalk</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-084-copy-2.jpg" width="352" height="57" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A full length</p> +</div> + +<p>Among the sketches +by the hand of the novelist, +which we attribute +to these earlier days, are +a number of humorous +designs, many of them equal to the most grotesque efforts of the +well-known artists we have mentioned. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">LEGAL DEFINITIONS.<br /> +<br /> +BY A GENTLEMAN WHO MAY BE CALLED TO THE BAR.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-085.jpg" width="266" height="192" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Fee Simple</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-085-copy.jpg" width="231" height="178" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">On freeholds—A general clause</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-086.jpg" width="330" height="234" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A declaration</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-086-copy.jpg" width="254" height="206" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A rejoinder</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-087.jpg" width="222" height="288" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Possession.—With remarks on assault and battery</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-087-copy.jpg" width="308" height="296" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">An ejectment</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-088.jpg" width="176" height="198" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Fives</p> +</div> + +<p>The earliest of Thackeray's literary efforts are associated with +Cambridge. It was in the year 1829 that he commenced, in conjunction +with a friend and fellow-student, to edit a series of +humorous papers, published in +that city, which bore the title of +'The Snob: a Literary and Scientific +Journal.' The first number +appeared on April 9 in that +year, and the publication was continued +weekly. Though affecting +to be a periodical, it was not +originally intended to publish +more than one number; but the +project was carried on for eleven +weeks, in which period Mr. Lettsom +had resigned the entire +management to his friend. The +contents of each number—which consisted only of four pages—were +scanty and slight, and were made up of squibs and +humorous sketches in verse and prose, many of which, however, +show some germs of that spirit of wild fun which afterwards distinguished +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +the 'Yellowplush Papers' in 'Fraser.' A specimen of +the contents of this curious publication cannot but be interesting +to the reader. The parody we have selected, a clever skit upon +the 'Cambridge Prize Poem,' appeared as follows:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-088-copy.jpg" width="222" height="230" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Beauty is but skin deep</p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-089.jpg" width="295" height="202" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Prisoners' base</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Timbuctoo.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>To the Editor of 'The Snob.'</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Sir,—Though your name be 'Snob,' I trust you will not refuse +this tiny 'Poem of a Gownsman,' which was unluckily not finished +on the day appointed for delivery of the several copies of verses +on Timbuctoo. I thought, Sir, it would be a pity that such a +poem should be lost to the world; and conceiving 'The Snob' to +be the most widely-circulated periodical in Europe, I have taken +the liberty of submitting it for insertion or approbation.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +I am, Sir, yours, &c. &c. &c. +</p> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">TIMBUCTOO.—PART I.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>The situation.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i1">In Africa (a quarter of the world)</p> +<p>Men's skins are black, their hair is crisp and curl'd,</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +<p>And somewhere there, unknown to public view,</p> +<p>A mighty city lies, called Timbuctoo.</p> +</div></div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-090.jpg" width="406" height="271" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Bambooz-ling</p> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>The natural history.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i1">There stalks the tiger,—there the lion roars, +<span class="sidenote">5</span></p> +<p>Who sometimes eats the luckless blackamoors;</p> +<p>All that he leaves of them the monster throws</p> +<p>To jackals, vultures, dogs, cats, kites, and crows;</p> +<p>His hunger thus the forest monarch gluts,</p> +<p>And then lies down 'neath trees called cocoa nuts<span class="sidenote">10</span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span></p> + +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>The lion hunt.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i1">Quick issue out, with musket, torch, and brand,</p> +<p>The sturdy blackamoors, a dusky band!</p> +<p>The beast is found—pop goes the musketoons—</p> +<p>The lion falls covered with horrid wounds.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>Their lives at home.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>At home their lives in pleasure always flow,<span class="sidenote">15</span></p> +<p>But many have a different lot to know!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>Abroad.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>They're often caught, and sold as slaves, alas!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="center"><i>Reflections on the foregoing.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Thus men from highest joys to sorrow pass.</p> +<p>Yet though thy monarchs and thy nobles boil</p> +<p>Rack and molasses in Jamaica's isle;<span class="sidenote">20</span></p> +<p>Desolate Afric! thou art lovely yet!!</p> +<p>One heart yet beats which ne'er thee shall forget. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span></p> +<p>What though thy maidens are a blackish brown,</p> +<p>Does virtue dwell in whiter breasts alone?</p> +<p>Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!<span class="sidenote">25</span></p> +<p>It shall not, must not, cannot e'er be so.</p> +<p>The day shall come when Albion's self shall feel</p> +<p>Stern Afric's wrath, and writhe 'neath Afric's steel.</p> +<p>I see her tribes the hill of glory mount,</p> +<p>And sell their sugars on their own account;<span class="sidenote">30</span></p> +<p>While round her throne the prostrate nations come,</p> +<p>Sue for her rice, and barter for her rum!<span class="sidenote">32</span></p> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The burlesque prize poem concludes with a little vignette in +the 'Titmarsh' manner, representing an Indian smoking a pipe, +of the type once commonly seen in the shape of a small carved +image at the doors of tobacconists' shops.</p> + +<hr class="l15" /> +<div class="s09"> +<p>Lines 1 and 2.—See 'Guthrie's Geography.'</p> + +<p>The site of Timbuctoo is doubtful; the Author has neatly expressed this +in the poem, at the same time giving us some slight hints relative to its situation.</p> + +<p>Line 5.—So Horace: '<i>leonum arida nutrix.</i>'</p> + +<p>Line 8.—Thus Apollo:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i6"><span class="greek" title="helôria teuche kynessin">ἑλωρία τεῦχε κύνεσσιν</span></p> +<p><span class="greek" title="Oiônoisi te pasi">Οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι</span>.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Lines 5-10.—How skilfully introduced are the animal and vegetable productions +of Africa! It is worthy to remark the various garments in which the +Poet hath clothed the lion. He is called, 1st, the 'Lion;' 2nd, the 'Monster' +(for he is very large); and 3rd, the 'Forest Monarch,' which undoubtedly +he is.</p> + +<p>Lines 11-14.—The author confesses himself under peculiar obligations to +Denham's and Clapperton's Travels, as they suggested to him the spirited +description contained in these lines.</p> + +<p>Line 13.—'Pop goes the musketoons.' A learned friend suggested 'Bang' +as a stronger expression, but as African gunpowder is notoriously bad, the +author thought 'Pop' the better word.</p> + +<p>Lines 15-18.—A concise but affecting description is here given of the +domestic habits of the people. The infamous manner in which they are +entrapped and sold as slaves is described, and the whole ends with an appropriate +moral sentiment. The Poem might here finish, but the spirit of the +bard penetrates the veil of futurity, and from it cuts off a bright piece for the +hitherto unfortunate Africans, as the following beautiful lines amply exemplify.</p> + +<p>It may perhaps be remarked that the Author has here 'changed his hand.' +He answers that it was his intention to do so. Before, it was his endeavour +to be elegant and concise, it is now his wish to be enthusiastic and magnificent. +He trusts the Reader will perceive the aptness with which he has +changed his style; when he narrated facts he was calm, when he enters on +prophecy he is fervid.</p> + +<p>The enthusiasm which he feels is beautifully expressed in lines 25 and 26. +He thinks he has very successfully imitated in the last six lines the best manner +of Mr. Pope; and in lines 12-26, the pathetic elegance of the author of +'Australasia and Athens.'</p> + +<p>The Author cannot conclude without declaring that his aim in writing this +Poem will be fully accomplished if he can infuse into the breasts of Englishmen +a sense of the danger in which they lie. Yes—Africa! If he can awaken +one particle of sympathy for thy sorrows, of love for thy land, of admiration for +thy virtue, he shall sink into the grave with the proud consciousness that he +has raised esteem, where before there was contempt, and has kindled the flame +of hope on the mouldering ashes of despair!</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Early Favourites—Fielding's 'Joseph Andrews'—Imitators of Fielding—'The +Adventures of Captain Greenland'—'Jack Connor'—'Chrysal, or the Adventures +of a Guinea.' +</p> + +<p>Thackeray's references to his favourite novels, and his liking, +which assumed a sort of personal regard, for the authors who +had given him pleasure, especially in youth, occur constantly +throughout his writings, both early and late.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-093.jpg" width="234" height="160" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Blind man's buff</p> +</div> + +<p>He has told us how in the boyish days spent in the Charterhouse +he began to cultivate an acquaintance with the sterling +English humorists whose works had a deeply-marked influence +on his own literary training. 'Peregrine Pickle' was familiar to +him at Greyfriars; later on, Fielding's masterpieces came into his +possession. The buoyant spirit, vigorous nature, and absence of +affectation which are peculiarly the property of that great novelist, +must have highly delighted the budding author. Not only did +Thackeray treasure up 'Tom Jones' and 'Joseph Andrews,' but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +by some means he managed to get possession of various novels +now completely obsolete, the productions of less brilliant contemporaries +of Fielding, who were tempted by the success of his +frankly penned novels to attempt to reach a similar success by +walking servilely in the footsteps of the inaugurator of what may +be considered the natural order of English novel writing.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-094.jpg" width="388" height="299" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Bambooz-ling</p> +</div> + +<p>Of 'Joseph Andrews' he has registered his belief that novel-readers +should like this work best, and it is stated by Dr. Warton +that Fielding gave the preference to this early history above his +other writings. The hero, though but dressed in Lady Booby's +cast-off livery, Thackeray declares to be as polite as Tom Jones +in his fustian, or Captain Booth in his regimentals. 'Joseph,' in +his opinion, 'shares the elements of success with those worthies:' +he has large calves, broad shoulders, high courage, and a handsome +face; qualities apparently deemed by the novelist sure passes to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +popularity, and sufficiently certain to win the hearts of the impressionable.</p> + +<p>In the confidentially chatty Roundabout Essays we are favoured +with frequent introductions to the favourites of their author: no +opportunity is lost of making the reader acquainted with his friends. +Let us now turn to one of them—introducing Thackeray's graphic +illustrations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-095.jpg" width="224" height="231" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Pitch and toss</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span></p> +</div> + +<h3>THE HISTORY OF 'JOSEPH ANDREWS.'</h3> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-096.jpg" width="215" height="253" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The edition (1742) of +Fielding's earliest novel +which formed a portion +of Mr. Titmarsh's library +has been enriched by +certain characteristic illustrations +of the drollest +incidents.</p> + +<p>But few of Thackeray's +readers can fail +to remember his sincere +appreciation of the works +of his brilliant predecessor, +Justice Fielding, the +founder of that unaffected +school of novel-writing +which has since been +rendered illustrious by many masterpieces of genius.</p> + +<p>It is singularly appropriate that 'Joseph Andrews' happens to +form one of the series distinguished with Thackeray's pencillings, +as no one acquainted with his writings can fail to recall his tenderly +affectionate allusions to the author of 'Tom Jones.'</p> + +<p>On the fly-leaf of 'Joseph Andrews' occurs the group of Lady +Booby tempting the Joseph of the Georgian era, which is engraved +above: the cut gives, without effort, a key to the wittiest of sly +satires; for we cannot easily forget that merry mischievous +Fielding projected this work as a ludicrous contrast to the exemplary +'Pamela,' whose literary success brought its well-meaning +prosy author so much fame, profit, and flattery. The wicked +irony of Fielding was peculiarly shocking to sensitive Richardson; +and it is certain that the persecuted Pamela appears shorn of +much of her dignity when associated with the undignified temptations +suffered by her unexceptionable brother 'Joseph.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span></p> + +<p>The substance of this novel is so generally familiar that the +merest reference will refresh the memories of our readers so +far as the incidents illustrated by these slight pencillings are +concerned.</p> + +<p>Parson Adams, it may be remembered, endeavoured to raise a +loan on a volume of manuscript sermons to assist Joseph Andrews, +when Tow-mouse (the landlord), who +mistrusted the security, offered excuses.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-097.jpg" width="102" height="165" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Poor Adams was extremely dejected at +this disappointment. He immediately applied +to his pipe, his constant friend and +comfort in his afflictions; and leaning over +the rails, he devoted himself to meditation, +assisted by the inspiring fumes of tobacco.</p> + +<p>He had on a night-cap drawn over his +wig, and a short great coat, which half covered +his cassock; a dress which, added to something +comical enough in his countenance, composed a figure +likely to attract the eyes of those who were not over-given to +observation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-097-copy.jpg" width="307" height="125" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Joseph Andrews and Parson Adams arrived at the inn in no +cheery plight, the hero's leg having been injured by a propensity +for performing unexpected genuflections, the pride of a horse borrowed +by the parson for the occasion. The host, a surly fellow, +treated the damaged Joseph with roughness, and Parson Adams +briskly resented the landlord's brutality by 'sending him sprawling' +on his own floor. His wife retaliated by seizing a pan of hog's-blood, +which unluckily stood on the dresser, and discharging its +contents in the good parson's face. Mrs. Slipshod entered the +kitchen at this critical moment, and attacked the hostess with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +a skill developed by practice, tearing her cap, uprooting handfuls +of hair, and delivering a succession of dexterous facers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-098.jpg" width="308" height="169" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Parson Adams, when he required a trifling loan, ventured to +wait on the swinish Parson Trulliber, whose wife introduced +Adams in error, as 'a man come for some of his hogs.' Trulliber +asserted that his animals were all pure fat, and upwards of twenty +score apiece; he then dragged the parson into his stye, which +was but two steps from his parlour-window, insisting that he +should examine them before he would speak one word with him. +Adams, whose natural complacence was beyond any artifice, was +obliged to comply before he was suffered to explain +himself, and laying hold of one of their tails, the +wanton beast gave such a sudden spring that he +threw poor Adams full length in the mire. Trulliber, +instead of assisting him to get up, burst into laughter, +and, entering the stye, said to Adams, with some +contempt, 'Why, dost not know how to handle a +hog?'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-098-copy.jpg" width="71" height="207" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>To those writers whose heroes are of their own +creation, and whose brains are the chaos whence all +their materials are collected—one may apply the +saying of Balzac regarding Aristotle, that they are +a second nature, for they have no communication +with the first, by which authors of an inferior +class, who cannot stand alone, are obliged to support themselves +as with crutches; but these of whom I am now speaking +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +seem to be possessed of those stilts which the excellent Voltaire +tells us, in his letters, <i>carry the genius far off, but with an irregular +pace</i>. Indeed, far out of the sight of the reader—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p><i>Beyond the realm of chaos and old night.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-099.jpg" width="263" height="221" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The pedlar, introduced in these adventures, while relating to +Joseph Andrews and Parson Adams the early history of Fanny +(then returned from Lady Booby's), proceeded thus: 'Though I +am now contented with this humble way of getting my livelihood, +I was formerly a gentleman; for so all those of my profession are +called. In a word, I was drummer in an Irish regiment of foot. +Whilst I was in this honourable station, I attended an officer of our +regiment into England, a recruiting.' The pedlar then described +meeting a gipsy-woman, who confided to him, on her death-bed, +that she had kidnapped a beautiful female infant from a family +named Andrews, and sold her to Squire Booby for three guineas. +In Fanny he professed to recognise the stolen infant. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span></p> + +<h3>'THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN GREENLAND.'</h3> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-100.jpg" width="225" height="237" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The Adventures of Captain +Greenland,' an anonymous +novel published +in 1752, is avowedly +'written in imitation +of all those wise, learned, +witty, and humorous +authors who either have +or hereafter may write +in the same style and +manner.'</p> + +<p>The story, divided +over a tedious number +of books—like the high-flown +romances of the +'Grand Cyrus' order—also +resembles those antiquated and unreal elaborations in the +astonishing intrepidity of its professed hero, Sylvius, who, however, +engages, like his model 'Joseph Andrews,' in situations generally +described as menial. Captain Greenland himself, denuded of his +powerful swearing propensities, might be regarded at this date as +an interesting curiosity, a British commander of the true-blue +salt type. A parson, and other characters suggestive of the acquaintances +we make in 'Joseph Andrews,' contribute to swell +the 'dramatis personæ.' A portion of the adventures, which are +neither new nor startling, consists of escapes from Spanish convents, +and complications connected with the Romanist faith, not +unlike somewhat kindred allusions in Richardson's 'Sir Charles +Grandison.'</p> + +<p>A stage-coach journey occupies ten chapters of one book; and +the travellers relieve this lengthy travel (from Worcester to London) +by unfinished anecdotes. Captain Greenland relates an +adventure with a highwayman who once stopped his coach. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +'gentleman of the road' bade the driver 'unrein.' The captain +seized his blunderbuss and 'jumped ashore,' thinking it a scandal +that a gentleman who had the honour of commanding one of His +Majesty's ships of war should suffer himself to be boarded and +plundered by a single fellow. Being a little warm and hasty, he +salutes his enemy with, '"Blank my heart, but you are a blank +cowardly rascal, and a blank mean-spirited villain! You scoundrel, +you! you lurk about the course here to plunder every poor +creature you meet, that have nothing at all to defend themselves; +but you dare not engage with one that is able to encounter with +you. Here, you rascal! if you dare fight for it, win it and wear +it." With that I pulled out my purse and money, and flung it to +the ground between us; but the faint-hearted blank durst as well +be blank'd as come near me. So after I had swore myself pretty +well out of wind (judging from the captain's ordinary vernacular, +the strongest lungs could not have held out long), I ran towards +him with my cock'd blunderbuss ready in my hand; but he +at that very moment tacked about, and sheer'd off. I now +picked up my purse, and went aboard the coach; but, blank my +heart! I can't forgive myself for not saluting the rascal with one +broadside.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-101.jpg" width="277" height="127" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>At the conclusion of ten chapters of stage-coach journeying, +the author brilliantly observes, 'He has cooped up his readers for +a considerable time,' and the captain swears the coach is somewhat +'over-manned.'</p> + +<p>'At night they were all exceedingly merry and agreeable; +and the generous captain again insisted upon paying the bill himself, +which he found no matter of fault with, but in the customary +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +article (at that place) of sixpence a head for firing; which he +swore was as much as could have been demanded if they had +supp'd at an inn in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-102.jpg" width="255" height="220" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-102-copy.jpg" width="278" height="206" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The next day's journey being happily concluded, without any +extraordinary occurrences, they arrived about six o'clock in the +afternoon at the 'Blue Boar Inn, in Holborn, where they all +agreed to sup together, and to lie that night.'</p> + +<p>Rosetta the heroine, and her brother, Sir Christopher, attended +by the faithful Sylvius as steward, embark at Portsmouth for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +Lisbon. After some thirty hours' sea-sickness, Rosetta resumed +her usual cheerfulness by making merry over her late incapacity. +'Sylvius was yet as bad as any of them. The knight (her brother) +was also in the same helpless condition, and continued in the +same manner till he was eased of the lofty tosses which were so +plentifully bestowed on them by the restless Biscaian Bay.' They +all recover at last, and are diverted by the shoals of wanton porpoises. +'By and by their remarks turned on their "little bark's +climbing so wonderfully over the vast ridges of the mountainous +waves, which formed perpetual and amazing prospects of over-rolling +hills and vales, as could scarcely meet belief from those +who had never been at sea."'</p> + +<h3>'JACK CONNOR.'</h3> + +<p>'Jack Connor' is another instance of the novels written by +imitators of Fielding. Aiming to produce an unaffected and easy +style of fiction, enlivened by incidents of every-day interest, it falls +far short of the standard to which it aspires, as one would reasonably +suppose. The book is anonymous, and is dedicated to +Henry Fox, 'Secretary at War,' and was published in 1752; it is +founded on a rambling plot, detailing the adventures of a 'waif' +thrown on the world by his Irish parents. The first volume is +mostly occupied by youthful 'amours,' and ends with the 'Story +Of Polly Gunn,' which unfortunately bears a certain resemblance +to De Foe's 'Moll Flanders,' in a condensed form.</p> + +<p>'Jack Connor' had a patron, a marvellously proper man, +the 'model of righteous walking,' and the dispenser of admirable +precepts, over which the hero grew eminently sentimental; but +directly after acted in direct opposition to the teaching of this +worthy guardian. The pencilling we have selected from the +margin of vol. i. illustrates a passage describing the scandals of +the kitchen, which affixed to Jack Connor's benefactor, Mr. Kindly, +the questionable honour of being father to his protégé.</p> + +<p>'I hope,' said Tittle, 'your la'ship won't be angry with me, +only they say that the boy is as like Mr. Kindly as two peas; but +they say, "Mem"——' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span></p> + +<p>'Hold your impertinent tongue,' said my lady; 'is this the +occasion of so much giggle? You are an ungrateful pack. I +am sure 'tis false,' &c.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-104.jpg" width="192" height="214" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Indeed,' said Tittle, 'if +I've said anything to offend +your la'ship——'</p> + +<p>'Yes, madam,' said my +lady, 'you have greatly offended +me; and so you all +have,' &c.</p> + +<p>Poor Mrs. Tittle was not +only vastly disappointed, but +greatly frightened. She informed +the rest of the reception +she had met with. The +servants were quite surprised +at the oddity of her ladyship's +temper, and quoted many examples diametrically opposite.</p> + +<p>'I'm sure,' said Mrs. Tittle, 'had I told as much to Squire +Smart's lady, we should have laughed together about it the livelong +night!'</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay,' said Mrs. Matthews, 'God bless the good Lady +Malign! When I waited on her in Yorkshire, many a gown, and +petticoat, and smock have I gotten for telling her half so much; +but, to be sure, some people think themselves wiser than all the +world!'</p> + +<p>'Hold, hold,' said Tom Blunt, the butler. 'Now, d'ye see, if +so be as how my lady is wrong, she'll do you right; and if so be +as how my lady is right, how like fools and ninnihammers will +you all look!'</p> + +<p>In vol. ii. we find Jack Connor resorting to the reputable profession +of 'gentleman of the road;' he plans his first 'stand-and-deliver' +venture in company with two experienced highwaymen. +Hounslow is the popular spot selected for his <i>début</i>. Thither he +proceeds in a post-chaise from Piccadilly, having arranged for his +horse in advance. Two circumstances favour him; he knows a +family in the neighbourhood, and he wears a surtout of a cloth +that is blue on one side and red on the other, and that has no other +lining. In a blue coat with scarlet cuffs he orders wine, arranges for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +a return post-chaise, and enquires the address of the people whose +name he knows. He then departs, secures his horse, and turns +his coat; he is behind-hand, +and the coach just then +coming up, the two highwaymen +lead the attack: +one is shot, and the other +disabled and captured. +Connor escapes in the confusion, +ties up his horse, +turns his coat, and walks +back to the inn for his post-chaise, which is delayed, one horse +being wanting. The landlord enters. 'There, now,' said he, 'is +two fine gentlemen that have made a noble kettle of fish of it this +morning!'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-105.jpg" width="207" height="125" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Bless me, my dear,' said his wife, 'what's the matter?'</p> + +<p>'Not much; only a coach was stopped on the heath by +three highwaymen, and two of 'em is now taken, and at the next +inn.'</p> + +<p>'Dear sirs,' said the landlady, ''tis the most preposteroustest +thing in life that gentlefolks won't travel in post-chaises; and then +they're always safe from these fellows.'</p> + +<p>'Well,' said the husband, 'I must send after the third, who +escaped; I'll engage to find out his scarlet coat before night.'</p> + +<p>Connor, recollecting his situation, chimed in with the hostess, +and spoke greatly against the disturbers of the public. At last he +took leave, mounted his chaise, and got safe to London; but +often thought the horses very bad.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-105-copy.jpg" width="143" height="98" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Jack Connor, after various vicissitudes, was at last reduced to +service, and was employed as secretary +by Sir John Curious, an infirm compound +of wealth and avarice, married, in his last +days, to a young wife. Connor became +unpopular with the ladies of the establishment, +on account of his over-correct +behaviour. One day he was busy reading +to Sir John, when Mr. Sampson, a wine merchant, entered. +The knight had a great regard for this gentleman, and was extremely +civil to him. 'Well, friend Sampson,' said he, 'time was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +when we used to meet oftener; but this plaguy gout makes me +perform a tedious quarantine, you see.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Sir John,' replied Mr. Sampson, 'you are at anchor in a +safe harbour; but I have all your ailments, and am buffeted about +in stormy winds.'</p> + +<p>'Not so, not so,' answered the knight; 'I hope my old friend +is in no danger of shipwreck. No misfortunes, I hope.'</p> + +<p>'None,' said Mr. Sampson, 'but what my temper can bear. I +have lost my only child, just such a youth as that (pointing to +Jack). I have lost the best part of my substance by the war, and +I have found old age and infirmities.'</p> + +<p>Sir John regretted that he could not assist his friend with a +loan, but he paid his account for wine, and handed over Connor +to assist Mr. Sampson in his business.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-106.jpg" width="231" height="80" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>After a long letter on the state of Ireland—which appeared even +in 1744 a question beyond the wisdom of legislation to dispose of +satisfactorily—the author apologises for his digressions with considerable +novelty. 'I am afraid I have carried my reader too far +from the subject-matter of this history, and tried his patience; +but I assure him that my indulgence has been very great, for, +at infinite pains, I have curtailed the last chapter (the Irish question) +at least sixty pages. Few know the difficulty of bridling the +imagination, and reining back a hard-mouthed pen. It sometimes +gets ahead, and, in spite of all our skill, runs away with us into +mire and dirt; nay, at this minute I find my quill in a humour to +gallop, so shall stop him short in time.'</p> + +<p>The life of Connor is chequered. He finally figures as a captain +of dragoons in the campaign in Flanders, under the 'Culloden' +Duke. He performs deeds of valour with the army, and +rescues a Captain Thornton from three assailants, preserves his life +and secures his gratitude. He next appears at Cadiz, on a commercial +errand, and he regains his long-lost mother in Mrs. Magraph, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +wealthy widow, to whom he had made love. This lady, who had +saved thirty thousand pounds, was very communicative; she finally +recognised him as her son, and acquainted him that Sir Roger Thornton, +the life of whose son he had preserved, was in reality his father, +and not Connor, as he had previously believed. The hero then set +out for Paris. The ship was ready to sail. All were concerned at +losing so polite a companion, and he was loaded with praises and +caresses. His mother could not bear it with that resignation she +at first thought; but, however, +she raised her spirits, +and with many blessings +saw him set sail.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-107.jpg" width="215" height="153" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The voyage was prosperous, +and he arrived at +Marseilles, safe and in good +health. He took post for +Paris, and embraced his dear +friend Captain Thornton, as +indicated in the marginal +illustration. Jack Connor marries a lord's daughter, and becomes +an Irish landed gentleman. The author concludes with the regret +that he has not the materials to reveal his hero's future.</p> + +<h3>'CHRYSAL, OR THE ADVENTURES OF A GUINEA.'</h3> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-107-copy.jpg" width="141" height="188" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We gather from the copy of this work, +which was formerly on the shelves of +Thackeray's library, that 'Chrysal' had +reached seven editions in 1771, having +been originally published in 1760, +with a highly laudatory dedication to +William Pitt.</p> + +<p>The bookseller's prefix to the first +edition is slightly imaginative. To describe +its nature briefly, the publisher, +while taking a country stroll in Whitechapel, +then an Arcadian village, was +overtaken by a shower, and sought shelter in a cottage where a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +humble family were breakfasting. His eye was caught by a sheet +of manuscript which had done duty for a butter-plate. Its contents +interested him, and he learnt that the chandler next door wrapped +up her commodities in such materials. He made an experimental +purchase, which was done up in another leaf of +the paper. Cautious enquiries elicited that +brown paper being costly, and a quantity of old +'stuff' having been left by a long deceased +lodger of her departed mother's, the manuscript +was thus turned into use. The enterprising +publisher invested 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> for brown paper, and +secured the entire remaining sheets in exchange. +Finding, on perusal, that he had secured matter +of some literary value, he pursued his investigations +with the same lady, and learned that the author was an +unfortunate schemer, who, after wasting his entire fortune in seeking +the philosopher's stone, perceived his folly too late, wrote the story +of 'Chrysal' in ridicule of the fallacy of golden visions, and expired +before he could realise any profit by the publication of his +papers. The bookseller secretly resolved to admit the good +woman to a half share of the profits of her 'heirship,' and 'Chrysal' +appeared. It excited some attention, and had various charges +laid to its account.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-108.jpg" width="88" height="134" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-108-copy.jpg" width="107" height="68" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The scheme is ingenious, tracing the guinea from its projection, +and giving an account of the successive stages of its changing +existence. We are admitted to contemplate +the influence of gold in various situations; +with dissertations on 'traffic,' and, in short, +follow the history of a guinea through the +possession of numerous owners, male and +female, while the reader is by these means introduced to +some very curious situations.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-108-copy-2.jpg" width="49" height="90" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The little design in the margin occurs in the history +of a horned cock, a parody on collectors of curiosities, +describing the manner in which a noble 'virtuoso' was +imposed upon by a cunning vendor of wonderful productions. +There was considerable competition to secure the +composite phenomenon, and when his lordship obtained it, a convocation +of 'savants' was summoned to report on the marvel. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +bird, a game-cock, had unfortunately taken offence at an owl in +a neighbouring cage, and when the company arrived it had rubbed +off one of the horns and disturbed the other. While arguing that +the bird had shed its horn in the course of nature, one of the company +dropped some snuff near the bird's eye, who thereupon shook +his head with sufficient violence to dislodge the remaining +horn; exposing the imposture, and overwhelming the virtuoso +with such vexation that the cock was sacrificed to Æsculapius +forthwith.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-109.jpg" width="126" height="92" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The guinea gets into the hands of a justice of the peace, in +the shape of a bribe, and a very remarkable state of corruption +and traffic in iniquity is displayed. The little pencilling of a +quaint figure holding the scales occurs on the margin of a paragraph +which records a warm dispute +between the justice and his clerk on +the proportioning of their plunder, the +clerk revolting against an arrangement +by which it is proposed to confine him +to a bare third! The dispute is checked +by the arrival of some customers, matrons +dwelling within the justice's district, who come to compound with +him in regular form 'for the breach of those laws he is appointed +to support.'</p> + +<p>The sketches pencilled in 'Chrysal' do not follow the story +very closely; indeed, they can hardly be intimately associated +with the text they accompany. This, however, is quite an exceptional +case; the drawings found in Mr. Thackeray's books being, +in nearly every instance, very felicitous embodiments of the +subject-matter of the works they illustrate.</p> + +<p>On a fly-leaf of 'Chrysal' is a jovial sketch of light-hearted +and nimble-toed tars, forming a realistic picture of the good +cheer a guinea may command, and immediately suggestive of +bags of prize-money, apoplectically stored with the yellow boys +which, in the good old days, were supposed to profusely line the +pockets of true salts when they indulged in the delights of a +spell on shore: this was the time when sailors experimented in frying, +as the story represents them, superfluous watches in bacon-fat, as a +scientific relaxation, when the ships were paid off at Portsmouth, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +and 'jolly tars' had invested in more timekeepers than the exigencies +of punctuality strictly demanded.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-110.jpg" width="419" height="290" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Continental Ramble—A Stolen Trip to Paris—Residence at Weimar—Contributions +to Albums—Burlesque State—German Sketches and Studies—The +Weimar Theatre—Goethe—Souvenirs of the Saxon city—'Journal +kept during a visit to Germany.' +</p> + +<p>We cannot take leave of Thackeray's college days without +referring to the first trip he made to Paris during a vacation, on +his own responsibility, and, indeed, without consulting his pastors +and masters on the subject. This little episode occurred when +he was nineteen years old; and, excepting for considerable remorse +at the subterfuge by which he had got away, he seems +to have enjoyed himself very much.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 148px;"> +<img src="images/i-111-copy.jpg" width="148" height="309" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">1828</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 69px;"> +<img src="images/i-111.jpg" width="69" height="206" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Coachee, 1830</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span></p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 141px;"> +<img src="images/i-112-copy-2.jpg" width="141" height="229" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">1828</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 191px;"> +<img src="images/i-112-copy.jpg" width="191" height="325" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A dowager</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 156px;"> +<img src="images/i-112.jpg" width="156" height="173" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A German court chaplain</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 109px;"> +<img src="images/i-112-copy-3.jpg" width="109" height="133" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A postilion</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span></p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-113.jpg" width="529" height="387" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Apollo surrounded by his tuneful band. (Sketched in a music-book.)</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-114.jpg" width="396" height="108" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-114-copy.jpg" width="178" height="254" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cigno.<br /> +(Album oddities. Weimar, 1830)</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-114-copy-2.jpg" width="136" height="312" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Weimar, 1830</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-115.jpg" width="593" height="389" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Royal banquet</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-116.jpg" width="391" height="263" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Weimar sketch</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-116-copy.jpg" width="254" height="227" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Schiller's plays. Weimar, 1830</p> +</div> + +<p>Soon afterwards Thackeray seems to have repaired to Weimar, +in Saxony, where, as he describes it, he lived with a score of +young English lads, 'for study, or sport, or society.' Mr. G. H. +Lewes, in his 'Life of Goethe,' tells us that Weimar albums still +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +display with pride the caricatures which the young artist sketched +at that period. 'My delight in those days,' says Mr. Thackeray, +'was to make caricatures for children'—a habit, we may add, +which he never forgot. Years afterwards, in the fulness of his fame, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +revisiting Weimar, he found, to his great delight, that these were +yet remembered, and some even preserved still; but he was much +more proud to be told, as a lad, that the great Goethe himself +had looked at some of them. In a letter to his friend Mr. Lewes, +inserted by the latter in the work referred to, Thackeray has given +a pleasing picture of this period of his life, and of the circle in +which he found himself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-117.jpg" width="189" height="180" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Church militant</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-117-copy.jpg" width="318" height="249" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Triumphal march of the British forces</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-118.jpg" width="251" height="400" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Opera at Weimar</p> +</div> + +<p>Readers familiar with the 'Rose and the Ring,' Thackeray's +popular Christmas book, will recognise in the sketch on <a href="#Page_93">page 93</a> +the artist's fondness for playing with royalty—especially with +pantomimic royalty. The Weimar court was full of old ceremony, +and yet most pleasant and homely withal. Thackeray and his +friends were invited in turns to dinners, balls, and assemblies there. +Such young men as had a right appeared in uniforms, diplomatic +and military. Some invented gorgeous clothing: the old Hof +Marschall, M. de Spiegel, who had two of the most lovely daughters +ever looked on, being in nowise difficult as to the admission of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +these young Englanders. On winter nights they used to charter +sedan chairs, in which they were carried through the snow to these +court entertainments. Here young Thackeray had the good luck +to purchase Schiller's sword, which formed a part of his court +costume, and which hung in +his study till the day of his +death, to put him (as he said) +in mind of days of youth the +most kindly and delightful.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-119.jpg" width="181" height="320" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Shakspeare at Weimar</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-119-copy.jpg" width="191" height="408" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Operatic reminiscences at Weimar</p> +</div> + +<p>Here, too, he had the advantage of the society of his friend +and fellow-student at Cambridge, Mr. W. G. Lettsom, later Her +Majesty's Chargé-d'Affaires at Uruguay, but who was at the +period referred to attached to the suite of the English Minister at +Weimar. To the kindness of this gentleman he was indebted in a +considerable degree for the introductions he obtained to the best +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +families in the town. Thackeray was always fond of referring to +this period of his life.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-120.jpg" width="590" height="387" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A German fencing bout</p> +</div> + +<p>The spirited sketch of a German Fencing Bout given on the +preceding page, was probably drawn on the spot during the progress +of the combat. The collegians enable us to construct a +realistic picture of the student of a generation ago.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-121.jpg" width="187" height="383" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">German student of the period. (Weimar, 1830)</p> +</div> + +<p>The object of the combatants being to inflict a prick or scratch +in some conspicuous part of the face, the rest of the person is +carefully padded and protected. In our days the loose cap with +its pointed peak has disappeared before its gay muffin-shaped substitute; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +but the traditional pride in a scarred face is still observable. +Even at the present day we find the youths of German +University towns rejoicing in a seam down the nose, or swaggering +in the conscious dignity of a slashed cheek, as outward and +visible evidence of the warlike soul within.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-122.jpg" width="139" height="203" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Goethe. A sketch from the Fraser portrait</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-122-copy.jpg" width="135" height="366" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Goethe<br /> +(Sketched at Weimar, 1830)</p> +</div> + +<p>Devrient, who appeared some years +since at the St. James's Theatre in German +versions of Shakspeare, was performing at +Weimar at that period, in 'Shylock,' +'Hamlet,' 'Falstaff,' and the 'Robbers;' +and the beautiful Madame Schröder was +appearing in 'Fidelio.'</p> + +<p>The young English students at Weimar +spent their evenings in frequenting the +performances at the theatres, or attending the levées of the +Court ladies.</p> + +<p>After an interval of nearly a quarter of a century, Thackeray +passed a couple of days in the well-remembered place, where he +was fortunate enough to find still some of the friends of his youth. +With his daughters he was received by Madame de Goethe with +the kindness of old days; the little party once again drank tea +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +in that famous cottage in the park which had been a favourite +resort of the illustrious poet.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-123.jpg" width="548" height="291" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A souvenir</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-124.jpg" width="245" height="348" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Album sketches</p> +</div> + +<p>During his residence at Weimar in 1831 Thackeray saw and +shared a great deal of pleasant life; and although the world of the +little German capital was one in miniature, the experience he gained +in it was turned to good account in after years. It was at this +visit he had the happiness of meeting the great Goethe, who had +then withdrawn from society: he would, nevertheless, receive +strangers with marked cordiality; and the tea-table of his daughter-in-law +was always spread for the entertainment of these favoured +young sojourners. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span></p> + +<div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-125.jpg" width="145" height="355" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A swell</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-125-copy.jpg" width="141" height="387" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A buck</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In October 1830, we find Thackeray writing from Weimar to a +bookseller in Charterhouse Square, for a liberal supply of the Bath +post paper on which he wrote his verses and drew his countless +sketches. On certain sheets of this paper, after his memorable +interview with Goethe, we find the young artist trying to trace from +recollection the features of the remarkable face which had deeply +impressed his fancy (see <a href="#Page_100">p. 100</a>). There are portraits in pen and +ink, and others washed with colour to imitate more closely the complexion +of the study he was endeavouring to work out. The letter +to which we here refer contains an order of an extensive character, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +for the current literature, which throws some light on his tastes at +this period:—'Fraser's <i>Town and Country Magazine</i> for August, +September, October, and November. The four last numbers of +the <i>Examiner</i> and <i>Literary Gazette</i>, <i>The Comic Annual</i>, <i>The Keepsake</i>, +and any others of the best annuals, and <i>Bombastes Furioso</i>, +with Geo. Cruikshank's illustrations. The parcel to be directed +to Dr. Frohrib, Industrie Comptoir, Weimar.'</p> + +<p>Among the ingenuous confessions of Fitz-Boodle in 'Fraser,' we +are admitted to three romantic episodes, all of them being directed +as warnings to over-fervent young men—'Miss Löwe' (Oct. 1842), +'Dorothea' (Jan. 1843), 'Ottilia' (Feb. 1843): none of these tender +records of his early German experiences are reprinted with +Thackeray's 'Miscellanies.' We learn incidentally in 'Ottilia' the +delightful fee accorded to gallant drivers on the occasion of sledging +parties, which formed a leading amusement of a Saxon winter. +A large company of a score or more sledges was formed. Away +they went to some pleasure-house previously fixed upon as a +<i>rendezvous</i>, where a ball and supper were ready prepared, and +where each <i>cavalier</i>, as his partner descended, has the 'delicious +privilege of saluting her.'</p> + +<p>Thackeray has turned the observations he made during his residence +in the Saxon city to famous satirical account in the construction +of his typical Court of Pumpernickel, situated on the +Pump rivulet. We meet the most effective sarcastic sketches of +the mimic court in various parts of his writings, great and small. +It was in these sister Duchies that Pitt Crawley served as an +<i>attaché</i> to the British representative. It was while dining at the table +of Tapeworm, the Secretary of our Legation there, that the author +declares he first learnt the sad particulars of the career of Mrs. +Rawdon Crawley, <i>née</i> Rebecca Sharp. It was here, too, in the theatre +that he describes first meeting with Amelia, then Mrs. Osborne, +attended by her brother Jos. Sedley, with her son George, and his +guardian, faithful Major Dobbin; when the little party were sojourning, +as favoured visitors, in the famous dominions (stretching +nearly ten miles) of his Transparency Victor Aurelius XVIII. The +reader will remember being presented, in one of the later chapters +of 'Vanity Fair,' with a humorous burlesque of the entire Grand +Ducal Court—its belongings, society, administration, foreign +legations, politics, fêtes, and what not; with a detailed description +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +of the noble bridge thrown across the Pump by his renowned +Transparency Victor Aurelius XIV., whose effigy rises above the +erection; his foot calmly resting on the neck of a prostrate Turk, +and surrounded by water-nymphs and emblems of victory, peace, +and plenty. The prince is smiling blandly, and directing with his +outstretched truncheon the attention of the passer to the Aurelian +Platz, where this great-souled hero had commenced a palace that +would have been the wonder of the age, if the funds for its completion +had not been exhausted. A previous introduction to the +splendours of Kalbsbraten-Pumpernickel had been afforded the +readers of 'Fraser,' where we are informed that it contained a population +of two thousand inhabitants, and a palace (<i>Monblaïsir</i>, the +rival of Versailles) which would accommodate about six times that +number. The Principality furnished a contingent of three and a +half men to the Germanic Confederation; only three of whom returned +from the field of Waterloo. This army corps was commanded +by a General (Excellency), two major-generals, and sixty-four +officers of lower grades; all noble, all knights of the order of +Kartoffel, and almost all chamberlains to his Highness the Grand +Duke. A band of eighty performers led the troops to battle in +time of war; executed selections daily, in more peaceful intervals, +for the admiration of the neighbourhood; and at night did duty +on the stage.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-127.jpg" width="176" height="198" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span></p> + +<p>There was supposed to be a chamber of representatives, who +were not remembered to have ever sat, home and foreign ministers, +residents from neighbouring courts, law-presidents, town councils, +&c., and all the usual great government functionaries. The Court +had its chamberlains and marshals; the Grand Duchess her noble +ladies-in-waiting, and beauteous maids of honour. Besides the +sentries at the palace, there were three or four men on duty, +dressed as hussars; but the historian could not discover that they +ever rode on horseback.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-128.jpg" width="131" height="184" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A German peasant maiden</p> +</div> + +<p>The Prime Minister had lodgings in a second floor, and the +other great officers were similarly accommodated: their titles were, +however, a distinction in themselves—Otho Sigismond Freyherr +von Schlippenschlopps, for instance, Knight Grand Cross of the +Ducal Order of the Two Necked Swan of Pumpernickel, of the +Porc-et-Sifflet of Kalbsbraten, Commander of the George and +Blue Boar of Dummerland, Excellency and High Chancellor of +the United Duchies, is described as enjoying, with his private +income and the revenues of his offices, a total of nearly three +hundred pounds per annum, and, in consequence of this handsome +provision, being able to display such splendour as few officers of +the Grand Ducal Crown could afford.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-129.jpg" width="594" height="265" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Sleighing</p> +</div> + +<p>These high-sounding titles were not confined to the military +and diplomatic bodies: the memorable town pump had been designed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +by <i>Herr Oberhof und bau Inspektor von Speck</i>; whose wife +was honourably referred to as 'The Grand-ducal Pumpernickelian-court-architectress, +and Upper-palace-and-building-inspectress, +Von Speck.'</p> + +<p>The preceding sketch of sleighing, which has all the life and +spirit of a drawing executed whilst the recollection of its subject +is still fresh, was evidently made at the period of Thackeray's residence +at Weimar. He has left various pen-and-ink dottings of +the quaint houses in this town, which correspond with the little +buildings in the landscape on <a href="#Page_101">p. 101</a>.</p> + +<p>Among the volumes originally in Thackeray's possession was a +book, privately printed, containing portions of the diaries of Mrs. +Colonel St. George, written during her sojourn among the German +courts, 1799 and 1800. As the margins of the book are pencilled +with slight but graphic etchings illustrative of the matter, we insert +a few extracts while treating of Thackeray's early experience of +Weimar, as harmonising with this part of our subject. It may be +premised that the actual sketches belong to a considerably later +date.</p> + +<h3>'JOURNAL KEPT DURING A VISIT TO GERMANY IN +1799, 1800.'</h3> + +<p>'<i>Vienna, July 18, 1800.</i>—Dined at La Gardie's; read "Les +Mères Rivales" aloud, while she made a <i>couvre-pied</i> for her approaching +confinement; her mother worked a cap for the babe, +and he sat down to his netting: it was a black shawl for his wife. +A fine tall man, a soldier, too, with a very martial appearance, +netting a shawl for his wife amused me.</p> + +<p>'<i>Dresden, Oct. 2.</i>—Dined at the Elliots'.<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> + While I was playing +at chess with Mr. Elliot, came the news of Lord Nelson's arrival, +with Sir William and Lady Hamilton, Mrs. Cadogan, mother of +the latter, and Miss Cornelia Knight, famous for her "Continuation +of Rasselas" and her "Private Life of the Romans."<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-131.jpg" width="190" height="153" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A fancy portrait</p> +</div> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 3.</i>—Dined at Mr. Elliot's, with only the Nelson party. +It is plain that Lord Nelson thinks of nothing but Lady Hamilton, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +who is totally occupied by the same object. She is bold, forward, +coarse, assuming, and vain. Her figure is colossal, but, excepting +her feet, well shaped. Her bones are large, and she is +exceedingly <i>embonpoint</i>. She resembles the bust of Ariadne: the +shape of all her features is fine, as is the form of her head, and +particularly her ears; her teeth are a little irregular, but tolerably +white; her eyes light blue, with a brown spot in one, which, though +a defect, takes nothing away from her beauty and expression. Her +eyebrows and hair are dark, and her complexion coarse. Her +expression is strongly marked, variable, and interesting; her +movements in common life ungraceful; her voice loud, yet not +disagreeable. Lord Nelson is a little man, without any dignity; +who, I suppose, must resemble what Suwarrow was in his youth, +as he is like all the pictures I have seen of that general. Lady +Hamilton takes possession of him, and he is a willing captive, the +most submissive and devoted I have seen. Sir William is old, +infirm, all admiration of his wife, and never spoke to-day but to +applaud her. Miss Cornelia Knight seems the decided flatterer +of the two, and never opens her mouth but to show forth their +praise; and Mrs. Cadogan, Lady Hamilton's mother, is what one +might expect. After dinner we had several songs in honour of +Lord Nelson, written by Miss Knight, and sung by Lady Hamilton. +She puffs the incense full in his face; but he receives it +with pleasure and sniffs it up very cordially. The songs all +ended in the sailor's way, with "Hip, hip, hip, hurra!" and a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +bumper with the last drop on the nail, a ceremony I had never +heard of or seen before.</p> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 4.</i>—Accompanied the Nelson party to Mr. Elliot's box at +the opera. She and Lord Nelson were wrapped up in each +other's conversation during the chief part of the evening.</p> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 5.</i>—Went, by Lady Hamilton's invitation, to see Lord +Nelson dressed for court. On his hat he wore the large diamond +feather, or ensign of sovereignty, given him by the Grand Signior; +on his breast the order of the Bath, the order he received as Duke +of Bronte; the diamond star, including the sun or crescent, given +him by the Grand Signior; three gold medals, obtained by three +different victories; and a beautiful present from the King of +Naples. On one side is His Majesty's picture, richly set, and +surrounded with laurels, which spring from two united laurels +at bottom, and support the Neapolitan crown at top; on the +other is the Queen's cipher, which turns so as to appear within +the same laurels, and is formed of diamonds on green enamel. +In short, Lord Nelson was a perfect constellation of stars and +orders.</p> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 7.</i>—Breakfasted with Lady Hamilton, and saw her represent +in succession the best statues and paintings extant. She +assumes their attitude, expression, and drapery with great facility, +swiftness, and accuracy. Several Indian shawls, a chair, some +antique vases, a wreath of roses, a tambourine, and a few children +are her whole apparatus. She stands at one end of the room, +with a strong light on her left, and every other window closed. +Her hair is short, dressed like an antique, and her gown a simple +calico chemise, very easy, with loose sleeves to the wrist. She +disposes the shawls so as to form Grecian, Turkish, and other +drapery, as well as a variety of turbans. Her arrangement of the +turbans is absolutely sleight-of-hand; she does it so quickly, so +easily, and so well. It is a beautiful performance, amusing to the +most ignorant, and highly interesting to the lovers of art. The +chief of her imitations are from the antique. Each representation +lasts about ten minutes. It is remarkable that, though coarse and +ungraceful in common life, she becomes highly graceful, and even +beautiful, during this performance. After showing her attitudes, +she sang, and I accompanied. Her voice is good and very +strong, but she is frequently out of tune; her expression strongly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +marked and various; but she has no flexibility, and no sweetness. +She acts her songs....</p> + +<p>'Still she does not gain upon me. I think her bold, daring, +vain even to folly, and stamped with the manners of her first situation +much more strongly than one would suppose, after having +represented majesty, and lived in good company fifteen years. +Her ruling passions seem to me vanity, avarice, and love for the +pleasures of the table. Mr. Elliot says, "She will captivate the +Prince of Wales, whose mind is as vulgar as her own, and play a +great part in England."</p> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 8.</i>—Dined at Madame de Loss's, wife to the Prime +Minister, with the Nelson party. The Electress will not receive +Lady Hamilton, on account of her former dissolute life. She +wished to go to court, on which a pretext was made to avoid +receiving company last Sunday, and I understand there will be no +court while she stays. Lord Nelson, understanding the Elector +did not wish to see her, said to Mr. Elliot, "Sir, if there is any +difficulty of that sort, Lady Hamilton will knock the Elector down, +and —— me, I'll knock him down too!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-133.jpg" width="278" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 9.</i>—A great breakfast at the Elliots', given to the Nelson +party. Lady Hamilton repeated her attitudes with great effect. +All the company, except their party and myself, went away before +dinner; after which Lady Hamilton, who declared she was passionately +fond of champagne, took such a portion of it as astonished +me. Lord Nelson was not behindhand, called more +vociferously than usual for songs in his own praise, and after many +bumpers proposed the Queen of Naples, adding, "She is my +queen; she is queen to the backbone." Poor Mr. Elliot, who +was anxious the party should not expose themselves more than +they had done already, and wished to get over the last day +as well as he had done the rest, endeavoured to stop the effusion +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +of champagne, and effected it with some difficulty, but not till the +lord and lady, or, as he calls them, Antony and Moll Cleopatra, +were pretty far gone. I was so tired, I returned home soon after +dinner; but not till Cleopatra had talked to me a great deal of +her doubts whether the queen would receive her, adding, "I care +little about it. I had much sooner she would settle half Sir +William's pension on me." After I went, Mr. Elliot told me she +acted Nina intolerably ill, and danced the <i>Tarantula</i>. During her +acting, Lord Nelson expressed his admiration by the Irish sound +of astonished applause, and by crying every now and then, "Mrs. +Siddons be ——!" Lady Hamilton expressed great anxiety to +go to court, and Mrs. Elliot assured her it would not amuse her, +and that the Elector never gave dinners or suppers. "What?" +cried she, "no guttling!" Sir William also this evening performed +feats of activity, hopping round the room on his backbone, +his arms, legs, star and ribbon all flying about in the air.</p> + +<p>'<i>Oct. 10.</i>—Mr. Elliot saw them on board to-day. He heard, +by chance, from a king's messenger, that a frigate waited for them +at Hamburg, and ventured to announce it formally. He says: +"The moment they were on board, there was an end of the fine +arts, of the attitudes, of the acting, the dancing, and the singing. +Lady Hamilton's maid began to scold, in French, about some +provisions which had been forgot. Lady Hamilton began bawling +for an Irish stew, and her old mother set about washing the +potatoes, which she did as cleverly as possible. They were +exactly like Hogarth's actresses dressing in the barn."'</p> + +<p>At Berlin, the fair diarist was introduced to Beurnonville, the +French minister, who had gained notoriety for his services at +Valmy and Gemappes. He was one of the commissioners +despatched by the convention to arrest Dumouriez, who, it may +be remembered, treated him with marked cordiality; the special +envoy of the republic was, however, arrested, with his companions, +and delivered by the general into the hands of the Austrians.</p> + +<p>'<i>Nov. 18-23.</i>—I have been to a great supper at Count Schulenberg's. +As usual, I saw Beurnonville, who was very attentive. +He looks like an immense cart-horse, put by mistake in the finest +caparisons; his figure is colossal and ungainly; and his uniform +of blue and gold, which appears too large even for his large +person, is half covered with the broadest gold lace. His <i>ton</i> is +that of a <i>corps-de-garde</i> (he was really a corporal), but when he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +addresses himself to women, he affects a softness and <i>légèreté</i>, +which reminds one exactly of the "Ass and the Spaniel," and his +compliments are very much in the style of M. Jourdain. It +is said, however, he is benevolent and well-meaning.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-135.jpg" width="351" height="163" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'<i>Nov. 30.</i>—Supped at Mad. Angeström's, +wife of the Swedish Minister, who is perfectly +indifferent to all the interests of Europe, provided nothing interrupts +her reception of the Paris fashions, for which she has an uncommon +avidity. "<i>N'est-ce pas, ma chère, que +ceci est charmant? C'est copié fidèlement d'un +journal de Paris, et quel journal délicieux!</i>"</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-135-copy.jpg" width="98" height="295" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'She wears very little covering on her person, +and none on her arms of any kind (shifts being +long exploded), except sleeves of the finest cambric, +unlined and <i>travaillé au jour</i>, which reach +only half way from the shoulder to the elbow. +She seems to consider it a duty to shiver in +this thin attire, for she said to Lady Carysfort, +"<i>Ah, Milédi, que vous êtes heureuse, vous portez +des poches et des jupes!</i>" I conversed chiefly with +Beurnonville and Pignatelli. Beurnonville says, +"<i>Mon secrétaire est pour les affaires, mon aide-de-camp +pour les dames, et moi pour la représentation.</i>" +The people about him are conscious he +is <i>peu de chose</i>, but say, "<i>Qu'importe? on est si bon +en Prusse, et si bien disposé pour nous.</i>" A person +asked Vaudreuil, aide-de-camp to Beurnonville, +if the latter was a <i>ci-devant</i>. "<i>Non," dit-il, "mais +il voudroit l'être</i>"—a reply of a good deal of <i>finesse</i>, and plainly +proving how unconquerable the respect for rank, and wish among +those who have destroyed the substance to possess the shadow.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Thackeray's Predilections for Art—A Student in Paris—First Steps in the +Career—An Art Critic—Introduction to Marvy's English Landscape +Painters—Early Connection with Literature—Michael Angelo Titmarsh, a +contributor to 'Fraser's Magazine'—French Caricature under Louis Philippe—Political +Satires—A Young Artist's life in Paris—Growing Sympathy +with Literature. +</p> + +<p>The Weimar reminiscences show how early Thackeray's passion +for art had developed itself. One who knew him well affirms +that he was originally intended for the Bar; but he had, indeed, +already determined to be an artist, and for a considerable period +he diligently followed his bent. He visited Rome, where he +stayed some time, and subsequently, as we shall see, settled +for some time in Paris, 'where,' says a writer in the 'Edinburgh +Review' for January 1848, 'we well remember, ten or +twelve years ago, finding him, day after day, engaged in copying +pictures in the Louvre, in order to qualify himself for his intended +profession. It may be doubted, however,' adds this writer, +'whether any degree of assiduity would have enabled him to excel +in the money-making branches, for his talent was altogether of the +Hogarth kind, and was principally remarkable in the pen-and-ink +sketches of character and situation which he dashed off for the +amusement of his friends.' This is just criticism; but Thackeray, +though caring little himself for the graces of good drawing or +correct anatomy, had a keen appreciation of the beauties of +contemporary artists. Years after—in 1848—when, as he says, +the revolutionary storm which raged in France 'drove many +peaceful artists, as well as kings, ministers, tribunes, and socialists +of state for refuge to our country,' an artist friend of his early +Paris life found his way to Thackeray's home in London. This +was Monsieur Louis Marvy, in whose <i>atelier</i> the former had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +passed many happy hours with the family of the French artist—in +that constant cheerfulness and sunshine, as his English friend +expressed it, which the Parisian was now obliged to exchange for +a dingy parlour and the fog and solitude of London. A fine and +skilful landscape-painter himself, M. Marvy, while here, as a +means of earning a living, made a series of engravings after the +works of our English landscape-painters. For some of these his +friend obtained for M. Marvy permission to take copies in the +valuable private collection of Mr. Thomas Baring. The publishers, +however, would not undertake the work without a series +of letter-press notices of each picture from Mr. Thackeray; and +the latter accordingly added some criticisms which are interesting +as developing his theory of this kind of art. The artists whose +works are engraved are Calcott, Turner, Holland, Danby, Creswick, +Collins, Redgrave, Lee, Cattermole, W. J. Müller, Harding, +Nasmyth, Wilson, E. W. Cooke, Constable, De Wint, and Gainsborough.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-137.jpg" width="262" height="263" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>It was, we believe, in 1834, and while residing for a short +period in Albion Street, Hyde Park, the residence of his mother +and her second husband, Major Carmichael Smyth, that Mr. +Thackeray began his literary career as a contributor to 'Fraser's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +Magazine.' The pseudonyms of 'Michael Angelo Titmarsh,' +'Fitz Boodle,' 'Yellowplush,' or 'Lancelot Wagstaff,' under which +he afterwards amused the readers of the periodicals, had not +then been thought of. His early papers related chiefly to the +Fine Arts; but most of them had some reference to his French +experiences. He seems to have had a peculiar fancy for Paris, +where he resided, with brief intervals, for some years after coming +of age, and where most of his magazine papers were written.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-138.jpg" width="335" height="389" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Two-penny Post-bag</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-139.jpg" width="599" height="398" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">LE DECES POIRE</p> +</div> + +<p>The drawing on p. 117 represents the despair (<i>désespoir</i>) of +the Orleans family at the threatened political decease (<i>décès</i>) of +Louis Philippe, familiar to Parisians as the 'Pear' (<i>Poire</i>), from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +the well-known resemblance established by the caricaturists +between the shape and appearance of the king's head and a +Burgundy pear. Thackeray resided in +Paris during the contests of the king with +the caricaturists (under the banner of +Phillipon), and he was much impressed +by their wit and artistic power. If the +reader will turn to the 'Paris Sketch Book,' +he will see Mr. Thackeray's own words +upon the subject.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-140.jpg" width="126" height="159" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Under the Second Empire</p> +</div> + +<p>We may state, for the assistance of +the reader unacquainted with the French +caricatures of that period, that the figure +to the right with an elongated nose is M. +d'Argout; the gentleman at the foot of the bed, astride a huge +squirt (the supposed favourite implement with every French physician), +is Marshal Lobau. Queen Marie Amélie, the Duc +d'Orléans, and other members of the royal family, are in the background.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-140-copy.jpg" width="105" height="132" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>One of Thackeray's literary associates has given some amusing +particulars of his Paris life, and his subsequent interest in the city, +where he had many friends and was known to a wide circle of +readers. 'He lived,' says this writer, 'in Paris "over the water," +and it is not long since, in strolling about the Latin Quarter with +the best of companions, that we visited his lodgings, Thackeray +inquiring after those who were already forgotten—unknown. Those +who may wish to learn his early Parisian life and associations +should turn to the story of "Philip on his Way through the World." +Many incidents in that narrative are reminiscences +of his own youthful literary struggles +whilst living modestly in this city. +Latterly, fortune and fame enabled the author +of "Vanity Fair" to visit imperial Paris in +imperial style, and Mr. Thackeray put up +generally at the Hôtel de Bristol, in the +Place Vendôme. Never was increase of +fortune more gracefully worn or more generously +employed. The struggling artist and small man of letters, +whom he was sure to find at home or abroad, was pretty safe to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +be assisted if he learned their wants. I know of many a kind act. +One morning, on entering Mr. Thackeray's bedroom in Paris, I +found him placing some napoleons in a pill-box, on the lid of +which was written, "One to be taken occasionally." "What are +you doing?" said I. "Well," he replied, "there is an old person +here who says she is very ill and in distress, and I strongly suspect +that this is the sort of medicine she wants. Dr. Thackeray intends +to leave it with her himself. Let us walk out together."<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> + Thackeray +used to say that he came to Paris for a holiday and to revive +his recollections of French cooking. But he generally worked +here, especially when editing the "Cornhill Magazine."'<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-141.jpg" width="368" height="294" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The political Morgiana</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-142.jpg" width="225" height="440" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">One of the ornaments of Paris</p> +</div> + +<p>Thackeray's affection for Paris, however, appears to have been +founded upon no relish for the gaieties of the French metropolis, +and certainly not upon any liking for French institutions. His +papers on this subject are generally criticisms upon political, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +social, and literary failings of the French, written in a severe spirit +which savours more of the confident judgment of youth than of +the calm spirit of the citizen of the world. The reactionary rule +of Louis Philippe, the Government of July, and the boasted Charter +of 1830, were the objects of his especial dislike; nor was he less +unsparing in his views of French morals as exemplified in their law +courts, and in the novels of such writers as Madame Dudevant. +The truth is, that at this Period Paris was, in the eyes of the art-student, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +simply the Paradise of young painters. Possessed of a +good fortune—said to have amounted, on his coming of age in +1832, to 20,000<i>l.</i>—the young Englishman passed his days in the +Louvre, his evenings with his French artist acquaintances, of whom +his preface to Louis Marvy's sketches gives so pleasant a glimpse; +or sometimes in his quiet lodgings in the Quartier Latin in dashing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +off for some English or foreign paper his enthusiastic notices of the +Paris Exhibition, or a criticism on French writers, or a story of +French artist life, or an account of some great <i>cause célèbre</i> then +stirring the Parisian world. This was doubtless the happiest period +of his life. In one of these papers he describes minutely the life +of the art student in Paris, and records his impressions of it at +the time.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-143.jpg" width="221" height="237" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A decorated artist</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-143-copy.jpg" width="227" height="259" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-144.jpg" width="341" height="264" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Back to the past</p> +</div> + +<p>The painter's trade in France, he discovers, is a good one; +it is more appreciated, respected, and even more liberally patronised +than with us. While in England there is no school but the +'Academy' open to the young student—in those days South +Kensington did not exist, and our artists are not accustomed to +grant young beginners admission to their studios at pleasure, as has +long been the practice abroad—in France excellent schools abound, +where, under the eye of a practised master, a young man can +learn the rudiments of his art for about ten pounds a year, including +all kinds of accessory instruction, models, &c.; while he +can, out of doors, obtain all sorts of incentives to study for 'just +nothing at all.'</p> + +<p>The life of the young artist in France, we are told, is the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +merriest, most slovenly existence possible. He comes to Paris +with some forty pounds a year settled on him to keep him and pay +all his expenses. He lives in a quarter where all his surroundings +are of the same order—art and artists; from morning till night, +he is in an atmosphere of painting; he arrives at his <i>atelier</i> very +early, and often gains a good day's study before +the doors of our Academy are unbolted. +He labours, without a sense of drudgery, +among a score of companions as merry and +poor as himself.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-145.jpg" width="92" height="180" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>It is certain that Thackeray had developed +a talent for writing long before he had abandoned +his intention of becoming a painter, and +that he became a contributor to magazines at +a time when there was at least no necessity for +his earning a livelihood by his pen. It is probable, +therefore, that it was his success in the +literary art, rather than his failure, as has been +assumed, in acquiring skill as a painter, which gradually drew him +into that career of authorship, the pecuniary profits of which became +afterwards more important to him. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +'Elizabeth Brownrigge: a Tale,' 1832—'Comic Magazine,' 1832-4—'National +Standard and Literary Representative,' 1833-4—'Flore et Zephyr, Ballet +Mythologique,' 1836—On the Staff of 'Fraser's Magazine'—Early Connection +with Maginn and his Colleagues—The Maclise Cartoon of the Fraserians—Thackeray's +<i>Noms de Plume</i>—Charles Yellowplush as a Reviewer—Skelton +and his 'Anatomy of Conduct'—Thackeray's Proposal to Dickens to illustrate +his Novels—Gradual Growth of Thackeray's Notoriety—His genial Admiration +for 'Boz'—Christmas Books and Dickens' 'Christmas Carol'—Return +to Paris—Execution of Fieschi and Lacénaire—Daily Newspaper +Venture—The 'Constitutional' and 'Public Ledger'—Thackeray as Paris +Correspondent—Dying Speech of the 'Constitutional'—Thackeray's Marriage—Increased +Application to Literature—The 'Shabby Genteel Story'—Thackeray's +Article in the 'Westminster' on George Cruikshank—First +Collected Writings—The 'Paris Sketch Book'—Dedication to M. Aretz—'Comic +Tales and Sketches,' with Thackeray's original Illustrations—The +'Yellowplush Papers'—The 'Second Funeral of Napoleon,' with the +'Chronicle of the Drum'—'The History of Samuel Titmarsh and the great +Hoggarty Diamond'—'Fitzboodle's Confessions'—'The Irish Sketch +Book,' with the Author's Illustrations—'The Luck of Barry Lyndon'—Contributions +to the 'Examiner'—Miscellanies—'Carmen Lilliense'—'Notes +of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo,' with the Author's Illustrations—Interest +excited in Titmarsh—Foundation of 'Punch'—Thackeray's +Contributions—His comic Designs—'The Fat Contributor'—'Jeames's +Diary.' +</p> + +<p>Before proceeding to the well-known productions from the pen +of our great novelist, which are familiar enough to all, it may interest +the reader to glance at his juvenile efforts in literature and +art. It will be found that we dwell more minutely upon the consideration +of these early sketches than is absolutely warranted by +their importance in comparison with his great works; but we are +tempted to enlarge on the papers which illustrate the outset of the +author's career, under the conviction that they are but little known +to the majority of his admirers.</p> + +<p>We have already noticed Thackeray's characteristic hand in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +pages of 'The Snob,' where his native skill in parody was first +evidenced in print. We have incidentally cited the satirical force +of his observant powers at the age of twenty and during his residence +in Germany; though, it must be confessed, these early +impressions may owe much of their strength to the training he had +gone through during the interval between the time he actually spent +in the scenes described, and the period at which the sketches were +first given to the public.</p> + +<p>From the date of its establishment the columns of 'Fraser' +abound in sly satires directed against the school of fiction which +then happened to find favour with the romance-reading public. +Ainsworth and Bulwer had made daring experiments with new and +startling materials for exciting the imagination of their believers; +and the encouragement held out by the unequivocal success of the +unwholesome order of novels was sufficient to excite the wrath of +those writers and critics who strove to lead the popular taste back +to healthier literature. Thackeray's keen appreciation of the +genuine humour of Fielding, Scott, and similar authors, who founded +the interest of their stories on such sounder principles as were +dictated by intelligent study of human nature, and who mainly +relied for their incidents on the probable occurrences, the actions +and passions, of actual life, was sufficient to qualify him as a subtle +opponent of the unnatural style; and he appears to have early enlisted +his pen on the side of the Fraserians, who were, perhaps, +the bitterest antagonists which the apostles of these unlikely +anomalies were fated to encounter in the development of their +novel theories.</p> + +<p>In the August and September numbers of 'Fraser' for 1832 +appeared the forerunner of those burlesque romances for which +Thackeray's name became afterwards famous. The sketch was +published when the budding satirist was little over twenty-one years +of age; and the just and scarifying criticism which it contains is +sufficiently remarkable in so youthful a writer. But there is the +strongest internal evidence that the travestie of 'Elizabeth Brownrigge: +a Tale,' proceeds from the author who afterwards narrated +the 'Story of Catharine;' who interrupted the early chapters of +'Vanity Fair' to introduce certain felicitous parodies; and who, +in the pages of 'Punch,' produced the irresistible series of 'Prize +Novelists' which remain unsurpassed. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span></p> + +<p>'Elizabeth Brownrigge' was dedicated to the author of 'Eugene +Aram;' and its writer described himself as a young man who +had for a length of time applied himself to literature, but had +hitherto entirely failed to derive any emolument from his exertions. +His tragedies, comedies, operas and farces, his novels, poems, and +romances, had already accumulated into an alarming pile of unacceptable +and unprofitable MSS. On examining the grounds of +their refusal, he was surprised to find one identical phrase occurring +in every letter rejecting his talented productions: the poems are +all pronounced 'classical, pure in taste, and perfect in diction;' the +novels are acknowledged to be 'just in character, interesting in plot, +pathetic, unexceptionable in sentiment;' but unhappily they have +all one glaring defect in common—they are '<i>not of a popular description</i>.' +Enlightened by the reflection that those who write to +live must write to please, he determined to master the popular +taste; the otherwise faultless papers were put by until fashions +should change in the reading world; and his laundress was sent to +the circulating library for the last most popular novel—the author, +disappointed but not discouraged, being resolved to study its style +and manner, investigate the principles on which it was written, to +imbibe its spirit, and to compose his next new work as nearly as +possible upon the same model. The popular novel brought was +'Eugene Aram.'</p> + +<p>From its pages the hitherto unsuccessful writer caught a complete +solution of the errors and defects of his former productions. +From the frequent perusal of older works of imagination, he had +learned the unfashionable practice of endeavouring so to weave the +incidents of his stories as to interest his readers in favour of virtue +and to increase their detestation of vice. By the study of 'Eugene +Aram' he was taught to mix vice and virtue up together in +such an inextricable confusion as to render it impossible that any +preference should be given to either, or that one, indeed, should +be at all distinguishable from the other.</p> + +<p>'I am inclined,' continues the writer, in his dedication, 'to +regard the author of "Eugene Aram" as an original discoverer in +the world of literary enterprise, and to reverence him as the father +of a new <i>lusus naturæ</i> school.' There is no other title by which his +manner could be so aptly designated. Being in search of a tender-hearted, +generous, sentimental, high-minded hero of romance, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +he turned to the 'Newgate Calendar,' and looked for him in the +list of men who have cut throats for money, among whom a +person in possession of such qualities could never have been met +with at all.</p> + +<p>'In "Elizabeth Brownrigge" it will be the author's sole ambition +to impart to his efforts some portion of the intense interest +that distinguishes the works of Mr. Bulwer, and to acquire the fame +which the skilful imitation of so great a master may hope to receive +from the generosity of an enlightened and delighted public. +In taking his subject from that walk of life to which "Eugene +Aram" had directed his attention, many motives conspired to fix +the writer's choice on the heroine of the ensuing tale: she is a +classic personage—her name has been already "linked to immortal +verse" by the muse of Canning. Besides, it is extraordinary that, +as Mr. Bulwer had commenced a tragedy under the title of "Eugene +Aram," the dedicator had already sketched a burletta with the +title of "Elizabeth Brownrigge." In his dramatic piece he had +indeed been guilty of an egregious and unpardonable error: he +had attempted to excite the sympathies of his audience in favour +of the murdered apprentices; but the study of Mr. Bulwer disabused +him of so vulgar a prejudice, and, in the present version of +her case, all the interest of the reader and all the pathetic powers +of the author will be engaged on the side of the murderess. He +has taken a few slight liberties with the story, but such alterations +have the sanction of Bulwer's example and the recommendation of +his authority. As he has omitted any mention of the wife of his +Eugene, his imitator has not thought it necessary to recall the +reader's attention to the husband and sixteen children of his Elizabeth. +As the hero of "Eugene Aram" is endowed with more learning +and virtue than he possessed, and is converted from the usher +of a grammar school at Hayes into the solitary student of a lone +and romantic tower in a distant county; the author of "Elizabeth" +presumed to raise the situation of his heroine, and, instead of +portraying her as the wife of a saddler in Fleur-de-lis Court, and +midwife of the poor-house, he has represented her in his tale as a +young gentlewoman of independent fortune, a paragon of beauty, a +severe and learned moral philosopher, and the Lady Bountiful of +the village of Islington.'</p> + +<p>The first book opens with a sample of the MS. Burletta: the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +contents of chapter i. are sufficiently descriptive of the spirit of +the whole—<i>Islington: the Red Cabbage</i> (so called from a very imperfect +representation of a red rose on its sign-board)—<i>Specimen of +Lusus Naturæ</i>—<i>Philosophers of the Porch</i>—<i>Who is she?</i></p> + +<p>According to a richly worked out principle of opposites, this +droll conception proceeds with incidents and even names taken +directly from the 'Newgate Calendar,' but rivalling 'Eugene +Aram' itself in magnificence of diction, absurdity of sentiment, +and pomp of Greek quotation. The trial scene and Elizabeth's +speech in her own defence abound in clever points—indeed, the +humour of the whole composition is original and striking; although +the later burlesques from presumably the same hand have made +us familiar with similar features brought to maturity.</p> + +<p>During the intervals of his residence in London—for Paris may +be considered to have been almost his head-quarters at this period—Thackeray +had made the acquaintance of most of the brilliant +writers and rising artists of the day. It is certain that before he +became popularly known as a contributor to 'Fraser,' where his +papers contributed in no inconsiderable degree to the success of +the magazine, he was concerned in more than one literary venture. +Between 1832 and 1834 appeared a small miscellany, the 'Comic +Magazine,' now tolerably obscure: in its duodecimo pages may be +found the writings of several authors whose names have since become +famous. It was profusely illustrated: the major part of +the cuts, some of them of particular excellence, were by the hand +of the gifted and unfortunate Seymour. It seems that Thackeray +was to some extent interested in this publication, to which he +probably supplied both drawings and verses; although, at this +date, it is difficult to distinguish his individual contributions, especially +as they happen to be less characteristic than the average of +his works; the cuts, although full of fun, having suffered from the +necessity of reducing the cost of engraving, as the expenses of the +publication became onerous.</p> + +<p>There existed in 1833 a critical journal, 'devoted to literature, +science, music, theatricals, and the fine arts,' rejoicing in the +slightly high-flown title of the 'National Standard:' it was one of +the early enterprises in the way of cheap publication, and, in spite +of its name, conscientiously aimed at supplying a want that has +never yet been adequately filled up—namely, the circulation of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +sterling independent criticism. We are not informed how Thackeray +first became interested in this publication, but, from the hints +thrown out in his later writings, it seems that he was induced to +become, in some part, proprietor of the venture. In his sketch of +'Mr. Adolphus Simcoe,' who is introduced into the pages of +'Punch' (1842) as a typical ex-owner of a miscellany, the 'Lady's +Lute,' which came to a disastrous end, we are informed that, presuming +a person of literary tastes should, from some unfortunate +combination of circumstances, conceive a passion to become +the editor of a magazine, to assemble about him 'the great spirits +of the age,' and to be able to communicate his own contributions +direct to the public, a paper is sure to be for sale—'indeed, if a +gentleman has a mind to part with his money, it is very hard if he +cannot find some periodical with a broom at its mast-head.'</p> + +<p>In the eighteenth number of the 'National Standard' (May 4) +we recognise Thackeray's pencil in a very fair cut of Louis Philippe—quite +in the style of his contributions to 'Punch' some ten +years later. The likeness is undoubtedly good and characteristic. +<i>Le roi des Français</i> is straddling in an undignified attitude—the +fair lily of France is trodden under one of his clumsy feet; he +wears an ill-fitting plain citizen suit; one hand is in his pocket, +'counting his money;' the other rests on his redoubtable umbrella, +the favourite target of satirists.</p> + +<p>In his beaver he sports the tricolor badge, 'like an overgrown +pancake,' as the verses below declare. His face wears a truculent, +soured, dissatisfied twist; 'no huzzas greet his coming,' we are +informed.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>He stands in París as you see him before ye,</i></p> +<p><i>Little more than</i> a snob. <i>There's an end of the story.</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>Number 19 of the journal opens with an address of decidedly +Titmarshian turn, which tells the story of the new state of things +pretty lucidly, and with a fine flush of spirits.</p> + +<p>Under the heading of this 'National Standard' of ours there +originally appeared the following: 'Edited by F. W. N. Bayley,<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +Esq., the late Editor and Originator of "The National Omnibus," +the first of the cheap Publications: assisted by the most eminent +Literary Men of the Day.'</p> + +<p>'Now we have <i>changé tout cela</i>: no, not exactly <i>tout cela</i>, for we +still retain the assistance of a host of literary talent; but Frederick +William Naylor Bayley has gone. We have got free of the Old +Bailey and changed the governor. Let it not be imagined for a +moment that we talk in the slightest disparagement of our predecessor +in office; on the contrary, we shall always continue to +think him a clever fellow, and wish him all kinds of success in the +war he is carrying on against Baron Dimsdale. He apparently +has exchanged the pen for the sword.</p> + +<p>'Having the fear of the fate of Sir John Cam Hobhouse before +our eyes, we give no pledges, expressed or understood, as to the +career which it is our intention to run. We intend to be as free +as the air. The world of books is all before us where to choose +our course. Others boast that they are perfectly independent of +all considerations extraneous to the sheet in which they write, but +none we know of reduce that boast to practice: we therefore +boast not at all. We promise nothing, and if our readers expect +nothing more, they will assuredly not be disappointed.'</p> + +<p>A remarkably well-executed portrait of Braham, the singer, +appears in the number. The eminent vocalist's rotund figure is +dressed in stage-nautical fashion, with a tremendously striped shirt, +rolling collar, sailor's knot, no waistcoat, jacket and short trousers, +hose, and pumps with buckles; his somewhat coarse Israelitish <i>caput</i> +is hit off with truth and spirit; over his head is a glory formed of a +jew's-harp encircled in bays; he is before a theatrical background. +A dealer in old clo', of the singer's nationality, crowned with triple +hats, and carrying the professional bag, is introduced beneath +a feudal castle. Below the portrait is a sonorous parody of one +of Wordsworth's sonnets, attributing to Braham the 'majesty and +loveliness' by which he originally captivated the world and the ears +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +of Sovereign Anne, in whose benign reign, according to a footnote, +this 'Lion of Judah' 'made his first appearance in England.' +The jew's-harp, circled with blooming wreath, is seen of +verdant bays; and thus are typified—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>The pleasant music and the baize of green,</i></p> +<p><i>Whence issues out at eve Braham with front serene!</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>Certain picture criticisms in the same number bear evidence of +the hand afterwards well known in the galleries of paintings.</p> + +<p>'<i>Fine Arts.</i>—<i>Somerset House Exhibition.</i>—(140) Portrait of His +Majesty King William IV. in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards, +by D. Wilkie. His Majesty stands in a dun fog, and wears a +pair of dirty boots; his cocked-hat is in his hand, and his crown +is in a corner. This large picture, in spite of the great name +attached to it, seems to us a failure; Mr. Wilkie has not at all +succeeded in the attempt to give an expression of intelligence to +the physiognomy of our reverend sovereign.'</p> + +<p>In the following week this verdict is modified; it is stated that +the late critic has been dismissed as clearly incompetent for his +office. The picture, it is acknowledged, is a good work, and it +was utterly unreasonable to expect any painter could succeed in +throwing an intelligent expression into the royal countenance.</p> + +<p>The writer also extravagantly praises the portrait of an alderman, +on the grounds that his address at Clapham, inscribed on a +letter held in the hand of the picture, is 'painted as natural as +though it had been written.'</p> + +<p>To No. 20, Thackeray contributed a portrait of Baron Nathan +Rothschild, in which the satirist does not flatter the 'pillar of +change.' Some verses below the woodcut are not more complimentary +to 'the first Baron Juif; by the grace of his pelf, not the +King of the Jews, but the Jew of the Kings. The taste of +Plutus is censured, in that he has selected as prime favourite 'a +greasy-faced compound of donkey and pig.' After propitiating +the great financier in this fashion, the satirist leaves his subject +what he vainly wishes the Baron would leave him—'a<i>lone</i> in his +glory!'</p> + +<p>In an appreciative review of Sarah Austin's translation of +Falk's 'Characteristics of Goethe' the readers of the 'National +Standard' are admitted to a glimpse of personal reminiscences: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +'The fountain opposite Goethe's house is not particularly picturesque, +and the people who frequent it are not remarkable for their +beauty. But there are beauties disclosed to the poetic eye which +the common observer will endeavour in vain to discover; and the +philosopher can make sermons on running brooks, such as the +fountain at Weimar, which, we confess, appeared to us a most +ordinary waterspout.</p> + +<p>'Appended to the work is a portrait of its hero, which, however, +does not bear the slightest resemblance to him.'</p> + +<p>In No. 21 occurs the first (and last) of our 'London Characters'—the +sketch of an advertising medium of Chartism; a +wretched, terror-stricken boardsman of the dispersed 'National +Convention;' bearing the legends—'No Taxes,' 'Victory or +Death,' and 'Britons, be firm!' but his placards interfere with his +escape from the police by tripping up their bearer. It is worthy of +note that this cut, with slight alterations, appeared later in the +'Comic Magazine' already mentioned.</p> + +<p>In No. 22 Thackeray has produced a good <i>croquis</i> of Manager +Bunn, who is displayed with his toupee and well-brushed, heavy-jowled +mutton-cutlet whiskers, with a wig-bag seen over the shoulder +of his court coat; an elaborately embroidered satin waistcoat; +'stuck to his side a shining sword;' 'all in his velvet breeches,' +silk stockings and buckled shoes; just as, ten years later, the 'Punch' +wags were wont to picture the 'poet Alfred.' Handsome tall +candlesticks are held in either hand: these imposing dips are +sparkling with the names of Schrœder and Malibran respectively:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>What gallant cavalier is seen</i></p> +<p><i>So dainty set before the queen,</i></p> +<p class="i2"><i>Between a pair of candles?</i></p> +<p><i>Who looks as smiling and as bright,</i></p> +<p><i>As oily and as full of light,</i></p> +<p class="i2"><i>As is the wax he handles.</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>Another cut—the person of a corpulent but dejected Cupid, his +fat feet resting on conventional clouds, while his chubby wrists and +ankles are confined in heavy irons—forms the headpiece to some +easy lines: a burlesque poem entitled 'Love in Fetters, a Tottenham +Court Road Ditty,' showing how dangerous it is for a +gentleman to fall in love with an 'Officer's Daughter,' an 'Ower +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +True Tale.' The narrator describes his passion for a fair Israelite, +to whom he has sent a 'letter full of love;' and he is roused out +of his slumbers by a mysterious stranger, who inquires if he is the +writer. The gentleman in bed admits the fact; says the visitor, +'an answer's sent.' But alas! 'by a parchment slip he could discern +that by him stood a bailiff stern, fair Rosamunda's sire!' and +the romantic victim dolefully concludes:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>I served the daughter with verse and wit,</i></p> +<p><i>And the father served me with a writ;</i></p> +<p><i>So here in iron bars I sit</i></p> +<p class="i4"><i>In quod securely stowed,</i></p> +<p class="i3"><i>Being captivated by a she,</i></p> +<p class="i3"><i>Whose papa captivated me;</i></p> +<p class="i6"><i>All at the back</i></p> +<p class="i6"><i>Of the Tabernac</i></p> +<p class="i4"><i>In Tottenham Court Road.</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>Besides the cuts mentioned is a burlesque group of chorus-singers +from 'Zauberflöte,' produced when Manager Bunn was lessee of +both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres.</p> + +<p>Sir Peter Laurie is also favoured with a portrait, sketched +from his appearance on the civic chair: spectacles, gold chain, +and all complete, surrounded with a wreath of full-blown laurels. +Some punning verses to 'Sir Peter' are inscribed with the likeness.</p> + +<p>After this Thackeray seems to have gone back to Paris, from +whence he writes, as 'Foreign Correspondent,' in June of the same +year, sending a drawing of a brace of figures characteristic of the +new and old <i>régimes</i>.</p> + +<p>'The costume of Jeune France is as extraordinary as its literature. +I have sent a specimen, which I discovered the other day +in the Tuileries. It had just been reading the "Tribune," and was +leaning poetically against a tree: it had on a red neckcloth and a +black flowing mane; a stick or club, intended for ornament as +well as use; and a pair of large though innocent spurs, which had +never injured anything except the pantaloons of the individual +who wore them. Near it was sitting an old gentleman, in knee-breeches +and a cocked-hat, who is generally to be seen of a sunny +day in the Tuileries, reading his Crébillon or his prayer-book: a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +living illustration of times past—a strange contrast with times +present!'</p> + +<p>A week later arrives a review of the dramatic pieces then +performing at the Paris Theatres, with a sketch of Ligier in the +character of Richard in 'Les Enfants d'Édouard;' a wonderful +stagey figure, not unlike some of the theatrical souvenirs in the +early part of this volume. The sinister monarch wears the traditional +ermine-bound cloak, with a fierce feather in his hat; he +sports trunks (on the left knee is the order of the garter) and pointed +shoes; his right hand grasps a dagger; his lank locks are turned +over his ears, giving his face a sufficiently ruffianly character, +which is intensified by a scowling eye, and a set mouth in Kean's +best manner.</p> + +<p>The young artist also paid a visit to some savages, the +'Charruas,' South American Indians, who were then lionising in +Paris. The correspondent sends his readers a translation of an +extravagant article of the flowery order, written by Jules Janin, +under the inspiration of having been to see the noble aborigines, +concerning whom the English journalist romantically adds, 'They +play cards all day, laugh, eat raw beef, and drink all they can +get.'</p> + +<p>In the July following it was determined by the French ministry +to throw a sop to popularity by crowning the column in the Place +Vendôme with the new statue of Napoleon—the very figure which +has since known such vicissitudes. Their Paris correspondent +sent the 'National Standard' a sketch of the figure of the Emperor; +and in the same number occurs a spirited article, describing +the first interview of the statue with his gallant countrymen.</p> + +<p>'The Little Corporal, in his habit of war, puts his bronze glass to +his bronze eye, and after some usual preliminaries, proceeds to +address <i>la grande nation</i>: "I thank you for having placed me in a +situation so safe, so commanding, and so salubrious: from this +elevation I can look on most parts of your city. I see the +churches empty, the prisons crowded, the gambling-houses overflowing. +Who, with such sights before him as these, gentlemen, +and you, would not be proud of the name of Frenchmen?" (Great +cheers.) "I apprehend that the fat man with the umbrella, whom +I see walking in the gardens of the Tuileries, is the present proprietor. +May I ask what he has done to deserve such a reward +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +from you? Does he found his claim on his own merits, or on +those of his father?" (A tremendous row in the crowd; the police +proceed to <i>empoigner</i> several hundred individuals.) "Go your +ways" (said the statue, who was what is vulgarly called a dab at +an <i>impromptu</i>), "go your ways, happy Frenchmen! You have +fought, you have struggled, you have conquered: for whom? for +the fat man with the umbrella!"' The Emperor, in continuation +of his speech, observes: 'I perceive by your silence that his +words carry conviction;' when he stops to make the discovery that +there is not a single person left in the Place Vendôme, his entire +audience having been carried off by the police.</p> + +<p>Later on, the journal seems to languish; the portraits still +occur at intervals. Mr. Crockford, of gaming reputation, was +flattered with a cut of his effigy, just about the time a paper-raid +was raised against the 'play-hells' in the sweeping columns of +'Fraser;' 'Crock' is complimented with some lines, 'more free than +welcome,' alluding to 'his eye of a whiting, and mouth of a cod,' +and referring to his old trade of fishmonger; the lines, which are +signed L. E. U., add, 'he now sticks to poultry, to pigeons, and +rooks.'</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>Yet he still makes a cast, and not seldom a haul,</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>Still angles for flats, and still nets what he can,</i></p> +<p><i>And shows, every night, 'mid his shoal great and small,</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>The trick how a gudgeon is made of a man.</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>It is presumable that the Paris correspondent did not abandon +his paper; he sends more cuts, and foreign letters from all +parts, full of the most interesting private intelligence; and notably +one from 'Constantinople,' supplying an imaginative gossiping exposure +of all the complicated intrigues discernible to those who +may be behind the scenes at the Porte; and last, but by no means +least, he sends them one of the capital stories which he afterwards +reprinted, with fresh illustrations, in the 'Paris Sketch Book,'—even +the 'Devil's Wager,' with a strikingly original sketch of Sir +Rollo in his desperate travels to redeem his soul, borne through +the clouds with, for greater security, the tail of Mercurius unpleasantly +curled round the apoplectic throttle of his deceased highness +the late Count of Chauchigny, &c. &c. The moral of this veracious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +tale was promised 'in several successive numbers;' but the +wonderful story and its excellent illustration, superior we fancy to +those in the collected series, were ineffectual to establish the +success of the 'National Standard,' on which they were partially +thrown away.</p> + +<p>A flourishing and facetious leader, in the thirty-sixth number, +placed the circulation at the astonishing figures of 84,715; and +particularly advertised that the price, in spite of the unprecedented +arrangements that had been perfected for rendering their paper +the leading feature of the age, would continue 'only twopence.' A +few numbers later it was confessed that the journal would henceforth +appear at threepence, as it was found impossible to successfully +carry out all their great programme of improvements at a lesser +price. Thackeray's contributions after this are either missing, or +his spirits were possibly dashed by the pecuniary responsibilities +of the undertaking. After a time the 'National Standard' +was forced to haul down its colours: it lasted from January 5, +1833, to February 1, 1834, when it not improbably left a neat +train of liabilities for at least one of its contributaries to discharge. +It is certain that its failure entailed disagreeable consequences.</p> + +<p>We all remember that Mr. Adolphus Simcoe's little fortune +went down in the 'Lady's Lute,' while its versatile proprietor +completed his misery in Her Majesty's Asylum of the Fleet.</p> + +<p>Still fresher must it be in the minds of Thackeray's readers, +that the narrator of 'Lovel the Widower,' in the character of Mr. +Batchelor, relates how, having these same literary aspirations, and +a certain command of ready money withal, he too was persuaded +that to be part proprietor of a periodical was rather a fine thing. +It may not be forgotten that in his first venture, coming to +London, blushing with his college experiences, he had emulated +the bargain of Moses Primrose, and the memorable gross of spectacles +in shagreen cases. A college acquaintance, with a smooth +tongue, and sleek, sanctified exterior, and a queer bill-discounter +(no one indeed but our old friends, the Rev. C. Honeyman, M.A., +and Mr. Sherrick, wine-merchant, &c., to whom we were early +introduced in the 'Newcomes'), had somehow got hold of that neat +literary paper the 'Museum,' of which eligible property this innocent +gentleman became the purchaser. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span></p> + +<p>The failure of the 'National Standard and Literary Representative' +seems for a time to have damped Thackeray's enthusiasm +so far as fresh adventures on his own account were concerned; +but in the March of 1836 his first attempt at independent +authorship appeared simultaneously in London and Paris.</p> + +<p>'This publication,' it was observed in the 'North British +Review,' shortly after the humourist's death, 'at the time when +he still hoped to make his bread by art, is, like indeed everything +he either said or did, perfectly characteristic;' and it has been so +utterly forgotten that we are encouraged to describe the plates +<i>seriatim</i>. We may add that it was published in Paris by Ritter +and Goupil, and by Mitchell in London; though it is now so scarce +that we were unsuccessful in tracing a copy in the Catalogue of +the British Museum.</p> + +<p>It is a small folio, in a tinted wrapper, and consists of nine +subjects in all, which are printed on India paper. Like all +Thackeray's satires, his fun is directed to a purpose; and by the +very realism of his pencil he successfully turns to ridicule one of +his pet aversions—the dancing man, so frequently assailed in his +writings.</p> + +<p>The series bears the title of 'Flore et Zephyr, Ballet Mythologique, +par Théophile Wagstaff,' and is dedicated to Flora, who +herself figures in place of her name upon the cover. In a rose-bedizened +stage bower, where the foliage is evidently cut out by the +stage-carpenter, stands the exquisite <i>première danseuse</i>, looking +as ancient, self-satisfied, and repulsive as some of these heroines +occasionally appear. She is all alone in the centre of the stage, +but the old faded smirk and the eyelids modestly drooped express +her consciousness that she is the object of attraction to a full +house. Her fascinating smile is tempered with the air of bashful +modesty, conveyed by crossing her bony and sinewy arms and +large hands upon her lean chest; her throat is particularly camel-like, +and the muscles are unmistakably prominent; her nose is +long, and has a pendulous droop, which divides, by its shadow, her +ample semicircular mouth, and gives an effect of sentimental +absurdity; a blonde wreath of ample dimensions and indefinite +design surrounds her raven locks; a few straggling hairs are in +places plastered on her forehead in unpremeditated love-locks; +her dress, of simple uncreased muslin, stands out like a white +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +tulip, and is carelessly girt by a wreath of flowers. Beneath the +skirts appear her professional legs, arranged of course in an attitude +perfectly at variance with nature or grace, the heels touching, +and the long white feet pointing to precisely opposite poles of the +compass. In maiden meditation, she is sighing for her Zephyr +before some thousand eyes, the focus of all the double-barrelled +lorgnettes in the theatre.</p> + +<p>In the following plate, <i>La Danse fait ses offrandes sur l'autel de +l'Harmonie</i>, the faithful Zephyr has come to rejoin his Flora; and +the happy pair trip down the footlights, set smiles on their faces, with +gracious gestures of salutation, to propitiate the unseen but perfectly +understood 'house.' As to the Altar of Harmony, their backs +are turned on the supposed object of their offerings—represented +by a pile of musical instruments mounted on a pillar, and topped +by a laurel-wreathed fiddle, the expression of which ('the face of a +fiddle') wears a dreary resemblance to a dolefully-long human +countenance. Zephyr is as remarkable as his fair companion: his face +is, if possible, more faded, his smile more set and weary; you feel +that his perpetual grin is the grimmest sight in the world, and that +no effort of his livid face could express a natural smile. He too +sports a huge pair of impossibly arched eyebrows, beneath which +the heavy lids droop with a worn-out look which is certainly +unaffected. His wig, you recognise, is no part of himself, although +much of his expression is conferred by it: it is a tremendous erection, +of obviously artificial construction, and sufficiently portentous +to make its <i>début</i> alone. This gentleman's nose is large and +pear-shaped; his mouth and lips large and coarse; and his Hebrew +descent is sufficiently characterised. He is clad in a simple tunic; +his naked arms are strongly developed and ugly; his legs are +large, and the muscles stand out with the prominence observable +in members of his profession: his shoulders, of course, are tipped +with gauzy wings.</p> + +<p>The third plate, <i>Jeux innocens de Zéphyr et Flore</i>, introduces +us to the altar of Cupid—a sweet little deity in plaster, who is +drawing his stringless bow, and aiming an imaginary arrow (the +shaft is wanting) at the tripping and artless Flora, who, with outstretched +hands, is guarding her tender bosom; meanwhile it is +only pantomimically she is conscious of Cupid's aims; her eyes +are riveted on the audience. Zephyr is ogling up behind the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +altar, his frightful smile more set than ever, his wig more independent +of himself, his graces more fantastic; he is advancing, +with one foot pointed about a yard or so in advance of its fellow, +anxious to bind the fair sharer in these simple diversions in a +wreath of stage-flowers.</p> + +<p>In the next plate <i>Flora is deploring the absence of her Zephyr</i>, +who has left her an opportunity to execute a <i>pas seul</i>. We are +presented with the back of the engaging <i>coryphée</i>: she is balanced +on one foot; the left is raised at an angle of considerably over +forty-five degrees—a touching and perfectly natural method of +expressing her disconsolate situation.</p> + +<p>In this drawing we are favoured with a view of the front of the +'house;' the faces of the men in the orchestra are treated expressively. +One musician's eye is peculiarly roguish, while another +performer is endeavouring to combine business with pleasure; to +play his flageolet, follow his score, and yet not lose sight of the +deploring one.</p> + +<p>Zephyr's turn for individual display occurs in the next plate. +<i>Dans un pas seul il exprime son extrême désespoir</i>; and accordingly, +without in any degree altering the cast of the mask of a face he +wears, he proceeds to express the intensity of his desolation, by +convincing the audience of the strength and activity of his lower +members, in a succession of horizontal bounds which give him the +aspect of a flying man. In the corner of the picture a Cupid—a +plump-faced little boy, decked out as Cupid—and his elder sister +(the likeness between the pair is evidently intentional) are opening +their eyes and mouths with stupid astonishment at Zephyr's grief-inspired +agility.</p> + +<p>Fresh actresses arrive on the scene.</p> + +<p>Zephyr has struck a stage attitude expressing the unconsolable +state of his affections; his legs crossed, and one arm resting on +the now vacant pedestal. <i>Triste et abattu, les séductions des +Nymphes le tentent en vain.</i> The ladies of the ballet flit vainly +around him, his eyes are cast down; even the fascinations which +are held out by a clumsy theatrical lyre, held in a melting <i>pose</i> by +one fair creature reposing on one knee, are insufficient to tempt +him to forget the charms of the absent.</p> + +<p>Such fidelity can be only recompensed by the '<i>Reconciliation +of Flora and Zephyr</i>,' which is displayed in the succeeding plate. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +The triumphant Zephyr, his smile, if possible, expressing less meaning +than usual, is now kneeling; his arms are folded, and his head +is supported at an angle by a rigid throat—for he has a weight to +sustain. The faithful Flora has bounded into his arms; and, in +the picture, the last triumphant tableau is before the audience. +One foot of the <i>danseuse</i> lightly rests on Zephyr's outstretched +thigh, the other is on a level with her shoulder; her arms are +gracefully clasped around her companion, to preserve her balance, +and her head and throat are also at a studied angle, for the sake +of the equilibrium of the group. On this rapturous scene of +fidelity rewarded with boundless happiness the curtain descends; +but we have not seen the last of the performers.</p> + +<p>In, presumably, the Green Room we witness '<i>The Retreat of +Flora</i>.' The fair creature, who is in every way decidedly French, +is there with her mother and two admirers: Zephyr, of course, +does not figure in this category. The two latter pictures of the +series are in Thackeray's most forcible style; and indeed, for truth, +expressiveness, and character, compare quite favourably with +Hogarth's finer satires. One lover is a young dandy of the +period: his intellectual capacities are conspicuously absent; it +may be said he has neither forehead nor chin. He is sitting imbecilely +astride his chair, vacantly leaning his elbows on the back, +and gazing at nothing in particular; he is probably a trifle vexed at +Flora's indifference, or is jealous of his elder rival. The smiles +and leers of Flora's mamma are thrown away at present: the old +lady is no less painted, and is possibly more artificially made up +than her daughter; her eyebrows owe much to art, her cheeks are +evidently high in colour, her faded smirks and glittering eyes are +by no means inviting, and a band of velvet across her forehead +suggests a suspicion of 'false fronts;' her bonnet is of the +gaudiest, a very pinnacle of bows, ribands, and artificial flowers. +This venerable creature is heavily cloaked, and carries a huge +muff, having evidently walked to the theatre to rejoin her fair +darling, who is standing on the hearth-rug, her toes still attitudinising; +she is slightly wrapped in a shawl, ready for her <i>fiacre</i>. +The gentleman on whom Flora is smiling, and evidently at something +just a little wicked, is a big, burly, coarse, self-satisfied, +elderly man, whose hands are in the pockets of his awkward +straddling trousers: his face is a study of downright unflinching +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +grinning baseness; he is probably doing a good business on the +Bourse, and his wife and family are no doubt at home in their +beds.</p> + +<p>The last plate, '<i>Les Délassements de Zéphyr</i>,' is perhaps the +most refreshing to contemplate; for in it we see labour rejoicing +over those little comforts which are its reward. Poor old Zephyr, +who is after all a very homely, estimable, and hard-worked personage, +who probably gives lessons, drills the <i>ballet</i> all day, and +capers without intermission till midnight all the year round, is +resting his arm on the chimney-piece, whereon his attitude is still +a set <i>pose</i>: the preposterous wig is in the hands of the <i>perruquier</i>, +a nobly curled barber, who, as he brushes the monstrous <i>toupée</i>, is +complacently admiring what <i>he</i> evidently considers a triumph of +art. Zephyr, we can now realise, is of no particular age, or race; +he retains his jaded old sprightliness as he favours his capacious +nose with a copious pinch of snuff, supplied to that organ from +the ball of his thumb, with much apparent gratification. The +gentleman who is offering this hero the courtesy of his huge snuff-box +is a jolly, jaunty-looking person enough, a compound of splendour +and shabbiness; probably himself attached to one of the +theatres as low comedian. His jowl beams with good temper, +and is ensconced in a pair of huge gills and a voluminous neckcloth; +his hat and waistcoat are showy of their kind; his greatcoat +has evidently suffered by wear, though still an imposing and +comfortable garment. The impression of his respectability becomes +fainter below; his trousers and boots are evidently out of +shape and unequivocally seedy, and his old umbrella is a study of +itself. An innocent-faced chubby pot-boy, with a smile of recognition +for the visitor, is holding, on a tray from the nearest tavern, +a foaming pot of porter for Zephyr after his saltatory exertions, +and a glass of brandy-and-water to revive his friend, who has come +in from the cold.</p> + +<p>These drawings, which are certainly equal to anything Thackeray +has produced, have been drawn on stone by Edward Morton, +son of 'Speed the Plough,' who has, if anything, contributed to +their excellence: they are remarkably well-executed examples of +lithography, and are delineated with that delicate strength, truth, +and thoughtful effect for which the works of this able but little-known +artist are always to be praised. Each plate bears the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +monogram WT, which, with the M added, afterwards became +tolerably familiar to the world.</p> + +<p>It is worthy of remark that in this, as always, Thackeray ridicules +the ugly and the absurd without departing from truth, or +trenching on impropriety. The quality he praised highest in Cruikshank +and Leech—that of never raising a blush or offending +modesty—is perhaps most remarkable in himself, in treating a subject +like <i>Flora and Zephyr</i>, where a young artist, and especially +one whose training had been in Paris, might be tempted to imply +a certain freedom of manners. 'The effect of looking over these +<i>juvenilia</i>, these shafts from a mighty bow, is good, is moral; you +are sorry for the hard-wrought slaves; perhaps a little contemptuous +towards the idle people who go to see them.'</p> + +<p>Thackeray had scarcely attained the age of three-and-twenty +when the young literary art-student in Paris was recognised as an +established contributor to 'Fraser,' worthy to take a permanent +place among the brilliant staff which then rendered this periodical +famous both in England and on the Continent. It was at that +time under the editorship of the celebrated Maginn, one of the +last of those compounds of genius and profound scholarship with +reckless extravagance and loose morals, who once flourished under +the encouragement of a tolerant public opinion. There can be no +doubt that the editor and Greek scholar who is always in difficulties, +who figures in several of his works, is a faithful picture of +this remarkable man as he appeared to his young contributor. +His friend, the late Mr. Hannay, says:—</p> + +<p>'Certain it is that he lent—or in plainer English, gave—five +hundred pounds to poor old Maginn when he was beaten in the +battle of life, and like other beaten soldiers made a prisoner—in +the Fleet. With the generation going out—that of Lamb and +Coleridge—he had, we believe, no personal acquaintance. +Sydney Smith he met at a later time; and he remembered with +satisfaction that something which he wrote about Hood gave +pleasure to that delicate humorist and poet in his last days.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> + +Thackeray's earliest literary friends were certainly found among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +brilliant band of Fraserians, of whom Thomas Carlyle, always +one of his most appreciative admirers, is probably the solitary +survivor. From reminiscences of the wilder lights in the "Fraser" +constellation were drawn the pictures of the queer fellows connected +with literature in "Pendennis"—Captain Shandon, the +ferocious Bludyer, stout old Tom Serjeant, and so forth. Magazines +in those days were more brilliant than they are now, when +they are haunted by the fear of shocking the Fogy element in +their circulation; and the effect of their greater freedom is seen +in the buoyant, riant, and unrestrained comedy of Thackeray's +own earlier "Fraser" articles. "I suppose we all begin by being +too savage," is the phrase of a letter he wrote in 1849; "<i>I know +one who did.</i>" He was alluding here to the "Yellowplush Papers" +in particular, where living men were very freely handled. This +old, wild satiric spirit it was which made him interrupt even the +early chapters of "Vanity Fair," by introducing a parody which +he could not resist of some contemporary novelist.'<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +</p> + +<p>But we have a proof of the fact of how fully he was recognised +by his brother Fraserians as one of themselves, in Maclise's +picture of the contributors, prefixed to the number of 'Frasers +Magazine' for January 1835—a picture which must have been +drawn at some period in the previous year. This outline cartoon +represents a banquet at the house of the publisher, Mr. +Fraser, at which, on some of his brief visits to London, Thackeray +had doubtless been present, for it is easy to trace in the juvenile +features of the tall figure with the double eyeglass—Thackeray +was throughout life somewhat near-sighted—a portrait of the +future author of 'Vanity Fair.' Mr. Mahony, the well-known +'Father Prout' of the magazine, in his account of this picture, +written in 1859, tells us that the banquet was no fiction. In the +chair appears Dr. Maginn in the act of making a speech; and +around him are a host of contributors, including Bryan Waller +Procter (better known then as Barry Cornwall), Robert Southey, +William Harrison Ainsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, James +Hogg, John Galt, Fraser the publisher, having on his right, Crofton +Croker, Lockhart, Theodore Hook, Sir David Brewster, Thomas +Carlyle, Sir Egerton Brydges, Rev. G. R. Gleig, Mahony, Edward +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +Irving, and others, numbering twenty-seven in all—of whom, in +1859, eight only were living.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-166.jpg" width="334" height="237" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>This celebrated cartoon of the Fraserians appears to place +Thackeray's connection with the magazine before 1835; but +we have not succeeded in tracing any contribution from his hand +earlier than November 1837. Certainly, the afterwards well-used +<i>noms de plume</i> of Michael Angelo Titmarsh, Fitzboodle, Charles +Yellowplush, and Ikey Solomons, are wanting in the earlier +volumes.</p> + +<p>It is in the number for the month and year referred to that we +first find him contributing a paper which is not reprinted in his +'Miscellanies,' and which is interesting as explaining the origin of +that assumed character of a footman in which the author of the +'Yellowplush Papers' and 'Jeames's Diary' afterwards took delight. +A little volume had been published in 1837, entitled, 'My +Book; or, The Anatomy of Conduct, by John Henry Skelton.' +The writer of this absurd book had been a woollendraper in the +neighbourhood of Regent Street. He had become possessed of +the fixed idea that he was destined to become the instructor of +mankind in the true art of etiquette. He gave parties to the best +company whom he could induce to eat his dinners and assemble +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +at his conversaziones, where his amiable delusion was the frequent +subject of the jokes of his friends. Skelton, however, felt them +little. He spent what fortune he had, and brought +himself to a position in which his fashionable +acquaintances no longer troubled him with their +attentions; but he did not cease to be, in his own +estimation, a model of deportment. He husbanded +his small resources, limiting himself to +a modest dinner daily at a coffee-house in the +neighbourhood of his old home, where his perfectly +fitting dress-coat—for in this article he +was still enabled to shine—his brown wig and +dyed whiskers, his ample white cravat of the +style of the Prince Regent's days, and his well-polished +boots, were long destined to raise the character of the +house on which he bestowed his patronage. In the days of his +prosperity Skelton was understood among his acquaintances to +be engaged on a work which should hand down to posterity the +true code of etiquette—that body of unwritten law which regulated +the society of the time of his favourite monarch. In the enforced +retirement of his less prosperous days, the ex-woollendraper's +literary design had time to develop itself, and in the year 1837 +'My Book; or, The Anatomy of Conduct, by John Henry Skelton,' +was finally given to the world.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-167.jpg" width="98" height="160" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-167-copy.jpg" width="106" height="113" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Inspector of Anatomy</p> +</div> + +<p>It was this little volume which fell in the way of Thackeray, +who undertook to review it for 'Fraser's Magazine.' In order to do +full justice to the work, nothing seemed more +proper than to present the reviewer in the +assumed character of a fashionable footman. +The review, therefore, took the form of a +letter from Charles Yellowplush, Esq., containing +'Fashionable fax and polite Anny-goats,' +dated from 'No. ——, Grosvenor +Square (N.B.—Hairy Bell),' and addressed +to Oliver Yorke, the well-known pseudonym +of the editor of 'Fraser.' To this accident may be attributed those +extraordinary efforts of cacography which had their germ in the +Cambridge 'Snob,' but which attained their full development in +the Miscellanies, the Ballads, the 'Jeames's Diary,' and other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +short works, and also in some portions of the latest of the author's +novels. The precepts and opinions of 'Skelton,' or 'Skeleton,' +as the reviewer insisted on calling the author of the 'Anatomy,' +were fully developed and illustrated by Mr. Yellowplush. The +footman who reviewed the 'fashionable world' achieved a decided +success. Charles Yellowplush was requested by the editor to +extend his comments upon society and books, and in January +1838 the 'Yellowplush Papers' were commenced, +with those vigorous though crude +illustrations by the author, which appear +at first to have been suggested by the light-spirited +style of Maclise's portraits in the +same magazine, a manner which afterwards +became habitual to him.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-168.jpg" width="128" height="339" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The rejected one</p> +</div> + +<p>It was in the year 1836 that Thackeray, +according to an anecdote related by himself, +offered Dickens to undertake the task +of illustrating one of his works. The story +was told by the former at an anniversary +dinner of the Royal Academy a few years +since, Dickens being present on the occasion. +'I can remember,' said Thackeray, +'when Dickens was a very young man, +and had commenced delighting the world +with some charming humorous works in +covers, which were coloured light green, and +came out once a month, that this young +man wanted an artist to illustrate his writings; +and I recollect walking up to his +chambers in Furnival's Inn, with two or +three drawings in my hand, which, strange +to say, he did not find suitable. But for the unfortunate blight +which came over my artistical existence, it would have been my +pride and my pleasure to have endeavoured one day to find a +place on these walls for one of my performances.' The work referred +to was the 'Pickwick Papers,' which was commenced in +April of that year, as the result of an agreement with Dickens +and Mr. Seymour, the comic artist—the one to write, and the +other to illustrate a book which should exhibit the adventures +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +of cockney sportsmen. As our readers know, the descriptive +letterpress, by the author of the 'Sketches by Boz,' soon attracted +the attention of the world; while the clever illustrations by Seymour, +which had the merit of creating the well-known pictorial characteristics +of Mr. Pickwick and his friends, became regarded only as +illustrations of the new humorist's immortal work. Unhappily, +only two or three monthly numbers had been completed, when +Seymour destroyed himself in a fit of derangement. A new artist +was wanted, and the result was the singular interview between the +two men whose names, though representing schools of fiction so +widely different, were destined to become constantly associated in +the public mind. Dickens was then acquiring the vast popularity +as a writer of fiction which never flagged from that time: the +young artist had scarcely attempted literature, and had still before +him many years of obscurity. The slow growth of his fame presents +a curious contrast to the career of his fellow-novelist. Hard +as Thackeray subsequently worked in contributing to 'Fraser,' +in co-operating with others on daily newspapers, in writing for +'Cruikshank's Comic Almanack,' for the 'Times' and the 'Examiner,' +for 'Punch,' and for the 'Westminster' and other +Reviews, it could not be said that he was really known to the +public till the publication of 'Vanity Fair,' when he had been an +active literary man for at least ten years, and had attained the age +of thirty-seven. The 'Yellowplush Papers' in 'Fraser' enjoyed a +sort of popularity, and were at least widely quoted in the newspapers; +but of their author few inquired. Neither did the two +volumes of the 'Paris Sketch Book,' though presenting many good +specimens of his peculiar humour, nor the account of the second +funeral of Napoleon, nor even the 'Irish Sketch Book,' do much +to make their writer known. It was his 'Vanity Fair' which, +issued in shilling monthly parts, took the world of readers as it +were by storm; and an appreciative article from the hand of a +friend in the 'Edinburgh Review,' in 1848, for the first time +helped to spread the tidings of a new master of fiction among us, +destined to make a name second to none, in its own field.</p> + +<p>Thackeray was in Paris in March 1836, at the time of the +execution of Fieschi and Lacénaire, upon which subject he wrote +some remarks in one of his anonymous papers which it is interesting +to compare with the more advanced views in favour of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +abolition of the punishment of death, which are familiar to the +readers of his subsequent article, 'On Going to see a Man Hanged.' +He did not witness the execution either +of Fieschi or Lacénaire, though he made +unsuccessful attempts to be present at +both events.</p> + +<p>The day for Fieschi's death was purposely +kept secret; and he was executed +at a remote quarter of the town. But +the scene on the morning when his execution +did not take place was never +forgotten by the young English artist.</p> + +<p>It was carnival time, and the rumour +had pretty generally been carried abroad +that the culprit was to die on that day. +A friend who accompanied Thackeray +came many miles through the mud and +dark, in order to be 'in at the death.' +They set out before light, floundering +through the muddy Champs Elysées, +where were many others bent upon the +same errand. They passed by the +Concert of Musard, then held in the +Rue St. Honoré; and round this, in the wet, a number of coaches +were collected: the ball was just up; and a crowd of people, +in hideous masquerade, drunk, tired, dirty, dressed in horrible +old frippery and daubed with filthy rouge, were trooping out of +the place; tipsy women and men, shrieking, jabbering, gesticulating, +as Frenchmen will do; parties swaggering, staggering forwards, +arm in arm, reeling to and fro across the street, and yelling +songs in chorus. Hundreds of these were bound for the show, +and the two friends thought themselves lucky in finding a vehicle +to the execution place, at the Barrière d'Enfer. As they crossed +the river, and entered the Rue d'Enfer, crowds of students, black +workmen, and more drunken devils from carnival balls, were +filling it; and on the grand place there were thousands of these +assembled, looking out for Fieschi and his <i>cortége</i>. They waited, +but no throat-cutting that morning; no august spectacle of satisfied +justice; and the eager spectators were obliged to return, disappointed +of the expected breakfast of blood.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-170.jpg" width="149" height="293" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Somewhat sanguinary</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>The other attempt was equally unfortunate. The same friend +accompanied him, but they arrived too late on the ground to be +present at the execution of Lacénaire and his co-mate in murder, +Avril. But as they came to the spot (a gloomy round space, +within the barrier—three roads led to it—and, outside, they saw +the wine-shops and restaurateurs of the barrier looking gay and +inviting), they only found, in the midst of it, a little pool of ice, +just partially tinged with red. Two or three idle street boys were +dancing and stamping about this pool; and when the Englishmen +asked one of them whether the execution had taken place, he +began dancing more madly than ever, and shrieked out with a +loud fantastical theatrical voice, '<i>Venez tous, Messieurs et Dames; +voyez ici le sang du monstre Lacénaire et de son compagnon le +traître Avril</i>;' and straightway all the other gamins screamed out +the words in chorus, and took hands and danced round the little +puddle.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-171.jpg" width="261" height="187" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Thackeray returned to London in March 1836, and resided +for a few months in the house of his step-father, Major Henry +Carmichael Smyth. The principal object of his return was to +concert with the Major, who was a gentleman of some literary +attainments, a project for starting a daily newspaper. The time +was believed to be remarkably opportune for the new journal; the +old oppressive newspaper stamp being about to be repealed, and +a penny stamp, giving the privilege of a free transmission through +the post, to be substituted. Their project was to form a small +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +joint-stock company, to be called the Metropolitan Newspaper +Company, with a capital of 60,000<i>l.</i>, in shares of 10<i>l.</i> each. The +Major, as chief proprietor, became chairman of the new company; +Laman Blanchard was appointed editor, Douglas Jerrold the dramatic +critic, and Thackeray the Paris correspondent. An old and +respectable, though decaying journal, entitled the 'Public Ledger,' +was purchased by the company; and on September 15, the first +day of the reduced stamp duty, the newspaper was started with +the title of the 'Constitutional and Public Ledger.' The politics +of the paper were ultra-liberal. Its programme was entire freedom +of the press, extension of popular suffrage, vote by ballot, shortening +of duration of parliaments, equality of civil rights and religious +liberty. A number of the most eminent of the advanced +party, including Mr. Grote, Sir William Molesworth, Mr. Joseph +Hume, and Colonel Thompson, publicly advertised their intention +to support the new journal, and to promote its circulation. +Thackeray's Paris letters, signed 'T. T.,' commenced on September +24, and were continued at intervals until the spring of the +following year. They present little worth notice. At that time +the chatty correspondent who discourses upon all things save the +subject of his letter was a thing unknown. Bare facts, such as +the telegraph-wire now brings us, with here and there a <i>soupçon</i> of +philosophical reflection, were the utmost that the readers of newspapers +in those days demanded of the useful individual who kept +watch in the capital of civilisation for events of interest. Generally, +however, the letters are characterised by a strong distaste for +the Government of July, and by an ardent liberalism which had +but slightly cooled down when, at the Oxford election in 1857, he +declared himself an uncompromising advocate of vote by ballot. +Writing from Paris on October 8, he says: 'We are luckily too +strong to dread much from open hostility, or to be bullied back +into Toryism by our neighbours; but if Radicalism be a sin in +their eyes, it exists, thank God! not merely across the Alps, but +across the Channel.' The new journal, however, was far from +prosperous. After enlarging its size and raising its price from +fourpence-halfpenny to fivepence, it gradually declined in circulation. +The last number appeared on July 1, 1837, bearing black +borders for the death of the king. 'We can estimate, therefore,' +says the dying speech of the 'Constitutional,' 'the feelings of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +gentleman who once walked at his own funeral,' and the editor, or +perhaps his late Paris correspondent, adds: 'The adverse circumstances +have been various. In the philosophy of ill-luck it may +be laid down as a principle that every point of discouragement +tends to one common centre of defeat. When the Fates do concur +in one discomfiture their unanimity is wonderful. So has it happened +in the case of the "Constitutional." In the first place, a +delay of some months, consequent upon the postponement of the +newspaper stamp reduction, operated on the minds of many who +were originally parties to the enterprise; in the next, the majority +of those who remained faithful were wholly inexperienced in the +art and mystery of the practical working of an important daily +journal; in the third, and consequent upon the other two, there +was the want of those abundant means, and of that wise application +of resources, without which no efficient organ of the interests +of any class of men—to say nothing of the interests of that first +and greatest class whose welfare has been our dearest aim and +most constant object—can be successfully established. Then +came further misgivings on the part of friends, and the delusive +undertakings of friends in disguise.' The venture proved in every +way a disastrous one. Although nominally supported by a joint-stock +company, the burden of the undertaking really rested upon +the original promoters, of whom Major Smyth was the principal, +while his step-son, Thackeray, also lost nearly all that remained of +his fortune.</p> + +<p>It was shortly after the failure of the 'Constitutional' that +Thackeray married in Paris a Miss Shaw, sister of the Captain +Shaw, an Indian officer, who was one of the mourners at his +funeral, an Irish lady of good family, who bore him two daughters, +the elder of whom first gave, during her illustrious father's life-time, +indications of inheriting his talents, in the remarkable story of 'Elizabeth,' +written by her, and published in the 'Cornhill Magazine.' In +1837 he left Paris with his family, and resided for two years in Great +Coram Street, London, when he began to devote himself seriously +to literary labour, adding, we believe, occasional work as an illustrator. +We are told that he contributed some papers to the +'Times' during the late Mr. Barnes's editorship—an article on +'Fielding' among them. He is believed to have been connected +with two literary papers of his time—the 'Torch,' edited by Felix +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +Fax, Esq., and the 'Parthenon,' which must not be confounded +with a literary journal with the same name recently existing. The +'Torch,' which was started on August 26, 1837, ran only for six +months, and was immediately succeeded by the 'Parthenon,' which +had a longer existence. In neither paper, however, is it possible +to trace any sign of that shrewd criticism and that overflowing +humour which distinguish the papers in 'Fraser.' For the latter +publication he laboured assiduously, and it was at this time that +the 'Yellowplush Papers' appeared, with occasional notices of the +Exhibitions of Paintings in London. Among his writings of this +period (1837-1840) we also find 'Stubbs's Calendar, or the Fatal +Boots,' contributed to his friend Cruikshank's 'Comic Almanack' +for 1839, and since included in the 'Miscellanies;' 'Catherine, by +Ikey Solomons, jun.,' a long continuous story, founded on the +crime of Catherine Hayes, the celebrated murderess of the last +century, and intended to ridicule the novels of the school of Jack +Sheppard, and illustrated with outline cartoons by the author; +'Cartouche' and 'Poinsonnet,' two stories, and 'Epistles to the +Literati.' In 1839 he visited Paris again, at the request of the +proprietor of 'Fraser,' in order to write an account of the French +Exhibition of Paintings, which appeared in the December +number.</p> + +<p>On his return he devoted himself to writing the 'Shabby +Genteel Story,' which was begun in 'Fraser' for June, and continued +in the numbers for July, August, and October, when it +stopped unfinished at the ninth chapter. The story of this strange +failure is a mournful one. While busily engaged in working out this +affecting story, a dark shadow descended upon his household, +making all the associations of that time painful to him for ever. +The terrible truth, long suspected, that the chosen partner of his +good and evil fortunes could never participate in the success for +which he had toiled, became confirmed. The mental disease +which had attacked his wife rapidly developed itself, until the +hopes which had sustained those to whom she was most dear +were wholly extinguished. Thackeray was not one of those who +love to parade their domestic sorrows before the world. No explanation +of his omission to complete his story was given to his +readers; but, years afterwards, in reprinting it in his 'Miscellanies,' +he hinted at the circumstances which had paralyzed his hand, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +rendered him incapable of ever resuming the thread of his story, +with a touching suggestiveness for those who knew the facts. The +tale was interrupted, he said, 'at a sad period of the writer's own +life.' When the republication of the 'Miscellanies' was announced, +it was his intention to complete the little story—but the colours +were long since dry, the artist's hand had changed. It 'was +best,' he said, 'to leave the sketch as it was when first designed +seventeen years ago. The memory of the past is renewed as he +looks at it.'<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> +</p> + +<p>It was in 1840 that Thackeray contributed to the 'Westminster' +a kindly and appreciative article upon the productions +of his friend George Cruikshank, illustrated—an unusual thing for +the great organ of the philosophers of the school of Bentham, J. +Mill, and Sir W. Molesworth—with numerous specimens of the +comic sketches of the subject of the paper. His defence of +Cruikshank from the cavils of those who loved to dwell upon his +defects as a draughtsman is full of sound criticism, and his claim +for his friend as something far greater, a man endowed with that +rarest of all faculties, the power to create, is inspired by a generous +enthusiasm which lends a life and spirit to the paper not often +found in a critical review. This long paper, signed with the Greek +letter Theta, is little known, but Thackeray frequently referred to +it as a labour in which he had felt a peculiar pleasure.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1840 Thackeray collected some of his original +sketches inserted in 'Fraser' and other periodicals, English and +foreign, and republished them under the title of the 'Paris Sketch +Book.' This work is interesting as the first independent publication +of the author, but of its contents few things are now remembered. +The dedicatory letter prefixed, however, is peculiarly characteristic +of the writer. It relates to a circumstance which had occurred to +him some time previously in Paris. The old days when money +was abundant, and loitering among the pictures of the Paris galleries +could be indulged in without remorse, had gone. The <i>res angusta +domi</i> with which genius has so often been disturbed in its +day-dreams began to be familiar to him. The unfortunate failure +of the 'Constitutional'—a loss which he, years afterwards, occasionally +referred to as a foolish commercial speculation on which +he had ventured in his youth—had absorbed the whole of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +patrimony. At such a time a temporary difficulty in meeting a +creditor's demand was not uncommon. On one such occasion, a +M. Aretz, a tailor in the Rue Richelieu, who had for some time +supplied him with coats and trousers, presented him with a +small account for those articles, and was met with a statement +from his debtor that an immediate settlement of the bill would be +extremely inconvenient to him. To Titmarsh's astonishment the +reply of his creditor was, 'Mon Dieu, sir, let not that annoy you. +If you want money, as a gentleman often does in a strange country, +I have a thousand-franc note at my house which is quite at your +service.' The generous offer was accepted. The coin which, in +proof of the tailor's esteem for his customer, was advanced without +any interest, was duly repaid together with the account; but the +circumstance could not be forgotten. The person obliged felt +how becoming it was to acknowledge and praise virtue, as he slily +said, wherever he might find it, and to point it out for the admiration +and example of his fellow-men. Accordingly, he determined +to dedicate his first book to the generous tailor, giving at full +length his name and address. In the dedicatory letter, he accordingly +alludes to this anecdote, adding—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>'History or experience, sir, makes us acquainted with so few +actions that can be compared to yours; a kindness like yours, +from a stranger and a tailor, seems to me so astonishing, that you +must pardon me for thus making your virtue public, and acquainting +the English nation with your merit and your name. Let me +add, sir, that you live on the first floor; that your clothes and fit +are excellent, and your charges moderate and just; and, as a +humble tribute of my admiration, permit me to lay these volumes +at your feet.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'Your obliged, faithful servant,<br /> +<span class="i6">'<span class="smcap">M. A. Titmarsh</span>.'</span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-177.jpg" width="218" height="347" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">General Bonaparte</p> +</div> + +<p>A second edition of the 'Paris Sketch Book' was announced +by the publisher, Macrone—the same publisher who had a few +years before given to the world the 'Sketches by Boz,' the first of +Dickens' publications; but the second edition was probably only +one of those conventional fictions with which the spirits of young +authors are sustained. Though containing many flashes of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +Titmarsh humour, many eloquent passages, and much interesting +reading of a light kind, the public took but a passing interest in +it. Years after, in quoting its title, the author good-humouredly +remarked, in a parenthesis, that some copies, he believed, might +still be found unsold at the publisher's; but the book was forgotten +and most of its contents were rejected by the writer when +preparing his selected miscellanies for the press. A similar couple +of volumes, published by Cunningham in 1841, under the title of +'Comic Tales and Sketches, edited and illustrated by Mr. Michael +Angelo Titmarsh,' and an independent republication, also in two +volumes, of the 'Yellowplush Papers,' from 'Fraser,' were somewhat +more successful. The former contained 'Major Gahagan' +and the 'Bedford-row Conspiracy,' reprinted from the 'New +Monthly;' 'Stubbs's Calendar, or the Fatal Boots,' from Cruikshank's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +'Comic Almanack;' some amusing criticisms on the 'Sea +Captain,' and 'Lady Charlotte Bury's Diary,' and other papers +from 'Fraser.' The illustrations to the volumes were tinted etchings +of a somewhat more careful character than those unfinished +artistic drolleries in which he generally indulged. A brace of +portraits of Dr. Lardner and Bulwer may be reckoned in the great +humourist's happiest caricature vein.</p> + +<p>In December 1840 he again visited Paris, and remained there +until the summer of the following year. He was in that city on +the memorable occasion of the second funeral of Napoleon, or the +ceremony of conveying the remains of that great warrior, of whom, +as a child, he had obtained a living glimpse, to their last resting-place +at the Hôtel des Invalides. An account of that ceremony, in +the form of a letter to Miss Smith, was published by Macrone. It +was a small square pamphlet, chiefly memorable now as containing +at the end his remarkable poem of the 'Chronicle of the Drum.' +About this time he advertised, as preparing for immediate publication, +a book entitled 'Dinner Reminiscences, or the Young Gourmandiser's +Guide at Paris, by Mr. M. A. Titmarsh.' It was to be +issued by Hugh Cunningham, the publisher, of St. Martin's Place, +Trafalgar Square, but we believe was never published.</p> + +<p>It was in the September number of 'Fraser,' for 1841, that he +commenced his story of the 'History of Samuel Titmarsh, and the +Great Hoggarty Diamond,' which, though it failed to achieve +an extraordinary popularity, first convinced that select few who +judge for themselves in matters of literature and art, of the great +power and promise of the unknown 'Titmarsh.' Carlyle, in his +'Life of John Sterling,' quotes the following remarkable passage +from a letter of the latter to his mother, written at this period:—'I +have seen no new books, but am reading your last. I got hold +of the two first numbers of the "Hoggarty Diamond," and read +them with extreme delight. What is there better in Fielding or +Goldsmith? The man is a true genius, and with quiet and comfort +might produce masterpieces that would last as long as any we have, +and delight millions of unborn readers. There is more truth and +nature in one of these papers than in all ——'s novels put together.' +'Thackeray (adds Carlyle), always a close friend of the Sterling +House, will observe that this is dated 1841, not 1851, and will +have his own reflections on the matter.' The 'Hoggarty Diamond' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +was continued in the numbers for October and November, and +completed in December 1841. In the number for June of the +following year, 'Fitzboodle's Confessions' were commenced, and +were continued at intervals down to the end of 1843. The 'Irish +Sketch Book,' in two volumes, detailing an Irish tour, was also +published in the latter year. The 'Sketch Book' did not at the +time attract much attention. The 'Luck of Barry Lyndon,' by +many considered the most original of his writings, was begun and +finished at No. 88, St. James Street, previously known as the Conservative +Club, where at this time he occupied chambers. The first +part appeared in 'Fraser' for January 1844, and was continued +regularly every month, till its completion in the December number. +He was engaged a short time before this as assistant editor of the +'Examiner' newspaper, to which journal he contributed numerous +articles; and among his papers in 'Fraser' and other magazines +of the same period, we find, 'Memorials of Gourmandising;' 'Pictorial +Rhapsodies on the Exhibitions of Paintings;' 'Bluebeard's +Ghost;' a satirical article on Grant's 'Paris and the Parisians;' a +'Review of a Box of Novels' (already quoted from); 'Little +Travels and Roadside Sketches' (chiefly in Belgium); 'The +<i>Partie Fine</i>, by Lancelot Wagstaff'—a comic story, with a sequel +entitled 'Arabella, or the Moral of the <i>Partie Fine</i>;' 'Carmen +Lilliense;' 'Picture Gossip;' more comic sketches, with the titles +of 'The Chest of Cigars, by Lancelot Wagstaff;' 'Bob Robinson's +First Love;' and 'Barmecide Banquets,' and an admirable satirical +review entitled 'A Gossip about Christmas Books.'</p> + +<p>The 'Carmen Lilliense' will be well remembered by the +readers of the 'Miscellanies,' published in 1857, in which it was +included. Thackeray was in the north of France and in Belgium +about the period when it is dated (2nd September, 1843); +and the ballad describes a real accident which befell him, though +doubtless somewhat heightened in effect. It tells how, leaving +Paris with only twenty pounds in his pocket, for a trip in Belgium, +he arrived at Antwerp, where, feeling for his purse, he found it had +vanished with the entire amount of his little treasure. Some +rascal on the road had picked his pocket, and nothing was left but +to borrow ten guineas of a friend whom he met, and to write a +note to England addressed to 'Grandmamma,' for whom we may +probably read some other member of the Titmarsh family. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +ten guineas, however, were soon gone, and the sensitive Titmarsh +found himself in a position of great delicacy. What was to be +done? 'To stealing,' says the ballad, 'he could never come.' +To pawn his watch he felt himself 'too genteel;' besides, he had +left his watch at home, which at once put an end to any debates +on this point. There was nothing to do but to wait for the remittance, +and beguile the time with a poetical description of his woes. +The guests around him ask for their bills. Titmarsh is in agonies. +The landlord regards him as a 'Lord Anglais,' serves him with the +best of meat and drink, and is proud of his patronage. A sense of +being a kind of impostor weighs upon him. The landlord's eye +became painful to look at. Opposite is a dismal building—the +prison-house of Lille, where, by a summary process, familiar to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +French law, foreigners who run in debt without the means of paying +may be lodged. He is almost tempted to go into the old Flemish +church and invoke the saints there after the fashion of the country. +One of their pictures on the walls becomes, in his imagination, +like the picture of 'Grandmamma,' with a smile upon its countenance. +Delightful dream! and one of good omen. He returns +to his hotel, and there to his relief finds the long-expected letter, +in the well-known hand, addressed to 'Mr. M. A. Titmarsh, +Lille.' He obtains the means of redeeming his credit, bids farewell +to his host without any exposure, takes the diligence, and is +restored to his home that evening. Such are the humorous exaggerations +with which he depicts his temporary troubles at Lille, in +the shape of a ballad, originally intended, we believe, for the +amusement of his family, but finally inserted in 'Fraser.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-180.jpg" width="255" height="344" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Memorials of gourmandising</p> +</div> + +<p>It was in July 1844 that Thackeray started on a tour in the +East—the result of a hasty invitation, and of a present of a free +pass from a friend connected with the Peninsular and Oriental +Steam Navigation Company. His sudden departure, upon less +than thirty-six hours' notice, is pleasantly detailed in the preface to +his book, published at Christmas, 1845, with the title of 'Notes of +a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo by way of Lisbon, Athens, +Constantinople, and Jerusalem: performed in the steamers of the +Peninsular and Oriental Company. By M. A. Titmarsh, author of +the "Irish Sketch Book," &c.'</p> + +<p>The book was illustrated with coloured drawings by the author, +treating, in a not exaggerated vein of fun, the peculiarities of the +daily life of the East. The little book was well received, and in +the reviews of it there is evidence of the growing interest of the +public in the writer. For the first time it presented him to his +readers in his true name, for though the 'Titmarsh' fiction is preserved +on the title-page, the prefatory matter is signed 'W. M. +Thackeray.'</p> + +<p>'"Who is Titmarsh?" says one of his critics at this time. +Such is the ejaculatory formula in which public curiosity gives vent +to its ignorant impatience of pseudonymous renown. "Who is +Michael Angelo Titmarsh?" Such is the note of interrogation +which has been heard at intervals these several seasons back, +among groups of elderly loungers in that row of clubs, Pall Mall; +from fairy lips, as the light wheels whirled along the row called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +"Rotten;" and oft amid keen-eyed men in that grandfather of +rows which the children of literature call Paternoster....</p> + +<p>'This problem has been variously and conflictingly solved, as +in the parallel case of the grim old <i>stat nominis umbra</i>. There is +a hint in both instances of some mysterious connection with the +remote regions of Bengal, and an erect old pigtail of the E.I.C.S. +boasts in the "horizontal" jungle off Hanover Square, of having +had the dubious advantage of his personal acquaintanceship in +Upper India, where his I O U's were signed +Major Goliah Gahagan; and several specimens +of that documentary character, in good +preservation, he offers at a low figure to +amateurs.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-182.jpg" width="113" height="234" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Major</p> +</div> + +<p>The foundation in 1841 of a weekly periodical, +serving as a vehicle for the circulation +of the lighter papers of humourists, +had unquestionably an important influence +in the development of his talents and fame. +From an early date he was connected with +'Punch,' at first as the 'Fat Contributor,' +and soon after as the author of 'Jeames's +Diary' and the 'Snob Papers.' If satire +could do aught to check the pride of the +vulgar upstart, or shame social hypocrisy into +truth and simplicity, these writings would +accomplish the task. In fact, Thackeray's name was now becoming +known, and people began to distinguish and enquire for +his contributions; his illustrations in 'Punch' being as funny as +his articles were. The series called 'Jeames's Diary' caused +great amusement and no little flutter in high polite circles, for the +deposition from the throne of railwaydom of the famous original +of 'Jeames de la Pluche' had hardly then begun, though it was +probably accelerated by the universal titters of recognition which +welcomed the weekly accounts of the changing fortunes of +'Jeames.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Increasing reputation—Later writings in 'Fraser'—'Mrs. Perkins's Ball,' with +Thackeray's illustrations—Early Vicissitudes of 'Pencil Sketches of English +Society'—Thackeray's connection with the Temple—Appearance of 'Vanity +Fair' with the Author's original illustrations—Appreciative notice in the +'Edinburgh Review'—The impression produced—'Our Street,' with Titmarsh's +Pencillings of some of its Inhabitants—The 'History of Pendennis,' +illustrated by the Author—'Dr. Birch and his Young Friends,' with illustrations +by M. A. Titmarsh—'Rebecca and Rowena'—The Dignity of +Literature and the 'Examiner' and 'Morning Chronicle' newspapers—Sensitiveness +to Hostile Criticism—The 'Kickleburys on the Rhine,' with +illustrations by M. A. Titmarsh—Adverse bias of the 'Times' newspaper—Thackeray's +reply—An 'Essay on Thunder and Small Beer.' +</p> + +<p>The great work, however, which was to stamp the name of +Thackeray for ever in the minds of English readers was yet to +come. Hitherto all his writings had been brief and desultory, but +in contributing to magazines his style had gradually matured itself. +That ease of expression, and that repose which seems so full of +power, were never more exemplified than in some of his latest +essays in 'Fraser,' before book writing had absorbed all his time. +His articles on Sir E. B. Lytton's 'Memoir of Laman Blanchard,' +his paper on 'Illustrated Children's Books,' his satirical proposal +to Mons. Alexandre Dumas for a continuation of 'Ivanhoe,' all +contributed to 'Fraser' in 1846, and his article—we believe the +last which he wrote for that periodical—entitled 'A Grumble +about Christmas Books,' published in January 1847, are equal to +anything in his later works. The first-mentioned of these papers, +indeed—the remonstrance with Laman Blanchard's biographer—is +unsurpassed for the eloquence of its defence of the calling of +men of letters, and for the tenderness and manly simplicity with +which it touches on the history of the unfortunate subject of the +memoir. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span></p> + +<p>'Mrs. Perkins's Ball,' a Christmas book, was published in +December 1846. But its author had long been preparing for a +more serious undertaking. Some time before, he had sketched +some chapters entitled 'Pencil Sketches of English Society,' which +he had offered to Colburn for insertion in the 'New Monthly +Magazine.' It formed a portion of a continuous story, of a +length not yet determined, and was rejected by Colburn after +consideration. The papers which Thackeray had previously +contributed to the 'New Monthly' were chiefly slight comic +stories—perhaps the least favourable specimens of his powers. +They were, indeed, not superior to the common run of magazine +papers, and were certainly not equal to his contributions to +'Fraser.' In fact, as a contributor to the 'New Monthly' he +had achieved no remarkable success, and his papers appear to +have been little in demand there. Whether the manuscript had +been offered to 'Fraser'—the magazine in which 'Titmarsh' had +secured popularity, and where he was certainly more at home—we +cannot say. Happily, the author of 'Pencil Sketches of English +Society,' though suspending his projected work, did not abandon +it. He saw in its opening chapters—certainly not the best portions +of the story when completed—the foundations of a work +which was to secure him at last a fame among contemporary +writers in his own proper name. The success of Dickens's shilling +monthly parts suggested to him to make it the commencement +of a substantive work of fiction, to be published month by +month, with illustrations by the author. The work grew up by +degrees, and finally took shape under the better title of 'Vanity +Fair.' It was during this time, the latter part of 1846, that he +removed to his house at No. 13 Young Street, Kensington, a +favourite locality with him, in which house he resided for some +years. He also at this time occupied chambers at No. 10 Crown-office +Row, Temple, the comfortable retirement which, 'up four +pair of stairs,' with its grand view, when the sun was shining, of +the chimney-pots over the way, he has himself described. His +friend Tom Taylor, the well-known dramatist and biographer, +had chambers in the same house; and we believe, on the demolition +of No. 10 Crown-office Row, wrote a poem, published in the +pages of 'Punch,' in which, if we remember rightly, mention is +made of the fact of Thackeray's having resided there. Thackeray +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +was called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle +Temple in 1848, though he never practised, and probably never +intended to do so. The Benchers, however, were not insensible +to the addition to the numerous literary associations with their +venerable and quiet retreat which they thus gained. After his +death there was some proposition to bury him in the Temple, of +which he was a member, amid (as Spenser says)—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i5">Those bricky towers</p> +<p>The which on Thames' broad back do ride,</p> +<p>Where now the student lawyers have their bowers,</p> +<p>Where whilom wont the Templar Knights to bide,</p> +<p>Till they decayed through pride.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>There Goldsmith is buried, and Thackeray's ashes would have +been fitly laid near those of the author of the 'Vicar of Wakefield,' +whose brilliant genius he so heartily eulogised, and whose many +shortcomings he so tenderly touched upon, in the 'Lectures on +the Humourists.' But, after consultation with his relations, it was +deemed better that he should rest with his own family in Kensal +Green. Pending this decision, the sanction of the Benchers to +interment within the precincts of the Temple Church had been +asked and cheerfully accorded; and when the Kensal Green +Cemetery was finally decided upon, the Benchers were requested +to permit the erection of a memorial slab in their church. Their +reply to this was, that not only should they be honoured by such +a memento, but that, if allowed, they would have it erected at +their own cost.<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> +</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-185.jpg" width="137" height="89" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Order of the Bath</p> +</div> + +<p>The first monthly portion of 'Vanity Fair' was published on +February 1, 1847, in the yellow wrapper which served to distinguish +it from Charles Dickens's stories, and +which afterwards became the standard +colour for the covers of Thackeray's +serial stories. The work was continued +monthly, and finished with the number +for July of the following year. Thackeray's +friends, and all those who had +watched his career with special interest, +saw in it at once a work of greater promise than any that had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +appeared since the dawn of his great contemporary's fame; but +the critical journals received it somewhat coldly. There were +indeed few tokens of its future success in the tone of its reception +at this early period.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-186.jpg" width="160" height="243" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The British Army</p> +</div> + +<p>It is generally acknowledged that to the thoughtful and appreciative +article in the 'Edinburgh Review' of January 1848, which +dealt with the first eleven numbers of the work only, is due the +merit of authoritatively calling attention +to the great power it displayed. +The writer was evidently one who +knew Thackeray well; for he gives +a sketch of his life, and mentions +having met him some years before, +painting in the Louvre in Paris. 'In +forming,' says this judicious critic, +'our general estimate of this writer, +we wish to be understood as referring +principally, if not exclusively, to +"Vanity Fair" (a novel in monthly +parts), which, though still unfinished, +is immeasurably superior, in our +opinion, to every other known production +of his pen. The great charm +of this work is its entire freedom +from mannerism and affectation both +in style and sentiment—confiding frankness with which the +reader is addressed—the thoroughbred carelessness with which +the author permits the thoughts and feelings suggested by the +situations to flow in their natural channel, as if conscious that +nothing mean or unworthy, nothing requiring to be shaded, gilded, +or dressed up in company attire, could fall from him. In a word, +the book is the work of a gentleman, which is one great merit, +and not the work of a fine (or would-be fine) gentleman, which is +another. Then, again, he never exhausts, elaborates, or insists +too much upon anything; he drops his finest remarks and happiest +illustrations as Buckingham dropped his pearls, and leaves +them to be picked up and appreciated as chance may bring a discriminating +observer to the spot. His effects are uniformly the +effects of sound, wholesome, legitimate art; and we need hardly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +add, that we are never harrowed up with physical horrors of the +Eugène Sue school in his writings, or that there are no melodramatic +villains to be found in them. One touch of nature makes +the whole world kin, and here are touches of nature by the dozen. +His pathos (though not so deep as Dickens's) is exquisite; the +more so, perhaps, because he seems to struggle against it, and to +be half ashamed of being caught in the melting mood; but the +attempt to be caustic, satirical, ironical, or philosophical, on such +occasions, is uniformly vain; and again and again have we found +reason to admire how an originally fine and kind nature remains +essentially free from worldliness, and, in the highest pride of intellect, +pays homage to the heart.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-187.jpg" width="211" height="272" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Sir Hector</p> +</div> + +<p>It was at this time, his friend Hannay tells us, that he first +had the pleasure of seeing him. '"Vanity Fair,"' he adds, 'was +then unfinished, but its success was made; and he spoke frankly +and genially of his work and his career. "Vanity Fair" always, +we think, ranked in his own mind as best in story of his greater +books; and he once pointed out to us the very house in Russell +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +Square where his imaginary Sedleys lived—a curious proof of the +reality his creations had for his mind.' The same writer tells us +that when he congratulated Thackeray, many years ago, on the +touch in 'Vanity Fair' in which Becky admires her husband when +he is giving Lord Steyne the chastisement which ruins <i>her</i> for life, +the author answered with that fervour as well as heartiness of +frankness which distinguished him: 'Well, when I wrote the sentence, +I slapped my fist on the table, and said, "That is a touch +of genius!"' 'Vanity Fair' soon rose rapidly in public favour, and +a new work from the pen of its author was eagerly looked for.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-188.jpg" width="258" height="178" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Sensitive to a point</p> +</div> + +<p>During the time of publication of 'Vanity Fair' he had found +time to write and publish the little Christmas book entitled 'Our +Street,' which appeared in December 1847, and reached a second +edition soon after Christmas. 'Vanity Fair' was followed in 1849 +by another long work of fiction, entitled the 'History of Pendennis; +his Fortunes and Misfortunes, his Friends and his Greatest +Enemy; with Illustrations by the Author;' which was completed +in two volumes. In this year, too, he published 'Dr. Birch' and +'Rebecca and Rowena.' It was during the publication of 'Pendennis' +that a criticism in the 'Morning Chronicle' and in the +'Examiner' newspapers drew from him a remarkable letter on the +'Dignity of Literature,' addressed to the editor of the former +journal.</p> + +<p>It was a peculiarity of Thackeray to feel annoyed at adverse +criticism, and to show his annoyance in a way which more cautious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +men generally abstain from. He did not conceal his feeling +when an unjust attack was levelled at him in an influential journal. +He was not one of those remonstrators who never see anything +in the papers, but have their attention called to them by friends. +If he had seen, he frankly avowed that he had seen the attack, and +did not scruple to reply if he had an opportunity, and the influence +of the journal or reviewer made it worth while. With the 'Times' +he had had very early a bout of this kind. When the little account +of the funeral of Napoleon in 1840 was published, the 'Times,' as +he said, rated him, and talked in 'its own great roaring way about +the flippancy and conceit of Titmarsh,' to which he had replied by +a sharp paragraph or two. In 1850 a very elaborate attack in the +chief journal roused his satirical humour more completely. The +article which contained the offence was on the subject of his +Christmas book, entitled the 'Kickleburys on the Rhine,' published +in December 1850, upon which a criticism appeared in that +journal, beginning with the following passage:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-189.jpg" width="147" height="244" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Rhinelander</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-190.jpg" width="210" height="265" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Over-weighted</p> +</div> + +<p>'It has been customary, of late years, for the purveyors of +amusing literature—the popular authors of the day—to put forth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +certain opuscles, denominated "Christmas Books," with the ostensible +intention of swelling the tide of exhilaration, or other expansive +emotions, incident upon the exodus of the old and the +inauguration of the new year. We have said that their ostensible +intention was such, because there is another motive for these productions, +locked up (as the popular author deems) in his own breast, +but which betrays itself, in the quality of the work, as his principal +incentive. Oh! that any muse should be set upon a high stool +to cast up accounts and balance a ledger! Yet so it is; and +the popular author finds it convenient to fill up the declared deficit +and place himself in a position the more effectually to encounter +those liabilities which sternly assert themselves contemporaneously +and in contrast with the careless and free-handed tendencies of the +season by the emission of Christmas books—a kind of literary +<i>assignats</i>, representing to the emitter expunged debts, to the +receiver an investment of enigmatical value. For the most part +bearing the stamp of their origin in the vacuity of the writer's +exchequer rather than in the fulness of his genius, they suggest by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +their feeble flavour the rinsings of a void brain after the more +important concoctions of the expired year. Indeed, we should as +little think of taking these compositions as examples of the merits +of their authors as we should think of measuring the valuable +services of Mr. Walker the postman, or Mr. Bell the dust-collector, +by the copy of verses they leave at our doors as a provocative +of the expected annual gratuity—effusions with which they may +fairly be classed for their intrinsic worth no less than their ultimate +purport.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-191.jpg" width="210" height="295" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Too much for his horse</p> +</div> + +<p>Upon this, and upon some little peculiarities of style in the +review, such as a passage in which the learned critic compared the +author's satirical attempts to 'the sardonic divings after the pearl +of truth whose lustre is eclipsed in the display of the diseased +oyster,' Thackeray replied in the preface to a second edition +of the little book, published a few days later, and entitled an +'Essay on Thunder and Small Beer.' The style of the 'Times' +critique, which was generally attributed to Samuel Phillips, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +afforded too tempting a subject for the satirical pen of the author +of 'Vanity Fair,' to be passed over. The easy humour with +which he exposes the pompous affectation of superiority in his +critic, the tawdry sentences and droll logic of his censor, whom +he likened not to the awful thunderer of Printing House Square, +but to the thunderer's man, 'Jupiter Jeames, trying to dazzle and +roar like his awful employer,' afforded the town, through the +newspapers which copied the essay, an amount of amusement +not often derived from an author's defence of himself from adverse +criticism.</p> + +<p>The essay was remembered long after, when work after work of +the offending author was severely handled in the same paper; and +the recollection of it gave a shadow of support to the theory +by which some persons, on the occasion of Thackeray's death, +endeavoured to explain the fact that the obituary notice in the +'Times,' and the account of his funeral, were more curt than those +of any other journal; while the 'Times' alone, of all the daily +papers, omitted to insert a leading article on the subject of the +great loss which had been sustained by the world of letters. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Commencement of the Series of Early Essayists—Thackeray as a Lecturer—The +'English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century'—Charlotte Brontë at +Thackeray's readings—The Lectures repeated in Edinburgh—An invitation +to visit America—Transatlantic popularity—Special success attending the +reception of the 'English Humourists' in the States—'Week-day Preachers'—Enthusiastic +Farewell—Appleton's New York edition of Thackeray's +works; the Author's introduction, and remarks on International Copyright—Thackeray's +departure—Cordial impression bequeathed to America—The +'History of Henry Esmond, a story of Queen Anne's Reign'—The writers of +the Augustan Era—The 'Newcomes'—An allusion to George Washington +misunderstood—A second visit to America—Lectures on the 'Four Georges'—The +series repeated at home—Scotch sympathy—Thackeray proposed as +a candidate to represent Oxford in Parliament—His liberal views and +impartiality. +</p> + +<p>In 1851 Thackeray appeared in an entirely new character, but +one which subsequently proved so lucrative to him, that to +this cause, even more than to the labours of his pen, must be attributed +that easy fortune which he had accumulated before he died. +In May he commenced the delivery of a series of lectures on the +English Humourists. The subjects were—Swift, Congreve and +Addison; Steele; Prior, Gay and Pope; Hogarth, Smollett and +Fielding, and Sterne and Goldsmith. The lectures were delivered +at Willis's Rooms. The price of admission was high, and the +audience was numerous, and of the most select kind. It was +not composed of that sort of people who crowd to pick up information +in the shape of facts with which they have been previously +unacquainted, but those who, knowing the eminence of +the lecturer, wished to hear his opinion on a subject of national +interest. One of the two great humourists of the present age was +about to utter his sentiments on the humourists of the age now +terminated, and the occasion was sufficient to create an interest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +which not even the attractive power of the Great Exhibition, then +open, could check. The newspapers complained slightly of the low +key in which the lecturer spoke, from which cause many of his best +points were sometimes lost to the more distant of his auditors. +'In other respects,' says a newspaper report, 'we cannot too highly +praise the style of his delivery.' Abstaining from rant and gesticulation +he relied for his effect on the matter which he uttered, and +it was singular to see how the isolated pictures by a few magic +touches descended into the hearts of his hearers. Among the +most conspicuous of the literary ladies at this gathering was Miss +Brontë, the authoress of 'Jane Eyre.' She had never before seen +the author of 'Vanity Fair,' though she had dedicated the second +edition of her own celebrated novel to him, with the assurance +that she regarded him 'as the social regenerator of his day—as the +very master of that working corps who would restore to rectitude +the warped state of things.' Mrs. Gaskell tells us that, when the +lecture was over, the lecturer descended from the platform, and +making his way towards her, frankly asked her for her opinion. +'This,' adds Miss Brontë's biographer, 'she mentioned to me not +many days afterwards, adding remarks almost identical with those +which I subsequently read in "Villette," where a similar action on +the part of M. Paul Emanuel is related.' The remarks of this +singular woman upon Thackeray and his writings, and her accounts +of her interviews with him, are curious, and will be found +scattered through Mrs. Gaskell's popular biography. Readers of +the 'Cornhill Magazine' will not have forgotten Thackeray's affectionate +and discriminating sketch of her, which appeared some +years later in that periodical.</p> + +<p>The course was perfectly successful, and the Lectures, subsequently +reprinted, rank among the most masterly of his writings. +They were delivered again soon afterwards in some of the provincial +cities, including Edinburgh. A droll anecdote was related +at this period in the newspapers, in connection with one of these +provincial appearances. Previously to delivering them in Scotland, +the lecturer bethought himself of addressing them to the rising +youth of our two great nurseries of the national mind; and it was +necessary, before appearing at Oxford, to obtain the licence of the +authorities—a very laudable arrangement, of course. The Duke of +Wellington was the Chancellor, who, if applied to, would doubtless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +have understood at once the man and his business. The Duke +lived in the broad atmosphere of the every-day world, and a copy +of 'Vanity Fair' was on a snug shelf at Walmer Castle. But his +deputy at Oxford, on whom the modest applicant waited, knew +less about such trifles as 'Vanity Fair' and 'Pendennis.' 'Pray +what can I do to serve you, sir?' enquired the bland functionary. +'My name is Thackeray.' 'So I see by this card.' 'I seek permission +to lecture within the precincts.' 'Ah! you are a lecturer; +what subjects do you undertake—religious or political?' 'Neither; +I am a literary man.' 'Have you written anything?' +'Yes; I am the author of "Vanity Fair."' 'I presume a dissenter—has +that anything to do with John Bunyan's book?' +'Not exactly; I have also written "Pendennis."' 'Never heard +of these works; but no doubt they are proper books.' 'I have +also contributed to "Punch."' '"Punch!" I have heard of +<i>that</i>; is it not a ribald publication?'</p> + +<p>An invitation to deliver the lectures in America speedily followed. +The public interest which heralded his coming in the +United States was such as could hardly have been expected for a +writer of fiction who had won his fame by so little appeal to the +love of exciting scenes. His visit (as an American critic remarked +at the time) at least demonstrated that if they were unwilling to +pay English authors for their books, they were ready to reward +them handsomely for the opportunity of seeing and hearing them.</p> + +<p>At first the public feeling on the other side of the Atlantic had +been very much divided as to his probable reception. 'He'll +come and humbug us, eat our dinners, pocket our money, and go +home and abuse us, like Dickens,' said Jonathan, chafing with the +remembrance of that grand ball at the Park Theatre, and the Boz +tableaux, and the universal speaking and dining, to which the +author of 'Pickwick' was subject while he was their guest. 'Let +him have his say,' said others, 'and we will have our look. We +will pay a dollar to hear him, if we can see him at the same time; +and as for the abuse, why it takes even more than two such cubs +of the roaring British lion to frighten the American eagle. Let +him come, and give him fair play.' He did come, and certainly +had fair play; and as certainly there was no disappointment with +his lectures. Those who knew his books found the author in the +lecturer. Those who did not know the books, says one enthusiastic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +critic, 'were charmed in the lecturer by what is charming in +the author—the unaffected humanity, +the tenderness, the sweetness, the genial +play of fancy, and the sad touch of truth, +with that glancing stroke of satire which, +lightning-like, illumines while it withers.' +He did not visit the West, nor Canada. +He went home without seeing Niagara +Falls. But wherever he did go, he found +a generous social welcome, and a respectful +and sympathetic hearing. He +came to fulfil no mission; but it was +felt that his visit had knit more closely +the sympathy of the Americans with +Englishmen. Heralded by various romantic +memoirs, he smiled at them, +stoutly asserted that he had been always +able to command a good dinner, and to +pay for it, nor did he seek to disguise +that he hoped his American tour would +help him to command and pay for more. +He promised not to write a book about +the Americans, and he kept his word.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-196.jpg" width="154" height="308" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">An old English gentleman</p> +</div> + +<p>His first lecture was delivered to a crowded audience: on +November 19 he commenced his lectures before the Mercantile +Library Association, in the spacious +New York church belonging to the +congregation presided over by the +Rev. Dr. Chapin.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-196-copy.jpg" width="155" height="190" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Another 'Spectator'</p> +</div> + +<p>Before many days the publishers +told the world that the subject of +Thackeray's talk had given rise to +a Swift and Congreve and Addison +furore. The booksellers were +driving a thrifty trade in forgotten +volumes of 'Old English Essayists;' +the 'Spectator' found its way again +to the parlour tables; old Sir Roger +de Coverley was waked up from his long sleep. 'Tristram +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +Shandy' even was almost forgiven his lewdness, and the Ass +of Melun and Poor Le Fevre were studied wistfully, and placed +on the library table between 'Gulliver' and the 'Rake's Progress.' +Girls were working Maria's pet lamb upon their samplers, and +hundreds of Lilliput literary ladies were twitching the mammoth +Gulliver's whiskers.</p> + +<p>The newspaper gossipers were no less busy in noting every +personal characteristic of the author. One remarks: 'As for the +man himself who has lectured us, he is a stout, healthful, broad-shouldered +specimen of a man, with cropped greyish hair, and +keenish grey eyes, peering very sharply through a pair of spectacles +that have a very satiric focus. He seems to stand strongly +on his own feet, as if he would not be easily blown about or upset, +either by praise or pugilists; a man of good digestion, who takes +the world easy, and scents all shams and humours (straightening +them between his thumb and forefinger) as he would a pinch +of snuff.' A London letter of the time says: 'The New York +journalists preserve, on the whole, a delicate silence (very creditable +to them) on the subject of Mr. Thackeray's +nose; but they are eloquent about his +legs; and when the last mail left a controversy +was raging among them on this matter, +one party maintaining that "he stands very +firm on his legs," while the opposition asserted +that his legs were decidedly "shaky."'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-197.jpg" width="111" height="269" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>These, however, were light matters compared +with the notices in other newspapers, +which unscrupulously raked together, for the +amusement of their readers, details which +were mostly untrue, and where true, were of +too private a character for public discussion. +This led to a humorous remonstrance, forwarded +by Thackeray to 'Fraser's Magazine,' +where it appeared with the signature +of 'John Small.' In this he gave a droll +parody of his newspaper biographers' style, +which caused some resentment on the part of the writers +attacked. One Transatlantic defender of the New York +press said that 'the two most personal accounts of Thackeray +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +published appeared in one of the Liverpool papers, and in +the London "Spectator;"' adding, 'the London correspondents +of some of the provincial papers spare nothing of fact or comment +touching the private life of public characters. Nay, are there not +journals expressly devoted to the contemporary biography of +titled, wealthy, and consequential personages, which will tell you +how, and in what company, they eat, drink, and travel; their +itinerary from the country to London, and from the metropolis to +the Continent; the probable marriages, alliances, &c.? No +journal can be better acquainted with these conditions of English +society than the classical and vivacious "Fraser." Why, then, +does John Small address that London editor from New York, +converting some paltry and innocent-enough penny-a-liner notice +of the author of "Vanity Fair" into an enormous national sin and +delinquency?' Among the lectures delivered at New York, before +he quitted the gay circles of the 'Empire City' for Boston, was +one in behalf of a charity; and the charity lecture was stated to +be a <i>mélange</i> of all the others, closing very appropriately with an +animated tribute to the various literary, social, and humane +qualities of Charles Dickens. 'Papa,' he described his daughter +as exclaiming, with childish candour; 'papa, I like Mr. Dickens's +book much better than yours.'</p> + +<p>The remonstrance of John Small in 'Fraser,' however, did not +conclude without a warm acknowledgment of the general kindness +he had received in America, thus feelingly expressed in his last +lecture of the series, delivered on April 7. 'In England,' he said, +'it was my custom, after the delivery of these lectures, to point +such a moral as seemed to befit the country I lived in, and to protest +against an outcry which some brother authors of mine most +imprudently and unjustly raise, when they say that our profession +is neglected and its professors held in light esteem. Speaking in +this country, I would say that such a complaint could not only not +be advanced, but could not even be understood here, where your +men of letters take their manly share in public life; whence +Everett goes as minister to Washington, and Irving and Bancroft +to represent the Republic in the old country. And if to English +authors the English public is, as I believe, kind and just in the +main, can any of us say, will any who visit your country not +proudly and gratefully own, with what a cordial and generous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> +greeting you receive us? I look around on this great company. +I think of my gallant young patrons of the Mercantile Library +Association, as whose servant I appear before you, and of the +kind hand stretched out to welcome me by men famous in letters, +and honoured in our own country as in their own, and I thank +you and them for a most kindly greeting and a most generous +hospitality. At home and amongst his own people it scarce +becomes an English writer to speak of himself; his public estimation +must depend on his works; his private esteem on his character +and his life. But here, among friends newly found, I ask +leave to say that I am thankful; and I think with a grateful heart +of those I leave behind me at home, who will be proud of the +welcome you hold out to me, and will benefit, please God, when +my days of work are over, by the kindness which you show to +their father.'</p> + +<p>A still more interesting paper was his Preface to Messrs. +Appleton and Co.'s New York edition of his minor works. +Readers will remember Thackeray's droll account, in one of +his lectures, of his first interview with the agent of Appleton and +Co., when holding on, sea-sick, to the bulwarks of the New York +steam-vessel on his outward voyage. The preface referred to +contains evidence that the appeal of the energetic representative +of that well-known publishing house was not altogether fruitless. +It is as follows:—</p> + +<p>'On coming into this country I found that the projectors of +this series of little books had preceded my arrival by publishing +a number of early works, which have appeared under various +pseudonyms during the last fifteen years. I was not the master to +choose what stories of mine should appear or not; these miscellanies +were all advertised, or in course of publication; nor have I +had the good fortune to be able to draw a pen, or alter a blunder +of author or printer, except in the case of the accompanying +volumes which contain contributions to "Punch," whence I have +been enabled to make something like a selection. In the +"Letters of Mr. Brown," and the succeeding short essays and +descriptive pieces, something graver and less burlesque was +attempted than in other pieces which I here publish. My friend, +the "Fat Contributor," accompanied Mr. Titmarsh in his "Journey +from Cornhill to Cairo." The prize novels contain imitations of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +the writings of some contemporaries who still live and flourish in +the novelists' calling. I myself had scarcely entered on it when +these burlesque tales were begun, and I stopped further parody +from a sense that this merry task of making fun of the novelists +should be left to younger hands than my own; and in a little +book published some four years since, in England, +by my friends Messrs. Hannay and Shirley +Brooks, I saw a caricature of myself and writings +to the full as ludicrous and faithful as the prize +novels of Mr. Punch. Nor was there, had I desired +it, any possibility of preventing the re-appearance +of these performances. Other publishers, +besides the Messrs. Appleton, were ready to +bring my hidden works to the light. Very +many of the other books printed I have not seen since their +appearance twelve years ago, and it was with no small feelings of +curiosity (remembering under what sad circumstances the tale +had been left unfinished) that I bought the incomplete "Shabby +Genteel Story," in a railway car, on my first journey from Boston +hither, from a rosy-cheeked, little peripatetic book merchant, who +called out "Thackeray's Works" in such a kind, gay voice, as +gave me a feeling of friendship and welcome.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-200.jpg" width="91" height="126" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is an opportunity of being either satiric or sentimental. +The careless papers written at an early period, and never seen +since the printer's boy carried them away, are brought back and +laid at the father's door; and he cannot, if he would, forget or +disown his own children.</p> + +<p>'Why were some of the little brats brought out of their +obscurity? I own to a feeling of anything but pleasure in reviewing +some of these misshapen juvenile creatures, which the publisher +has disinterred and resuscitated. There are two performances +especially (among the critical and biographical works of the +erudite Mr. Yellowplush) which I am very sorry to see reproduced; +and I ask pardon of the author of the "Caxtons" for a lampoon, +which I know he himself has forgiven, and which I wish I could +recall.</p> + +<p>'I had never seen that eminent writer but once in public +when this satire was penned, and wonder at the recklessness of +the young man who could fancy such personality was harmless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +jocularity, and never calculate that it might give pain. The +best experiences of my life have been gained since that time of +youth and gaiety, and careless laughter. I allude to them, perhaps, +because I would not have any kind and friendly American +reader judge of me by the wild performances of early years. Such +a retrospect as the sight of these old acquaintances perforce occasioned +cannot, if it would, be gay. The old scenes return, the +remembrance of the bygone time, the chamber in which the stories +were written, the faces that shone round the table.</p> + +<p>'Some biographers in this country have been pleased to depict +that homely apartment after a very strange and romantic fashion; +and an author in the direst struggles of poverty, waited upon by a +family domestic in "all the splendour of his menial decorations," +has been circumstantially described to the reader's amusement as +well as to the writer's own. I may be permitted to assure the +former that the splendour and the want were alike fanciful, and +that the meals were not only sufficient but honestly paid for.</p> + +<p>'That extreme liberality with which American publishers have +printed the works of English authors has had at least this beneficial +result for us, that our names and writings are known by +multitudes using our common mother tongue, who never had +heard of us or our books but for the speculators who have sent +them all over this continent.</p> + +<p>'It is of course not unnatural for the English writer to hope +that some day he may share a portion of the profits which his +works bring at present to the persons who vend them in this +country; and I am bound gratefully to say myself, that since +my arrival here I have met with several publishing houses who +are willing to acknowledge our little claim to participate in the +advantages arising out of our books; and the present writer +having long since ascertained that a portion of a loaf is more +satisfactory than no bread at all, gratefully accepts and acknowledges +several slices which the book-purveyors in this city have +proffered to him of their own free-will.</p> + +<p>'If we are not paid in full and in specie as yet, English writers +surely ought to be thankful for the very great kindness and friendliness +with which the American public receives them; and if in +hope some day that measures may pass here to legalise our right +to profit a little by the commodities which we invent and in which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +we deal, I for one can cheerfully say that the good-will towards us +from publishers and public is undoubted, and wait for still better +times with perfect confidence and good-humour.</p> + +<p>'If I have to complain of any special hardship, it is not that +our favourite works are reproduced, and our children introduced +to the American public—children whom we have educated with +care, and in whom we take a little paternal pride—but that ancient +magazines are ransacked, and shabby old articles dragged out, +which we had gladly left in the wardrobes where they have lain +hidden many years. There is no control, however, over a man's +thoughts—once uttered and printed, back they may come upon us +on any sudden day; and in this collection which Messrs. Appleton +are publishing I find two or three such early productions of my +own that I gladly would take back, but that they have long since +gone out of the paternal guardianship.</p> + +<p>'If not printed in this series, they would have appeared from +other presses, having not the slightest need of the author's own +imprimatur; and I cannot sufficiently condole with a literary gentleman +of this city, who (in his voyages of professional adventure) +came upon an early performance of mine, which shall be nameless, +carried the news of the discovery to a publisher of books, and +had actually done me the favour to sell my book to that liberal +man; when, behold, Messrs. Appleton announced the book in +the press, and my <i>confrère</i> had to refund the prize-money which +had been paid to him. And if he is a little chagrined at finding +other intrepid voyagers beforehand with him in taking possession +of my island, and the American flag already floating there, he will +understand the feelings of the harmless but kindly-treated aboriginal, +who makes every sign of peace, who smokes the pipe of submission, +and meekly acquiesces in his own annexation.</p> + +<p>'It is said that those only who win should laugh: I think, in +this case, my readers will not grudge the losing side its share of +harmless good-humour. If I have contributed to theirs, or provided +them with means of amusement, I am glad to think my +books have found favour with the American public, as I am proud +to own the great and cordial welcome with which they have +received me.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'<span class="smcap">W. M. Thackeray.</span></p> + +<p class="i2">'New York, December 1852.'</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> + +<p>Such words could not fail to be gratifying to the American +people, as an evidence of Thackeray's sense of the reception he +had received; and in spite of +a subsequent slight misunderstanding +founded on a mistake +and speedily cleared up, it +may be said that no English +writer of fiction was ever more +popular in the United States.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-203-copy.jpg" width="195" height="116" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A mere accident</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-203.jpg" width="190" height="279" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The publication of the +'Adventures of Henry Esmond,' +which appeared just as its +author was starting for America in 1852, marked an important +epoch in his career. It was a continuous story, and one worked +out with closer attention to the thread of the narrative than he +had hitherto produced—a fact due, no doubt, partly to its appearance +in three volumes complete, instead of in detached monthly +portions. But its most striking feature was its elaborate imitation +of the style and even +the manner of thought of the +time of Queen Anne's reign, +in which its scenes were laid. +The preparation of his Lectures +on the Humourists had +no doubt suggested to him the +idea of writing a story of this +kind, as it afterwards suggested +to him the design of writing a +history of that period which he +had long entertained, but in +which he had, we believe, made +no progress when he died. But +his fondness for the Queen +Anne writers was of older date. +Affectionate allusions to Sir +Richard Steele—like himself a +Charterhouse boy—and to Addison, +and Pope, and Swift, may be found in his earliest magazine +articles. That the style with which the author of 'Vanity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +Fair' and 'Pendennis' had so often delighted his readers was to +some degree formed upon those models so little studied in his +boyhood, cannot be doubted +by anyone who is familiar +with the literature +of the 'Augustan age of +English authorship.' The +writers of that period were +fond of French models, as +the writers of Elizabeth's +time looked to Italy for +their literary inspiration; +but there was no time when +English prose was generally +written with more purity +and ease; for the translation +of the Scriptures, which is +generally referred to as an +evidence of the perfection +of our English speech in +Elizabeth's time, owed its +strength and simplicity chiefly to the rejection by the pious translators +of the scholarly style most in vogue, in favour of the homely +English then current among the people. If we except the pamphlet +writers of earlier reigns, the Queen Anne writers were the +first who systematically wrote for the people in plain Saxon +English, not easy to imitate in these days. 'Esmond' was from +the first most liked among literary men who can appreciate a style +having no resemblance to the fashion of the day; but there was a +vein of tenderness and true pathos in the story which, in spite of +some objectionable features in the plot, and of a somewhat wearisome +genealogical introduction, has by degrees gained for it a +high rank among the author's works. 'Esmond' was followed by +the 'Newcomes,' in 1855, a work which revealed a deeper pathos +than any of his previous novels, and showed that the author could, +when he pleased, give us pictures of moral beauty and exquisite +tenderness. In this work he returned to the yellow numbers in the +old monthly form.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-204.jpg" width="205" height="259" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>An incident in connection with the publication of the 'Newcomes' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +may here be mentioned. Thackeray's fondness for irony +had frequently brought him into disgrace with people not so +ready as himself in understanding that dangerous figure. A +passage in one of his chapters of this story alluding to 'Mr. Washington,' +in a parody of the style of the 'British Patriot' of the +time of the War of Independence, was so far misunderstood in +America that the fact was alluded to by the New York correspondent +of the 'Times.' Upon which the +author felt it worth his while to explain the +real sense of the offending paragraph in a letter +to that journal, and, in the concluding paragraph, +he very explicitly sets forth his own +sincere convictions in regard to the hero of +American Independence, and his belief in the +justice of the cause for which he conquered.<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-205.jpg" width="227" height="196" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">An embarrassing situation</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-205-copy.jpg" width="107" height="181" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">1780</p> +</div> + +<p>Another journey to the United States, +equally successful, and equally profitable in +a pecuniary sense, was the chief event in his +life in 1856. The lectures delivered were +those admirable anecdotal and reflective discourses +on the 'Four Georges,' made familiar +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +to readers by their publication in the 'Cornhill Magazine,' +and since then in a separate form. The subject was not favourable +to the display of the author's more genial qualities. But +where in English literature could we find anything more solemn +and affecting than his picture of the old king, the third of that +name? When 'all light, all reason, all sound of human voices, +all the pleasures of this world of God were taken from him'—concluding +with the affecting appeal to his American audience—'O +brothers! speaking the same dear mother tongue—O comrades! +enemies no more, let us take a mournful hand together as +we stand by this royal corpse, and call a truce to battle! Low he +lies to whom the proudest used to kneel once, and who was cast +lower than the poorest—dead whom millions prayed for in vain. +Hush, Strife and Quarrels, over the solemn grave! Sound, Trumpets, +a mournful march. Fall, Dark Curtain, upon his pageant, his +pride, his grief, his awful tragedy!'</p> + +<p>These lectures were successfully repeated in England. Thackeray, +indeed, was now recognised as one of the most attractive +lecturers of the day. His presence, whether in lecturing +on the 'Georges' for his own profit, or on 'Week-day Preachers,' +or some other topic for the benefit of the families of deceased +brother writers, such as he delivered to assist in raising monuments +to the memories of Angus B. Reach and Douglas +Jerrold, always attracted the most cultivated classes of the +various cities in which he appeared; but an attempt to draw +together a large audience of the less-educated classes by giving a +course of lectures at the great Music Hall was less happy. In +Edinburgh his reception was always in the highest degree successful. +He was more extensively known and admired among the +intellectual portion of the people of Scotland than any living +writer, not excepting Thomas Carlyle. There was something in +his peculiar genius that commended him to the Northern temperament. +Thackeray delivered his essays on the 'Four Georges' +in Scotland to larger and more intellectual audiences than have +probably flocked to any other lecturer, and he, later on, lectured +there for the benefit of Angus B. Reach's widow. Nearly all the +men of Edinburgh, with any tincture of literature, had met him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +personally, and a few knew him well. He was almost the only +great author that the majority of the lovers of literature in it had +seen and heard, and his form and figure and voice, with its tragic +tones and pauses, well entitled him to take his place in any ideal +rank of giants. He was much gratified (says James Hannay) by +the success of the 'Four Georges' (a series which superseded an +earlier scheme for as many discourses on 'Men of the World') +in Scotland. 'I have had three per cent. of the whole population +here,' he wrote from Edinburgh in November 1856. 'If I could +but get three per cent. out of London!'</p> + +<p>Most of Thackeray's readers will remember that in 1857 he +was invited by some friends to offer himself as a candidate for +the representation in Parliament of the city of Oxford.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-207.jpg" width="378" height="151" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Champions of order</p> +</div> + +<p>A characteristic anecdote was told in the newspapers relating +to the Oxford election by one who was staying with Thackeray +at his hotel during his contest with Mr. Cardwell. Whilst +looking out of window a crowd passed along the street, hooting +and handling rather roughly some of his opponent's supporters. +Thackeray started up in the greatest possible excitement, and, +using some strong expletive, rushed down stairs, and notwithstanding +the efforts of numerous old electioneerers to detain him, +who happened to be of opinion that a trifling correction of the +opposite party might be beneficial <i>pour encourager les autres</i>, he +was not to be deterred, and was next seen towering above the +crowd, dealing about him right and left in defence of the partisans +of his antagonist and in defiance of his own friends. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Curious Authors from Thackeray's Library, indicating the Course of his Readings—Early +Essayists illustrated with the Humourist's Pencillings—Bishop +Earle's 'Microcosmography; a piece of the World Characterised,' 1628—An +'Essay in Defence of the Female Sex,' 1697—Thackeray's Interest in +Works on the Spiritual World—'Flagellum Dæmonum, et Fustis Dæmonum. +Auctore R. P. F. Hieronymo Mengo,' 1727—'La Magie et L'Astrologie,' +par L. F. Alfred Maury—'Magic, Witchcraft, Animal Magnetism, Hypnotism, +and Electro Biology,' by James Baird, 1852. +</p> + +<h3>MICROCOSMOGRAPHY (1628),<br /> + +<span class="s08">OR A PIECE OF THE WORLD DISCOVERED IN ESSAYS AND CHARACTERS.</span></h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By JOHN EARLE, D.D., Bishop of Salisbury.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Preface to the Edition of 1732.</i></p> + +<p>This little book had six editions between 1628 and 1633, without +any author's name to recommend it. An eighth edition is spoken +of in 1664. The present is reprinted from the edition of 1633, +without altering anything but the plain errors of the press, and the +old printing and spelling in some places.</p> + +<p>The language is generally easy, and proves our English +tongue not to be so very changeable as is commonly supposed. +The change of fashions unavoidably casts a shade upon a few +places, yet even those contain an exact picture of the age wherein +they were written, as the rest does of mankind in general; for +reflections founded upon nature will be just in the main, as long +as men are men, though the particular instances of vice and folly +may be diversified. Perhaps these valuable essays may be as +acceptable to the public as they were at first; both for the entertainment +of those who are already experienced in the ways of +mankind, and for the information of others who would know the +world the best way, that is—without trying it. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Advertisement to the Edition of 1786.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>'This entertaining little book is become rather scarce, and is +replete with so much good sense and genuine humour, which, +though in part adapted to the times when it first appeared, seems +on the whole by no means inapplicable to any era of mankind.' +</p> +</div> + +<p>Earle's 'Microcosmography' is undoubtedly a favourable +example of the quaint epigrammatic wisdom of the early English +writers, and few could question the appropriateness of the pencil +which has lightly margined the settings of these terse and sterling +essays, to the wisdom and humour of which the happiest productions +of later essayists can but be appreciatively likened. Concerning +the profoundly accomplished and eminently modest author, +'a most eloquent and powerful preacher, a man of great piety and +devotion; and of a conversation so pleasant and delightful, so very +innocent, and so very facetious, that no man's company was more +desired and more loved; no man was more negligent in his +dress, habit, and mien, no man more wary and cultivated in his +behaviour and discourse; insomuch as he had the greater advantage +when he was known, by promising so little before,' we may +accept the testimony of Lord Clarendon's 'Account of his own +Life.' The observations of the great Chancellor are supplemented +by the character which honest Isaac Walton has sketched of this +estimable prelate in his 'Life of Hooker.'</p> + +<p>'... Dr. Earle, now Lord Bishop of Salisbury,<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> + of whom I +may justly say (and let it not offend him, because it is such a +truth as ought not to be concealed from posterity, or those that +now live and yet know him not) that since Mr. Hooker died, +none have lived whom God hath blessed with more innocent +wisdom, more sanctified learning, or a more pious, peaceable, +primitive temper; so that this excellent person seems to be only +like himself, and our venerable Richard Hooker.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-210.jpg" width="306" height="369" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Child</span></p> + +<p>Is a man in a small letter, yet the best copy of Adam before he +tasted of Eve or the apple; and he is happy whose small practice +in the world can only write his character. He is nature's fresh +picture newly drawn in oil, which time, and much handling, dims +and defaces. His soul is yet a white paper unscribbled with observations +of the world, wherewith at length it becomes a blurred notebook. +He is purely happy because he knows no evil, nor hath +made means by sin to be acquainted with misery. He arrives not +at the mischief of being wise, nor endures evils to come by foreseeing +them. He kisses and loves all, and, when the smart of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +rod is past, smiles on his beater. Nature, and his parents alike, +dandle him, and 'tice him on with a bit of sugar to a draught of +wormwood. He plays yet like a young 'prentice the first day, and +is not come to his task of melancholy.</p> + +<p>All the language he speaks yet is tears, and they serve him well +enough to express his necessity. His hardest labour is his tongue, +as if he were loth to use so deceitful an organ, and he is best company +with it when he can but prattle. We laugh at his foolish +sports, but his game is our earnest, and his drums, rattles, and +hobby-horses, but the emblems and mocking of man's business. +His father hath writ him as his own little story, wherein he reads +those days of his life that he cannot remember, and sighs to see +what innocence he hath outlived. The older he grows, he is a star +lower from God; and, like his first father, much worse in his +breeches. He is the Christian's example, and the old man's +relapse; the one imitates his pureness, and the other falls into his +simplicity. Could he put off his body with his little coat, he had +got eternity without a burden, and exchanged but one heaven for +another.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">An Upstart Knight.</span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-211.jpg" width="117" height="229" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>An upstart country knight is a holiday +clown, and differs only in the stuff of +his clothes, not the stuff of himself, +for he bare the king's sword before +he had arms to wield it; yet being +once laid o'er the shoulder with a +knighthood, he finds the herald his +friend. His father was a man of +good stock, though but a tanner or +usurer; he purchased the land, and +his son the title. He has doffed off +the name of a country lout, but the +look not so easy, and his face still +bears a relish of churn milk. He is +guarded with more gold lace than all +the gentlemen of the country, yet his +body makes his clothes still out of fashion. His housekeeping +is seen much in the distinct families of dogs, and serving-men +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +attendant on their kennels, and the deepness of their throats is +the depth of his discourse.</p> + +<p>A justice of peace he is to domineer in his parish, and do his +neighbour wrong with more right. He will be drunk with his +hunters for company, and stain his gentility with drippings of ale. +He is fearful of being sheriff of the shire by instinct, and dreads +the assize week as much as the prisoner.</p> + +<p>In sum, he's but a clod of his own earth, or his land is the +dunghill, and he the cock that crows over it; and commonly his +race is quickly run, and his children's children, though they 'scape +hanging, return to the place from whence they came.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Plain Country-Fellow.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-212.jpg" width="338" height="159" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>A plain country-fellow is one that manures his ground well, +but lets himself lie fallow and untilled. He has reason enough to +do his business, and not enough to be idle and melancholy. +He seems to have the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar, for his +conversation is among beasts, and his talons none of the shortest, +only he eats not grass because he loves not salads. His hand +guides the plough, and the plough his thoughts, and his ditch and +landmark is the very mound of his meditations. He expostulates +with his oxen very understandingly, and speaks gee, and ree, +better than English. His mind is not much distracted with +objects, but if a good fat sow come in his way, he stands dumb +and astonished, and though his haste be never so great, will fix +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +here half an hour's contemplation. His habitation is some poor +thatched roof, distinguished from his barn by the loop-holes that +let out smoke, which the rain had long since washed through, but +for the double ceiling of bacon on the inside, which has hung there +from his grandsire's time, and is yet to make rashers for posterity. +His dinner is his other work, for he sweats at it as much as at his +labour; he is a terrible fastener on a piece of beef, and you may +hope to stave the guard off sooner. His religion is part of his +copyhold, which he takes from his landlord, and refers it wholly to +his discretion. Yet if he give him leave he is a good Christian to +his power—that is, comes to church in his best clothes, and sits +there with his neighbours, where he is capable only of two prayers, +for rain, and fair weather. He apprehends God's blessings only in +a good year, or a fat pasture, and never praises Him but on <i>good +ground</i>. Sunday he esteems a day to make merry in, and thinks a +bagpipe as essential to it as evening prayer, when he walks very +solemnly after service with his hands coupled behind him, and +censures the dancing of his parish. His compliment with his +neighbour is a good thump on the back, and his salutation commonly +some blunt curse. He thinks nothing to be vices, but pride +and ill husbandry, from which he will gravely dissuade the youth, +and has some thrifty hob-nail proverbs to clout his discourse. He +is a niggard all the week, except only market days, when, if his corn +sell well, he thinks he may be drunk with a good conscience. He +is sensible of no calamity but the burning of a stack of corn, or the +overflowing of a meadow, and thinks Noah's flood the greatest +plague that ever was, not because it drowned the world, but +spoiled the grass. For death he is never troubled, and if he get +in but his harvest before, let it come when it will, he cares not.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Pot Poet.</span></p> + +<p>A pot poet is the dregs of wit, yet mingled with good drink +may have some relish. His inspirations are more real than others, +for they do but feign a god, but he has his by him. His verse runs +like the tap, and his invention as the barrel ebbs and flows at the +mercy of the spiggot. In thin drink he aspires not above a ballad, +but a cup of sack inflames him, and sets his muse and nose a-fire +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +together. The press is his mint, and stamps him now and then a sixpence +or two in reward of the baser coin, his pamphlet. His works +would scarce sell for three halfpence, though they are given oft for +three shillings, but for the pretty title that allures the country gentleman; +for which the printer maintains him in ale for a fortnight. +His verses are, like his clothes, miserable stolen scraps and +patches, yet their pace is not altogether so hobbling as an almanac's. +The death of a great man, or the burning of a house, +furnish him with an argument, and the nine muses are out strait in +mourning gowns, and Melpomene cries 'Fire! fire!' His other +poems are but briefs in rhyme, and, like the poor Greek's collections, +to redeem from captivity.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-214.jpg" width="248" height="164" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>His frequentest works go out in single sheets, and are chanted +from market to market to a vile tune and a viler throat; whilst the +poor country wench melts like her butter to hear them. And these +are the stories of some men of Tyburn, or of a strange monster +broken loose; or sitting in a tap-room he writes sermons on +judgments. He drops away at last, and his life, like a can too +full, spills upon the bench. He leaves twenty shillings on the +score, which his hostess loses.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Bowl Alley.</span></p> + +<p>A bowl alley is the place where there are three things thrown +away besides bowls—to wit, time, money, and curses, and the last +ten for one. The best sport in it is the gamesters, and he enjoys +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +it that looks on and bets not. It is the school of wrangling, and +worse than the schools, for men will cavil here for a hair's breadth, +and make a stir where a straw would end the controversy. No +antic screws men's bodies into such strange flexures, and you +would think them here senseless, to speak sense to their bowl, and +put their trust in entreaties for a good cast. It is the best discovery +of humours, especially in the losers, where you have fine +variety of impatience, whilst some fret, some rail, some swear, and +others more ridiculously comfort themselves with philosophy. To +give you the moral of it, it is the emblem of the world, or the +world's ambition; where most are short, or over, or wide, or wrong-biassed, +and some few justle in to the mistress of fortune. And it +is here as in the court, where the nearest are most spited, and all +blows aimed at the toucher.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-215.jpg" width="398" height="143" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Handsome Hostess.</span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-215-copy.jpg" width="112" height="137" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>A handsome hostess is the fairer commendation +of an inn, above the fair sign, or +fair lodgings. She is the loadstone that +attracts men of iron, gallants and roarers, +where they cleave sometimes long, and are +not easily got off. Her lips are your welcome, +and your entertainment her company, +which is put into the reckoning too, +and is the dearest parcel in it. No citizen's +wife is demurer than she at the first greeting, nor draws in +her mouth with a chaster simper; but you may be more familiar +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +without distaste, and she does not startle at a loose jest. She is the +confusion of a pottle of sack more than would have been spent +elsewhere, and her little jugs are accepted to have her kiss excuse +them. She may be an honest woman, but is not believed so in her +parish, and no man is a greater infidel in it than her husband.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Poor Fiddler.</span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-216.jpg" width="109" height="132" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>A poor fiddler is a man and a fiddle out of +case, and he in worse case than his fiddle. +One that rubs two sticks together (as the +Indians strike fire), and rubs a poor +living out of it; partly from this, and +partly from your charity, which is more +in the hearing than giving him, for he +sells nothing dearer than to be gone. +He is just so many strings above a +beggar, though he have but two; and yet he begs too. Hunger +is the greatest pain he takes, except a broken head sometimes. +Otherwise his life is so many fits of mirth, and 'tis some mirth +to see him. A good feast shall draw him five miles by the nose, +and you shall track him again by the scent. His other pilgrimages +are fairs and good houses, where his devotion is great to +the Christmas; and no man loves good times better. He is in +league with the tapsters for the worshipful of the inn, whom he +torments next morning with his art, and has their names more +perfect than their men. A new song is better to him than a +new jacket, especially if it be lewd, which he calls merry; +and hates naturally the puritan, as an enemy to this mirth. A +country wedding and Whitsun-ale are the two main places he +domineers in, where he goes for a musician, and overlooks the +bagpipe. The rest of him is drunk, and in the stocks. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">A Coward.</span></p> + +<p>A coward is the man that is commonly most fierce against the +coward, and labouring to take off this suspicion from himself; for +the opinion of valour is a good protection to those that dare not +use it. No man is valianter than he is in civil company, and +where he thinks no danger may come of it, and is the readiest +man to fall upon a drawer and those that must not strike again; +wonderfully exceptious and choleric where he sees men are loth to +give him occasion, and you cannot pacify him better than by quarrelling +with him. The hotter you grow, the more temperate man +is he; he protests he always honoured you, and the more you rail +upon him, the more he honours you, and you threaten him at last +into a very honest quiet man. The sight of a sword wounds him +more sensibly than the stroke, for before that come, he is dead +already. Every man is his master that dare beat him, and every +man dares that knows him. And he who dare do this is the only +man that can do much with him; for his friend he cares not, as +a man that carries no such terror as his enemy, which for this +cause only is more potent with him of the two; and men fall out +with him on purpose to get courtesies from him, and be bribed +again to a reconcilement. A man in whom no secret can be +bound up, for the apprehension of each danger loosens him, and +makes him betray both the room and it. He is a Christian merely +for fear of hell fire; and if any religion could frighten him more, +would be of that.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-217.jpg" width="210" height="144" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">(<i>APPENDIX.</i>)</p> + +<p class="center"> +CHARACTERS FROM THE 'FRATERNITY OF VAGABONDS.'</p> + +<p class="center">WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE CRAFTY COMPANY OF CUSONERS AND SHIFTERS, +WHEREUNTO IS ADDED THE TWENTY-FIVE ORDERS OF KNAVES. 1565.</p> + +<p>'A <span class="smcap">Ruffler</span> goeth with a weapon to seek service, saying he hath been a +servitor in the wars, and beggeth for relief. But his chiefest trade is to rob +poor wayfaring men and market-women.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-218.jpg" width="114" height="174" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'An <span class="smcap">Upright Man</span> is one that goeth with the truncheon of a staff. This +man is of so much authority, that, meeting with any of his profession, he may +call them to account, and command a share or "snap" unto himself of all +that they have gained by their trade in one month.</p> + +<p>'A <span class="smcap">Whipiake</span>, or fresh-water mariner, is a person who travels with a +counterfeit license in the dress of a sailor.</p> + +<p>'An <span class="smcap">Abraham Man</span> (hence to "<i>Sham-Abraham</i>") is he that walketh +bare-armed and bare-legged, and feigneth himself mad, and carryeth a pack of +wool, or a stick with a bauble on it, or such-like toy, and nameth himself +"Poor Tom."' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span></p> + +<h3>AN ESSAY IN DEFENCE OF THE FEMALE SEX.</h3> + +<p class="center">DEDICATED TO THE PRINCESS ANNE OF DENMARK.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-219.jpg" width="207" height="243" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>As this book does not bear +the reputation of being +generally familiar, we give +a slight sketch of its contents. +The vitality of a +work depends in so large +a degree on the estimation +which its subject happens +to secure at the date +of publication, that, as +a rule, it may be held +when a book is forgotten, +or extinguished before its +first spark of life has time +to catch popular attention, +the fault is its own, +and, being buried, it is a charity to allow its last rest to remain +undisturbed. We are inclined to believe, however, that this little +treatise forms an exception. The 'Essay in Defence of the +Female Sex' is written by a lady. The third edition, which +now comes under our consideration as having formed one of the +works in Thackeray's library (illustrated with original little sketches +of the characters dealt with by their authors), was published in 1697, +at the signs of the 'Black Boy' and the 'Peacock,' both in Fleet +Street. The authoress disclaims any participation in a brace of +verses which appear on its title:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>Since each is fond of his own ugly face,</i></p> +<p><i>Why should you, when we hold it, break the glass?</i>'</p> + +<p class="i10">Prol. to 'Sir F. Flutter.'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>The second couplet appears under an engraving of the +'Compleat Beau,' an elaborate creation adjusting his curls with a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +simper, whilst a left-handed barber bestows a finishing puff from +his powder-box:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'<i>This vain gay thing set up for man,</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>But see what fate attends him,</i></p> +<p><i>The powd'ring Barber first began,</i></p> +<p class="i1"><i>The barber-Surgeon ends him!</i>'</p> +</div></div> + +<p>The paragraphs distinguished with little drawings, which we +have extracted, may give an impression that the 'defence' consists +of an attack on the male, rather than a vindication of the fair sex. +The arguments of the gentle champion are, however, temperate +and sensible, in parts; they are stated in a lively, quaint manner, +and the general quality of the book may be considered superior to +the average of its class and date. The preface, which discourses of +vanity as the mainspring of our actions, deals with the characters +it is designed to introduce in the work as with the mimic actors of +a puppet-show; this coincidence with a similar assumption in the +preface to the great novel of our century, from the pen of the gifted +author who at one time possessed this little treatise, is worthy of +a passing remark.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Preface.</span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-220.jpg" width="127" height="208" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Prefaces to most books are like prolocutors +to puppet-shows; they come first +to tell you what figures are to be presented, +and what tricks they are to play. +According, therefore, to ancient and +laudable custom, I thought fit to let you +know, by way of preface or advertisement +(call it which you please), that +here are many fine figures within to be +seen, as well worth your curiosity as +any in Smithfield at Bartholomew-tide. +I will not deny, reader, but that you may +have seen some of them there already; +to those that have I have little more to +say, than that if they have a mind to see +them again in effigy, they may do it here. What is it you would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +have? Here are St. Georges, Batemans, John Dories, Punchinelloes, +and the "Creation of the World," or what's as good, &c. +The bookseller, poor man, is desirous to please you at firsthand, +and therefore has put a fine picture in the front to invite you in.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Character of a Pedant.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>(The Authoress alludes to scholars 'falling short' of certain qualifications. +The expression is literally illustrated.) +</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-221.jpg" width="141" height="278" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'For scholars, though by their acquaintance +with books, and conversing much +with old authors, they may know perfectly +the sense of the learned dead, and be +perfect masters of the wisdom, be thoroughly +informed of the state, and nicely +skilled in the policies of ages long since +past, yet by their retired and inactive +life, their neglect of business, and constant +conversation with antiquity, they +are such strangers to, and so ignorant +of, the domestic affairs and manners of +their own country and times, that they +appear like the ghosts of old Romans +raised by magic. Talk to them of the +Assyrian or Persian monarchies, the +Grecian or Roman commonwealths, +they answer like oracles; they are such +finished statesmen, that we should scarce take them to have been +less than confidants of Semiramis, tutors to Cyrus the Great, old +cronies of Solon and Lycurgus, or privy councillors at least to +the twelve Cæsars successively. But engage them in a discourse +that concerns the present times, and their native country, and +they hardly speak the language of it, and know so little of the +affairs of it, that as much might reasonably be expected from an +animated Egyptian mummy.</p> + +<p>'They are much disturbed to see a fold or plait amiss in the +picture of an old Roman gown, yet take no notice that their own +are threadbare, out at the elbows, or ragged; or suffer more if +Priscian's head be broken than if it were their own. They are excellent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +guides, and can direct you to every alley and turning +in old Rome, yet lose their way at +home in their own parish. They are +mighty admirers of the wit and eloquence +of the ancients, and yet had +they lived in the time of Cicero and +Cæsar, would have treated them with +as much supercilious pride and disrespect +as they do now with reverence. +They are great hunters of ancient manuscripts, +and have in great veneration +anything that has escaped the teeth of +time and rats, and if age has obliterated +the characters 'tis the more valuable +for not being legible. But if by chance +they can pick out one word, they rate +it higher than the whole author in print, +and would give more for one proverb +of Solomon under his own hand, than for all his wisdom.'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-222.jpg" width="131" height="242" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Extracts from the Character of a Country Gentleman.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-222-copy.jpg" width="149" height="128" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Contrasting the picture of a pedant +with that of a country gentleman, +the writer states these two characters +are presented to show 'that +men may, and do often, baffle and +frustrate the effects of a liberal +education as well by industry as +negligence. For my part I think +the learned and unlearned blockhead pretty equal, for 'tis all +one to me, whether a man talk nonsense or unintelligible sense.'</p> + +<p>After describing the relief experienced by the country squire +on his release from the bondage of learning, the authoress continues +her sketch:—</p> + +<p>'Thus accomplished and finished for a gentleman, he enters +the civil list, and holds the scales of Justice with as much blindness +as she is said to do. From henceforward his worship becomes as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +formidable to the ale-houses as he was before familiar; he sizes an +ale-pot, and takes the dimensions of bread with great dexterity and +sagacity. He is the terror of all the deer and poultry stealers in the +neighbourhood, and is so implacable a persecutor of poachers that +he keeps a register of all the guns and dogs in the hundred, and is +the scare-beggar of the parish. Short pots, and unjustifiable dogs +and nets, furnish him with sufficient matter of presentments to +carry him once a quarter to the sessions, where he says little, eats +and drinks much, and after dinner, hunts over the last chase, and +so rides, worshipfully drunk, home again.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Extracts from the Character of a Scowler.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-223.jpg" width="215" height="95" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'These are your men of +nice honour, that love +fighting for the sake of +blows, and are never +well but when they are +wounded; they are severe +interpreters of looks, are +affronted at every face that don't please them, and like true cocks +of the game, have a quarrel with all mankind at first sight. They +are passionate admirers of scarred faces, and dote on a wooden +leg. They receive a challenge like a "billet-doux," and a home-thrust +as a favour. Their common adversary is the constable, +and their usual lodging "the counter." Broken heads are a +diversion, and an arm in a scarf is a high satisfaction. They are +frugal in their expenses with the tailor, for they have their +doublets pinked on their backs; but they are as good as an +annuity to the surgeon, though they need him not to let them +blood.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Extracts from the Character of a Beau.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-224.jpg" width="134" height="142" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-224-copy.jpg" width="151" height="129" alt="" /> + +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-224-copy-2.jpg" width="143" height="133" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A beau is one that has more learning in his heels than his +head, which is better covered than filled. His tailor and his barber +are his cabinet council, to whom he is more beholden for what he +is than to his Maker. He is one that has travelled to see fashions, +and brought over with him the newest cut suits and the prettiest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +fancied ribands for sword-knots. He should be a philosopher, +for he studies nothing but himself, yet every one knows him better +that thinks him not worth knowing. +His looks and gestures are his constant +lesson, and his glass is the oracle that +resolves all his mighty doubts and +scruples. He examines and refreshes +his complexion by it, and is more dejected +at a pimple than if it were a +cancer. When his eyes are set to a +languishing air, his motions all prepared +according to art, his wig and his coat +abundantly powdered, his gloves essenced, and his handkerchief +perfumed, and all the rest of his bravery adjusted rightly, the +greatest part of the day, as well as +the business of it at home, is over; +'tis time to launch, and down he +comes, scented like a perfumer's +shop, and looks like a vessel with all +her rigging under sail without ballast.' ... +'He first visits the chocolate-house, +where he admires himself in +the glass, and starts a learned argument +on the newest fashions. From +hence he adjourns to the play-house, where he is to be met again +in the side box, from whence he makes his court to all the ladies +in general with his eyes, and is particular +only with the orange wench. +After a while he engages some neighbouring +vizor, and altogether they run +over all the boxes, take to pieces every +face, examine every feature, pass their +censure upon every one, and so on to +their dress; but, in conclusion, sees +nobody complete, but himself, in the +whole house. After this he looks down +with contempt upon the pit, and rallies all the slovenly fellows and +awkward "beaux," as he calls them, of the other end of the town; +is mightily offended at their ill-scented snuff, and, in spite of all his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +"pulvilio" and essences, is overcome with the stink of their Cordovant +gloves. To close all, Madam in the mask must give him +an account of the scandal of the town, which she does in the +history of abundance of intrigues, real or feigned, at all of which +he laughs aloud and often, not to show his +satisfaction, but his teeth. His next stage +is Locket's, where his vanity, not his stomach, +is to be gratified with something that is little +and dear. Quails and ortolans are the +meanest of his diet, and a spoonful of green +peas at Christmas is worth more to him than +the inheritance of the field where they grow +in summer. His amours are all profound +secrets, yet he makes a confidence of them +to every man he meets with. Thus the show +goes forward, until he is beaten for trespasses +he was never guilty of, and shall be damned +for sins he never committed. At last, with +his credit as low as his fortune, he retires +sullenly to his cloister, the King's Bench or +the Fleet, and passes the rest of his days in +privacy and contemplation. Here, if you +please, we will give him one visit more, and +see the last act of the farce; and you shall +find him (whose sobriety was before a vice, as being only the +pander to his other pleasures, and who feared a lighted pipe as +much as if it had been a great gun levelled at him) with his +nose flaming, and his breath stinking of spirits worse than a Dutch +tarpaulin's, and smoking out of a short pipe, that for some months +has been kept hot as constantly as a glass-house, and so I leave +him to his meditation.'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-225.jpg" width="101" height="274" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Extracts from the Character of a 'Poetaster.'</i></p> + +<p>After commencing his education in a shop or counting-house, +the poetaster sets up as a manufacturer of verse.</p> + +<p>'He talks much of Jack Dryden, and Will Wycherley, and the +rest of that set, and protests he can't help having some respect for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +them, because they have so much for him and his writings; otherwise +he could prove them to be mere sots and blockheads that +understand little of poetry in comparison with +himself. He is the oracle of those who want +wit, and the plague of those that have it, for he +haunts their lodgings, and is more terrible to +them than their duns. His pocket is an inexhaustible +magazine of rhyme and nonsense, and +his tongue, like a repeating clock with chimes, +is ready upon every touch to sound them. Men +avoid him for the same reason they avoid the +pillory, the security of their ears, of which he is +as merciless a prosecutor. He is the bane to society, +a friend to the stationers, the plague of the press, and the +ruin of his bookseller. He is more profitable to the grocers and +tobacconists than the paper manufacturer; for his works, which +talk so much of fire and flame, commonly expire in their shops in +vapour and smoke.'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-226.jpg" width="83" height="141" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Extracts from the Character of a Virtuoso.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-226-copy.jpg" width="90" height="143" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The virtuoso is one who has sold his estate in +land to purchase one in scallop, couch, and +cockle shells, and has abandoned the society +of men for that of insects, worms, grubs, +lizards, tortoises, beetles, and moths. His +study is like Noah's ark, the general rendezvous +of all creatures in the universe, and the +greatest part of his movables are the remainders +of the deluge. His travels are not designed +as visits to the inhabitants of any place, +but to the pits, shores, and hills; and from whence he fetches +not the treasure but the trumpery. He is ravished at finding an +uncommon shell or an odd-shaped stone, and is desperately enamoured +at first sight of an unusual marked butterfly, which he +will hunt a whole day to be master of. He traffics to all places, +and has his correspondents in every part of the world. He preserves +carefully those creatures which other men industriously destroy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +and cultivates sedulously those plants which others root up +as weeds. His cash consists much in old coins, and he thinks +the face of Alexander on one of them worth more than all his +conquests.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><i>Character of a City Militiaman.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-227.jpg" width="134" height="131" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>After describing the contests in Flanders +being re-fought by the newsmongers in +the coffee-houses, the sketch proceeds:—</p> + +<p>'Our greatest actions must be buffooned +in show as well as talk. Shall +Namur be taken and our heroes of the +city not show their prowess upon so +great an occasion? It must never be +said that the coffee-houses dared more +than Moorfields. No; for the honour of London, out comes the +foreman of the shop, very formidable in buff and bandoleers, and +away he marches, with feather in cap, to the general rendezvous +in the Artillery Ground. There these terrible mimics of Mars +are to spend their fury in noise and smoke upon a Namur erected +for that purpose on a molehill, and by the help of guns and drums +out-stink and out-rattle Smithfield in all its bravery, and would +be too hard for the greatest man in all France, if they had him +but amongst them. Yet this is but skirmishing, the hot service +is in another place, when they engage the capons and quart pots; +never was onset more vigorous, for they come to handy blows +immediately, and now is the real cutting and slashing, and tilting +without quarter: were the towns in Flanders all walled with beef, +and the French as good meat as capons, and dressed the same way, +the king need never beat his drums for soldiers; and all these +gallant fellows would come in voluntarily, the meanest of which +would be able to eat a marshal.'</p> + +<p>These descriptions of character are concluded by contrasts +drawn between the virtues and vices of the respective sexes, and +the authoress remarks that if the masses are to be measured by +the instances of either Tullia, Claudia, or Messalina, by Sardanapalus, +Nero, or Caligula, the human race will certainly be found +the vilest part of the creation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span></p> + +<p>The essayist records that she has gained one experience by +her treatise:—</p> + +<p>'I find when our hands are in 'tis as hard to stop them as our +tongues, and as difficult not to write as not to talk too much. I +have done wondering at those men that can write huge volumes +upon slender subjects, and shall hereafter admire their judgment +only who can confine their imaginations, and curb their wandering +fancies.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-228.jpg" width="318" height="231" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span></p> + +<h3>WORKS ON DEMONOLOGY AND MAGIC.</h3> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-229.jpg" width="202" height="291" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Among the books which +formed part of Thackeray's +library are one or two treating +on the subject of the +'Black Arts.' The most curious +and valuable example, +H. Mengo's 'Flagellum Dæmonum,' +appears to have +been purchased in Paris; in +addition to the book-stamp +usually employed by the author +of 'Vanity Fair,' there +is an autograph, and the remark, +'a very rare and curious +volume,' in his own +hand-writing. As the work +is seldom met with, we give +the title-pages of the two +volumes entire, for the benefit of those readers who may have a +taste for 'Diablerie':—</p> + +<p class="center"> +FLAGELLUM DÆMONUM.</p> + +<p class="center">EXORCISMOS, TERRIBILES, POTENTISSIMOS, ET EFFICACES.</p> + +<p class="center">REMEDIAQUE PROBATISSIMA, AC DOCTRINAM SINGULAREM IN MALIGNOS<br /> +SPIRITUS EXPELLENDOS, FACTURASQUE, ET MALESICIA FUGANDA<br /> +DE OBSESSIS CORPORIBUS COMPLECTENS, CUM SUIS BENEDICTIONIBUS,<br /> +ET OMNIBUS REQUISITIS AD<br /> +EORUM EXPULSIONEM.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Accessit postremo Pars Secunda, quæ Fustis Dæmonum inscribitur.</i></p> + +<p class="center">QUIBUS NOVI EXORCISMI, ET ALIA NONNULLA, QUÆ PRIUS<br /> +DESIDERABANTUR, SUPER ADDITA FUERUNT</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Auctore R. P. F. Hieronymo Mengo</span>,<br /> +VITELLIANENSI, ORDINIS MINORUM REGULARIS OBSERVANTIÆ.<br /> +ANNO 1727.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span></p> + +<p>The fly-leaf is illustrated with the following animated design in +pencil, possibly drawn from a vivid recollection existing in the +artist's mind of a similar subject, by the magic etching-needle of +that fantastic creator of demons and imaginative devices, Jacques +Callot; found in the 'Capricci,' dedicated to Lorenzo Medici.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-230.jpg" width="372" height="371" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We are unable, in the limits of the present volume, to offer +more than a brief summary of the contents of this singular work. +The first volume (309 pages) contains three indexes, a 'dedicatoria' +to 'D.D. Lotharia a Metternich,' and a list of authors who +have been consulted in the composition of the book.</p> + +<p>We are inclined to believe that this list of authorities, on a subject +which presents a large field for exploration, will be of value to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +investigators, and not altogether without interest to the general +reader. Their names are arranged alphabetically:—</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-231.jpg" width="184" height="157" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Alexander Papa Sanctus. Alexander de Ales Doctor. Alphonsus +Castrensis. Ambrosius Doctor S. Athanasius Doctor S. +August. de Ancona. Bartholomæus +Sybilla. Beda Venerabilis. +Bernardus Abbas S. Bernardinus +de Bustis. Boetius Severinus. +Bonaventura Doctor S. Concilia +diversa. Dionysius Cartusianus. +Fulgentius Doctor S. Glossa ordinaria. +Gregorius Papa Doctor +Sanctus. Haymo Episcopus. +Henricus Arphius. Hieronymus +Doctor S. Hilarius Doctor S. +Hugo de Sancto Victore. Joachim +Abbas. Johannes Crysostomus S. Joannes Cassianus Abb. +Joann. Damascenus S. Johannes Gerson Doctor. Joannes +Scotus Doctor. Josephus de Bello Judaico. Isidorus Doctor S. +Leo Papa Doctor S. Ludovicus Blosius. Magister Sententiarum. +Magister Historiarum. Malleus Malesicarum. Michael Psellus. +Nicolaus de Lira Doct. Paulus Ghirlandus. Petrus Galatinus. +Richardus Mediavilla Doctor. Rupertus Abbas. Silvester Prierius. +Thomas Aquinas Doctor Sanctus.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-231-copy.jpg" width="321" height="197" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Forty-five pages are devoted to 'Doctrina pulcherrima in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +malignos Spiritus.' One hundred and seventy-two pages are occupied +with 'Exorcismus I. ad VII.' An 'Exorcismus' consists of +various 'Oratio,' 'Adjuratio,' and 'Conjuratio;' the latter, in +Exor. VI., graduating through the 'Conjuratio æris—terræ—aquæ—ignis—omnium +elementalium—Inferni—&c.' Vol. I. concludes +with 'Remedia Efficacissima in +malignos spiritus,' and offers, besides +Psalms proper for the purpose, regular +physicians' prescriptions—drugs and +their proportions—under the head of +'Medicina pro Maleficiatis.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-232.jpg" width="117" height="157" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The artist's pencil has made a humorous +marginal sketch in 'Exorcismus V.,' +opposite this 'Conjuratio.' 'Conjuro te +✠ dæmon per illum, cujus Nativitatem +Angelus Mariæ Virgini annunciavit, quique +pro nobis peccatoribus descendit de cœlis, &c.'</p> + +<p>The title-page of Vol. II. we also give in full:—</p> + +<p class="center"> +FUSTIS DÆMONUM.</p> + +<p class="center">ADJURATIONES FORMIDABILES POTENTISSIMAS, ET EFFICACES.<br /> +IN MALIGNOS SPIRITUS FUGANDOS DE OPPRESSIS<br /> +CORPORIBUS HUMANIS.</p> + +<p class="center">EX SACRÆ APOCALYPSIS FONTE VARIISQUE SANCTORUM PATRUM<br /> +AUCTORITATIBUS HAUSTAS COMPLECTENS.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Auctore R. P. F. Hieronymo Mengo</span>,<br /> +VITELLIANENSI, ORDINIS MINORUM REGULARIS OBSERVANTIÆ.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Opus sanè ad maximam Exorcistarum commoditatem nunc in<br /> +lucem editum.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span></p> + +<h3>'LA MAGIE ET L'ASTROLOGIE,'</h3> + +<p class="center">Par <span class="smcap">L. F. Alfred Maury</span>.</p> + +<p>'La Magie et l'Astrologie +dans l'Antiquité et au +Moyen Age; ou, Étude sur +les Superstitions Païennes +qui se sont perpétuées +jusqu'à nos jours.' This +work, in two parts, by +the author of 'Les Premiers +Ages de la Nature' +and 'Une Histoire des +Religions,' gives evidence +of wide-spread research. +To the curious in 'dark' +literature, A. Maury's +compilation must form a vastly concise and interesting introduction +to a subject which once absorbed a large proportion of the +erudition and 'fond' wisdom of our ancestors. From its high +seat amidst kings and profound sages, cabalistic art has, in this +practical age, sunk so low that its exclusive privilege may be +considered the delectation and delusion of the most forlorn +ignorance.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-233.jpg" width="215" height="209" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>It is, indeed, a source of congratulation that magic and astrology +in our day rarely rise above the basement (for their modern patrons +inhabit the kitchen), unless they are admitted in the palpable +form of 'parlour necromancy,' degenerating into mere manual +dexterity and common-place conjuring tricks.</p> + +<p>A. Maury's work traces the progress of magic from its source +among uncivilised nations, and in the earliest ages, through the +history of the Chaldeans, the Persians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, +and the Romans. He exhibits the struggle of Christianity with +magic, until the greater power overcame vain superstitions. He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +then follows its evil track through the middle ages, and illustrates +in the observances of astrology, an imitation of Pagan rites.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-234.jpg" width="251" height="386" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>In the Second Part the author reviews the subject of superstitions +attaching to dreams, and defines their employment as a +means of divination, from the earliest records down to a recent +period. He then describes the demoniac origin, once attributed +to mental and nervous derangements, and elucidates the +assistance contributed by the imagination to the deceptions of +so-called magic. He concludes by considering the production +of mental phenomena by the use of narcotics, the destruction +of reason and of the intellectual faculties, and closes his summary +by treating of hypnotism and somnambulism. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span></p> + +<p>In the chapter describing the influence of magic on the +teachings of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy, we find the +arguments advanced in the paragraphs we extract, +wittily and practically embodied in a little +sketch of an antique divinity, introduced with +modern attributes.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-235.jpg" width="62" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... The new school of Plato imagined a +complete hierarchy of demons, with which they +combined a portion of the divinities of the ancient +Greek religion, reconstructed in a newer +and more philosophical spirit.</p> + +<p>'In the doctrines expounded by the author +of the "Mystères des Egyptiens," who had borrowed +most of his ideas from the Egyptian theology, +demons are represented as veritable divinities, who divide +the government of the world with the deities.</p> + +<p>'The inconsistent chronological confusion which prevailed at +that period frequently offers similar contradictions; for the doctrines +of antiquity, while taking their position in the new philosophy, +had not been submitted to the modifications necessary to +bring them into harmony with the later system.</p> + +<p>'... The severity directed by Church and State against +magicians and sorcerers was not solely inspired by the terrors of +demons or a dread of witchcraft.</p> + +<p>'... Although there existed in the rites of magic many +foolish ceremonials that were harmless and inoffensive, the perpetuation +of the observances of the ancient Polytheism were, +however, employed as a veil, beneath which existed practices that +were absolutely criminal, stamped with the most atrocious and +sanguinary superstitions. The preparation of poisons played a +considerable part in these observances, and witchcraft was not +entirely confined to mere influences on the mind. Those who +connected themselves with sorcery most frequently employed it +with a view of gratifying either personal vengeance or culpable +covetousness.'</p> + +<p>In the chapter on '<i>Possession Démoniaque</i>,' devoted to the +demoniacal origin attributed to nervous and mental afflictions, we +find a quaint pencil-heading which precedes the extracts we have +made, to explain the matter it illustrates. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-236.jpg" width="326" height="399" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... The ancients no more succeeded in mastering the +natural character and physical origin of disease than they were +able to recognise the constancy of the phenomena of the universe.</p> + +<p>'All descriptions of sickness, especially epidemics and mental +or nervous affections, were particularly reputed of supernatural +agency; the first on account of their unexpected approaches, and +their contagious and deadly effects; the second on the grounds of +their mysterious origin, and the profound affections they bring +either to the mind, the muscular system, or the sensations.</p> + +<p>'When an epidemic broke out they immediately concluded +that a divinity was abroad, sent forth to execute vengeance or to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +inflict just corrections. They then employed their faculties in +searching for a motive that might have provoked his anger, and +they strove to appease his wrath by sacrifices; +or they sought to avert the effects +of evil by ceremonies, by purifications, +and exorcisms.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-237-copy.jpg" width="405" height="333" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Their legends record that the deities +of evil have been seen riding through the +air, scattering death and desolation far +and wide.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-237.jpg" width="217" height="126" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'... A passage in Minutius Felix +(Octav. c. 29, which confirms Saint Cyprien +ad Demetrian. p. 501, et Lactance, Inst. +Div. Il. xv.; cf. Kopp, "Palæographia Critica," t. iii. p. 75) informs +us that in order to constrain the demon to declare, through +the mouth of the person +supposed to be thus possessed, +that he was driven +out, recourse was had to +blows, and to the employment +of barbarous methods. +This will at once explain +the apparent successes of +certain exorcists, and the +ready compliance with which the devils responded to their conjurations. +The signs by which the departure of the evil spirit +were recognised were naturally very varied. Pious legends make +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +frequent mention of demons that have been expelled, and have +been seen to proceed, with terrible cries, from the mouths of those +so possessed.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-238.jpg" width="132" height="242" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The two priestly figures, which are found at the commencement +of this short <i>résumé</i> of Alfred Maury's work, might be readily +assumed to embody the characteristics of magic and astrology. +They are drawn on a fly-leaf in the original, and on the corresponding +leaf at the end is pencilled the richly quaint conception, +which appropriately concludes the summary of contents. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span></p> + +<h3>MAGIC, WITCHCRAFT, ANIMAL MAGNETISM, +HYPNOTISM, AND ELECTRO BIOLOGY.</h3> + +<p class="center">By <span class="smcap">James Braid</span>. 1852.</p> +<hr class="l15" /> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center">Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, sed magis amica Veritas.</p> +</div> +<hr class="l15" /> +<p>Mr. Braid has selected a +neat motto for his treatise, +for the matter contained +in it will hardly warrant +the assumption of a more +ambitious title.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-239.jpg" width="223" height="325" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Braid, of Burlington +House, Manchester, +a doctor by profession, is +a believer in and exponent +of hypnotism. A +great portion of his little +work reviews the criticisms +on earlier editions, +or deals with statements +regarding Colquhoun's +'History of Magic.' Its +author, while rejecting the +doctrines known as animal +mesmerism and magnetism, +admits the effects +they are declared to produce; but he refers such results to hypnotism—a +state of induced sleep—into which a patient may be +thrown by artificial contrivance.</p> + +<p>It is possible that the contents of this book would not prove +of much general interest excepting to amateurs of 'animal magnetism;' +but we give one extract, which may prove of service to +those who do not happen to be already informed of the theory it +advances, which is one that every reader can practically test:— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span></p> + +<p>'In my work on hypnotism,' observes Mr. Braid, 'published +in 1843, I explained how "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy +sleep," might be procured, in +many instances, through a most +simple device, by the patient +himself. All that is required +for this purpose is simply to +place himself in a comfortable +posture in bed, and then to +close the eyelids, and turn up +the eyeballs gently, as if looking +at a distant object, such +as an imaginary star, situated +somewhat above and behind the forehead, giving the whole concentrated +attention of the mind to the idea of maintaining a +steady view of the star, and breathing softly, as if in profound +attention, the mind at the same time yielding to the idea that +sleep will ensue, and to the tendency to somnolence which will +creep upon him whilst engaged in this act of fixed attention. Mr. +Walker's method of "procuring sleep at will," by desiring the +patient to maintain a fixed act of attention by imagining himself +watching his breath issuing slowly from his nostrils, after having +placed his body in a comfortable position in bed, which was first +published by Dr. Binns, is essentially the same as my own +method, &c.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-240.jpg" width="198" height="156" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Professor Gregory, in his 'Letters to a Candid Inquirer,' after +describing the induction of sleep effected by reading a class of +books of a dry character, remarks: 'But let these persons +(sufferers from a difficulty in getting off to sleep) try the experiment +of placing a small bright object, seen by the reflection of a +safe and distant light, in such a position that the eyes are strained +a little upwards or backwards, and at such a distance as to give a +tendency to squinting, and they will probably never again have +recourse to the venerable authors above alluded to. Sir David +Brewster, who, with more than youthful ardour, never fails to +investigate any curious fact connected with the eye, has not only +seen Mr. Braid operate, but has also himself often adopted this +method of inducing sleep, and compares it to the feeling we have +when, after severe and long-continued bodily exertion, we sit or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +lie down and fall asleep, being overcome, in a most agreeable +manner, by the solicitations of Morpheus, to which, at such times, +we have a positive pleasure in yielding, however inappropriate the +scene of our slumbers.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-241.jpg" width="240" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-241-copy.jpg" width="292" height="155" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Among the contents are numerous instances of magnetism, +and anecdotes of experiments, which have been amusingly 'hit +off' in little marginal sketches. One of the best of these is an +illustration of the contagious dancing mania said to be excited by +the bite of the tarantula spider—'against the effect of which +neither youth nor age afforded any protection, so that old men of +ninety threw away their crutches,' and the very sight of those so +affected was equally potent. These sketches are, however, so +small that we think it advisable to exclude them from our selection. +The pantomimic mesmerism produced by the harlequin's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +magic wand, and practically seconded by the sly slaps of the +clown, are happily given on the fly-leaf of the treatise; and a +vastly original and startling result of animal magnetism records on +the last page the droller impressions of the artist-reader on the +subject, through the medium of his pencil.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-242.jpg" width="254" height="175" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Carried away under the influence of spirits</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span></p> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="s08">ENGLISH ESSAYISTS OF THE GEORGIAN ERA.</span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Early Essayists whose Writings have furnished Thackeray with the Accessories +of Portions of his Novels and Lectures—Works from the Novelist's +Library, elucidating his Course of Reading for the Preparation of his 'Lectures'—'Henry +Esmond,' 'The Virginians,' &c.—Characteristic Passages +from the Lucubrations of the Essayists of the Augustan Era illustrated with +original marginal Sketches, suggested by the Text, by Thackeray's Hand—The +'Tatler'—Its History and Influence—Reforms introduced by the purer +Style of the Essayists—The Literature of Queen Anne's Reign—Thackeray's +Love for the Writings of that Period—His Gift of reproducing their masterly +and simple Style of Composition; their Irony, and playful Humour—Extracts +from notable Essays; illustrated with original Pencillings from the +Series of the 'Tatler,' 1709. +</p> + +<p>The commencement of the eighteenth century +has been christened the Augustan Era +of English literature, from the brilliant assembly +of writers, pre-eminent for their +wit, genius, and cultivation, who then enriched +our literature with a perfectly original +school of humour.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-243.jpg" width="136" height="184" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The essayists, to whose accomplished +parts we are indebted for the 'Tatlers,' +'Spectators,' 'Guardians,' 'Humorists,' +'Worlds,' 'Connoisseurs,' 'Mirrors,' +'Adventurers,' 'Observers,' 'Loungers,' +'Lookers-on,' 'Ramblers,' and kindred papers, which picture the +many-coloured scenes of our society and literature, have conferred +a lasting benefit upon posterity by the sterling merit of their writings. +It has been justly said that these essays, by their intrinsic worth, +have outlived many revolutions of taste, and have attained unrivalled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +popularity and classic fame, while multitudes of their contemporaries, +successors, and imitators have perished with the accidents +or caprices of fashion.</p> + +<p>The general purpose of the essayists as laid down by Steele, who +may be considered foremost among the originators of the familiar +school of writing, 'was to expose the false arts of life, to pull off the +disguises of cunning, vanity, and affectation, and to recommend a +general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behaviour.' +Bickerstaff's lucubrations were directed to good-humoured exposures +of those freaks and vagaries of life, 'too trivial for the +chastisement of the law and too fantastical for the cognisance of the +pulpit,' of those failings, according to Addison's summary of their +purpose in the 'Spectator' (No. 34), thus harmonised by Pope:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Safe from the bar, the pulpit, and the throne,</p> +<p>Yet touched and shamed by Ridicule alone.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>The graceful philosophers, polished wits and playful satirists exerted +their abilities to supply 'those temporary demands and casual exigencies, +overlooked by graver writers and more bulky theorists,' to +bring, in the language of Addison, 'philosophy out of closets and +libraries, schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at +tea-tables and in coffee-houses.'</p> + +<p>'The method of conveying cheap and easy knowledge began +among us in the civil wars, when it was much the interest of either +party to raise and fix the prejudices of the people.' It was in this +spirit that the oft-mentioned Mercuries, 'Mercurius Aulicus,' +'Mercurius Rusticus,' and 'Mercurius Civicus' first appeared.</p> + +<p>A hint of the original plan of the 'Tatler' may in some degree +be traced to Defoe's 'Review; consisting of a Scandal Club, on +Questions of Theology, Morals, Politics, Trade, Language, Poetry, +&c.,' published about the year 1703.</p> + +<p>'The "Tatler,"' writes Dr. Chalmers, 'like many other ancient +superstructures, rose from small beginnings. It does not appear +that the author (Steele) foresaw to what perfection this method of +writing could be brought. By dividing each paper into compartments, +he appears to have consulted the ease with which an +author may say a little upon many subjects, who has neither +leisure nor inclination to enter deeply on a single topic. This, +however, did not proceed either from distrust in his abilities, or in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +the favour of the public; for he at once addressed them with confidence +and familiarity; but it is probable that he did not foresee +to what perfection the continued practice of writing will frequently +lead a man whose natural endowments are wit and eloquence, +superadded to a knowledge of the world, and a habit of observation.'</p> + +<p>The first number of the 'Tatler' bore the motto,</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Quicquid agunt homines—</p> +<p class="i5">nostri est farrago libelli.—Juv. Sat. I. 85, 86.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Whate'er men do, or say, or think, or dream,</p> +<p>Our motley paper seizes for its theme.</p> +</div></div></div> + +<p>The original sheet appeared on Tuesday, April 12, 1709,<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> + and +the days of its publication were fixed to be Tuesdays, Thursdays, +and Saturdays. 'In the selection of a name for the work, Steele +affords an early instance of delicate raillery, by informing us that +the name "Tatler" was invented in <i>honour</i> of the fair sex; and +that in such a character he might indulge with impunity the +desultory plan he first laid down, with a becoming imitation of the +tattle and gossip of the day.' The first four numbers were given +gratis, the price was then fixed at a penny, which was afterwards +doubled.</p> + +<p>Steele, whose humour was most happily adapted to his task, +assumed as censor of manners the alias of Isaac Bickerstaff. +'Throughout the whole work,' writes Beattie, 'the conjuror, the +politician, the man of humour, the critic; the seriousness of the +moralist, and the mock dignity of the astrologer; the vivacities +and infirmities peculiar to old age, are all so blended and contrasted +in the censor of Great Britain as to form a character equally complex +and natural, equally laughable and respectable,' and as the +editor declares, in his proper person, 'the attacks upon prevailing +and fashionable vices had been carried forward by Mr. Bickerstaff +with a freedom of spirit that would have lost its attraction and +efficacy, had it been pretended to by <i>Mr. Steele</i>.'</p> + +<p>A scarce pamphlet, attributed to Gay, draws attention to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +high moral and philosophic purpose which was entertained originally. +'There was this difference between Steele and all the rest +of the polite and gallant authors of the time: the latter endeavoured +to please the age by falling in with them, and encouraging them in +their fashionable vices and false notions of things. It would have +been a jest some time since for a man to have asserted that anything +witty could have been said in praise of a married state; or +that devotion and virtue were any way necessary to the character +of a fine gentleman. Bickerstaff ventured to tell the town that +they were a parcel of fops, fools, and vain coquettes; but in such +a manner as even pleased them, and made them more than half +inclined to believe that he spoke truth.'</p> + +<p>The humorists of the Augustan era were, as the world knows, +peculiar objects of regard to the great writer of 'Roundabout +Essays' in the age of Queen Victoria. Novels, lectures, and +reviews alike prove the industry and affection with which Thackeray +conducted his researches amidst the veins of singular richness and +congenial material opened to him by the lives and writings of +these famous essayists, in such profusion that selection became a +point of real art.</p> + +<p>It is not difficult to trace the results of Thackeray's reading +among his favourite writers, or to watch its influence on his own +compositions. Nor did his regard for these sources of inspiration +pass the bounds of reasonable admiration; he argues convincingly +of the authentic importance of his chosen authorities.</p> + +<p>From his minute and intelligent studies of the works of these +genial humorists Thackeray acquired a remarkable facility of +thinking, spontaneously acknowledged by all his contemporaries, +with the felicitous aptitude of the originals, and learned to express +his conceptions in language simple, lucid, and sparkling as the +outpourings from those pure fonts for which his eagerness may be +said to have been unquenched to the end of his career.</p> + +<p>That artist-like local colouring which gives such scholarly value +to 'Henry Esmond,' to the 'Virginians,' to the 'Humorists of +the Eighteenth Century,' and which was no less manifest in the +work which engaged his thoughts when Death lightly touched the +novelist's hand, furnishes the evidence of Thackeray's familiarity +with, and command of, the quaintest, wittiest, wisest, and pleasantest +writings in our language. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span></p> + +<p>It will be felt by readers who realise Thackeray in his familiar +association with the kindred early humorists, that the merry +passages his pencil has italicised by droll marginal sketches are, +with all their suggestive slightness, in no degree unworthy of the +conceits to which they give a new interest; while in some cases, +with playful whimsicality, they present a reading entirely novel. +The fidelity of costume and appointments, even in this miniature +state, confirms the diligence and thought with which the author of +'Henry Esmond' pursued every detail which illustrated his +cherished period, and which might serve as a basis for its consistent +reconstruction, to carry his reader far back up the stream of time.</p> + +<p>The necessity of compressing within the limits of this volume +our selections from the comparatively exhaustless field of the +humorous essayists, necessarily renders the paragraphs elucidated +by Thackeray's quaint etchings somewhat fragmentary and abrupt, +while the miscellaneous nature of the topics thus indiscriminately +touched on may be best set forth according to the advertisement +with which Swift ushered in his memorable 'Number One':</p> + +<p>'All accounts of gallantry, pleasure, and entertainment shall +be under the article of <i>White's Chocolate-house</i>;<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> + poetry, under +that of <i>Will's Coffee-house</i>;<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> + learning, under the title of <i>Grecian</i>;<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> + +foreign and domestic news, you will have from <i>Saint James's +Coffee-house</i>; and what else I have to offer on any other subject +shall be dated from my own apartment.<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +</p> + +<p>'I once more desire my reader to consider, that as I cannot +keep an ingenious man to go daily to Will's under twopence +each day, merely for his charges; to White's, under sixpence; +nor to the Grecian, without allowing him some plain Spanish, to +be as able as others at the learned table; and that a good +observer cannot speak with even Kidney (the waiter) at St. +James's without clean linen; I say, these considerations will, I +hope, make all persons willing to comply with my humble request +(when my <i>gratis</i> stock is exhausted) of a penny apiece; especially +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +since they are sure of some proper amusement, and that it is +impossible for me to want means to entertain them, having, +besides the force of my own parts, the power of divination, and +that I can, by casting a figure, tell you all that may happen before +it comes to pass.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 5. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>April 21, 1709</i>.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Who names that lost thing love without a tear,</p> +<p>Since so debauch'd by ill-bred customs here?</p> +<p>To an exact perfection they have brought</p> +<p>The action love, the passion is forgot.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'This was long ago a witty author's lamentation, but the evil +still continues; and if a man of any delicacy were to attend the +discourses of the young fellows of this age, he would believe there +were none but the fallen to make the objects of passion. So true +it is what the author of the above verses said, a little before his +death, of the modern pretenders to gallantry: "They set up for +wits in this age, by saying, when they are sober, what they of the +last spoke only when they were drunk." But Cupid is not only +blind at present, but dead drunk; and he has lost all his faculties; +else how should Celia be so long a maid, with that agreeable behaviour? +Corinna, with that sprightly wit? Serbia, with that +heavenly voice? and Sacharissa, with all those excellences in one +person, frequent the park, the play, and murder the poor Tits that +drag her to public places, and not a man turn pale at her appearance? +But such is the fallen state of love, that if it were not for +honest Cynthio, who is true to the cause, we should hardly have +a pattern left of the ancient worthies in that way; and indeed he +has but very little encouragement to persevere. Though Cynthio +has wit, good sense, fortune, and his very being depends upon her, +the termagant for whom he sighs is in love with a fellow who stares +in the glass all the time he is with her, and lets her plainly see she +may possibly be his rival, but never his mistress. Yet Cynthio +pleases himself with a vain imagination that, with the language of +his eyes, now he has found out who she is, he shall conquer her, +though her eyes are intent upon one who looks from her, which is +ordinary with the sex.</p> + +<p>'It is certainly a mistake in the ancients to draw the little gentleman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +Love as a blind boy, for his real character is a little thief +that squints; for ask Mrs. Meddle, who is a confidante or spy +upon all the passions in town, and she will tell you that the whole +is a game of cross purposes. The lover is generally pursuing one +who is in pursuit of another, and running from +one that desires to meet him. Nay, the nature +of this passion is so justly represented in a +squinting little thief (who is always in a double +action), that do but observe Clarissa next time +you see her, and you will find, when her eyes +have made their soft tour round the company +she makes no stay on him they say she is to +marry, but rests two seconds of a minute on +Wildair, who neither looks nor thinks on her or +any woman else. However, Cynthio had a bow from her the +other day, upon which he is very much come to himself; and I +heard him send his man of an errand yesterday, without any +manner of hesitation; a quarter of an hour after which he +reckoned twenty, remembered he was to sup with a friend, and +went exactly to his appointment. I sent to know how he did this +morning, and I find he hath not forgotten that he spoke to me +yesterday.'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-249.jpg" width="84" height="136" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 9. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>April 30, 1709</i>.</p> + +<p>Pastorella, a lively young lady of eighteen, was under the +charge of an aunt, who was anxious to keep her ward in safety, if +possible, from herself and her admirers. 'At the same time the +good lady knew, by long experience, that a gay inclination curbed +too rashly would but run to the greater excesses; she therefore +made use of an ingenious expedient to avoid the anguish of an +admonition. You are to know, then, that Miss, with all her +flirting and ogling, had also a strong curiosity in her, and was the +greatest eaves-dropper breathing. Parisatis (for so her prudent +aunt is called) observed this humour, and retires one day to her +closet, into which she knew Pastorella would peep and listen to +know how she was employed. It happened accordingly; and the +young lady saw her good governante on her knees, and, after a +<i>mental behaviour</i>, break into these words: "As for the dear +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +child committed to my care, let her sobriety of carriage and +severity of behaviour be such as may make that noble lord, who is +taken with her beauty, turn his designs to such as +are honourable." Here Parisatis heard her niece +nestle closer to the key-hole. She then goes on: +"Make her the joyful mother of a numerous and +wealthy offspring; and let her carriage be such as +may make this noble youth expect the blessings of +a happy marriage, from the singularity of her life, in +this loose and censorious age." Miss, having heard +enough, sneaks off for fear of discovery, and immediately +at her glass, alters the setting of her head; +then pulls up her tucker, and forms herself into the +exact manner of Lindamira; in a word, becomes a sincere convert +to everything that is commendable in a fine young lady; and two +or three such matches as her aunt feigned in her devotions are at +this day in her choice. This is the history and original cause of +Pastorella's conversion from coquetry.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-250.jpg" width="76" height="154" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I scarce remember a greater instance of forbearance in the +usual peevish way with which the aged treat the young than this, +except that of our famous Noy, whose good nature went so far as +to make him put off his admonitions to his son even until after his +death; and did not give him his thoughts of him until he came to +read that memorable passage in his will: "All the rest of my estate," +says he, "I leave to my son Edward, to be squandered as he shall +think fit; I leave it him for that purpose, and hope no better from +him." A generous disdain, and reflection how little he deserved +from so excellent a father, reformed the young man, and made +Edward, from an arrant rake, become a fine gentleman.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 23. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>June 2, 1709</i>.</p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' relates the instance of a lady who had governed +one husband by falling into fits when he opposed her will. Death +released this gentleman, and the lady consoled herself quickly +with a very agreeable successor, whom she determined to manage +by the same method. 'This man knew her little arts, and resolved +to break through all tenderness, and be absolute master as soon as +occasion offered. One day it happened that a discourse arose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +about furniture; he was very glad of the occasion, and fell into an +invective against china, protesting that he would never let five +pounds more of his money be laid out that way as long as he +breathed. She immediately fainted—he starts up, as amazed, and +calls for help—the maids run up to the closet. He chafes her +face, bends her forward, and beats the palms of her hands; her +convulsions increase, and down she tumbles on the floor, where +she lies quite dead, in spite of what the whole family, from the +nursery to the kitchen, could do for her relief. The kind man +doubles his care, helps the servants to throw water into her face +by full quarts; and when the sinking part of the fit came again, +"Well, my dear," says he, "I applaud your action; but none of +your artifices; you are quite in other hands than those you passed +these pretty passions upon. I must take leave of you until you +are more sincere with me: farewell for ever." He was scarce at +the stair-head when she followed, and thanked him for her cure, +which was so absolute that she gave me this relation herself, to be +communicated for the benefit of all the voluntary invalids of her +sex.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-251.jpg" width="238" height="124" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 24. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>June 4, 1709</i>.</p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' is discoursing of 'pretty fellows,' and 'very +pretty fellows,' and enlarging on the qualifications essential to fit +them for the characters.</p> + +<p>'Give me leave, then, to mention three, whom I do not doubt +but we shall see make considerable figures; and these are such as +for their Bacchanalian performances must be admitted into this +order. They are three brothers, lately landed from Holland; as +yet, indeed, they have not made their public entry, but lodge and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +converse at Wapping. They have merited already, on the waterside, +particular titles: the first is called Hogshead; the second, +Culverin; and the third, Musquet. This fraternity is preparing +for our end of the town, by their +ability in the exercises of Bacchus, +and measure their time and merit +by liquid weight and power of +drinking. Hogshead is a prettier +fellow than Culverin, by two +quarts; and Culverin than Musquet, +by a full pint. It is to be +feared Hogshead is so often too +full, and Culverin overloaded, that Musquet will be the only lasting +very pretty fellow of the three.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-252.jpg" width="155" height="123" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 28. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>June 14, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>'<i>To the "Tatler."</i>—Sir,—I desire the favour of you to decide +this question, whether calling a gentleman a smart fellow is an +affront or not? A youth, entering a certain coffee-house, with his +cane tied to his button, wearing red-heeled shoes, I thought of +your description, and could not forbear telling a friend of mine +next to me, "There enters a smart fellow." The gentleman +hearing it, had immediately a mind to pick a quarrel with me, and +desired satisfaction; at which I was more puzzled than at the +other, remembering what mention your familiar makes of those +that had lost their lives on such occasions. The thing is referred +to your judgment; and I expect you to be my second, since you +have been the cause of our quarrel.—I am, Sir, &c.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-252-copy.jpg" width="234" height="121" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Now what possible insinuation can there be, that it is a cause +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +of quarrel for a man to say he allows a gentleman really to be +what his tailor, his hosier, and his milliner have conspired to make +him? I confess, if this person who appeals to me had said he was +"not a smart fellow," there had been cause for resentment.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 34. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>June 28, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff has been working certain wonderful effects by +prescribing his <i>circumspection-water</i>, which has cured Mrs. Spy of +rolling her eyes about in public places. Lady Petulant had made +use of it to cure her husband's jealousy, and Lady Gad has cured +a whole neighbourhood of detraction.</p> + +<p>'The fame of these things,' continues the Censor-General, +'added to my being an old fellow, makes me extremely acceptable +to the fair sex. You would hardly believe me when I tell you +there is not a man in town so much their delight as myself. They +make no more of visiting me than going to Madam Depingle's; +there were two of them, namely, Dainia and Clidamira (I assure +you women of distinction), who came to see me this morning, in +their way to prayers; and being in a very diverting humour (as +innocence always makes people cheerful), they would needs have +me, according to the distinction of pretty and very pretty fellows, +inform them if I thought either of them had a title to the very +pretty among those of their own sex; and if I did, which was the +most deserving of the two?</p> + +<p>'To put them to the trial, "Look ye," said I, "I must not +rashly give my judgment in matters of this importance; pray let +me see you dance; I play upon the kit." They immediately fell +back to the lower end of the room (you may be sure they curtsied +low enough to me), and began. Never were two in the world so +equally matched, and both scholars to my namesake Isaac.<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> + +Never was man in so dangerous a condition as myself, when they +began to expand their charms. "Oh! ladies, ladies," cried I; "not +half that air; you will fire the house!" Both smiled, for, by-the-bye, +there is no carrying a metaphor too far when a lady's charms are +spoken of. Somebody, I think, has called a fine woman dancing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +"a brandished torch of beauty." These rivals move with such an +agreeable freedom that you would believe their gesture was the +necessary effect of the music, and not the product of skill and +practice. Now Clidamira came on with a crowd of graces, and +demanded my judgment with so sweet an air—and she had no +sooner carried it, but Dainia made her utterly forgot, by a gentle +sinking and a rigadoon step. The contest held a full half hour; +and, I protest, I saw no manner of difference in their perfections +until they came up together and expected sentence. "Look ye, +ladies," said I, "I see no difference in the least in your performances; +but you, Clidamira, seem to be so well satisfied that I +should determine for you, that I must give it to Dainia, who +stands with so much diffidence and fear, after showing an equal +merit to what she pretends to. Therefore, Clidamira, you are a +pretty, but, Dainia, you are a very pretty lady; for," said I, +"beauty loses its force if not accompanied with modesty. She +that hath an humble opinion of herself, will have everybody's +applause, because she does not expect it; while the vain creature +loses approbation through too great a sense of deserving it."'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-254.jpg" width="235" height="166" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 36. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 2, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' inserts a letter on termagant wives and sporting +tastes:—</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'Epsom, June 28.</p> + +<p>'It is now almost three weeks since what you writ about happened +in this place. The quarrel between my friends did not run +so high as I find your accounts have made it. You are to understand +that the persons concerned in this scene were Lady Autumn +and Lady Springly. Autumn is a person of good breeding, +formality, and a singular way practised in the last age; and Lady +Springly, a modern impertinent of our sex, who affects as improper +a familiarity as the other does distance. These heroines have +married two brothers, both knights. Springly is the spouse of +the elder, who is a baronet, and Autumn, being a rich widow, has +taken the younger, and her purse endowed him with an equal fortune, +and knighthood of the same order. This jumble of titles, +you need not doubt, has been an aching torment to Autumn, who +took place of the other on no pretence but her carelessness and +disregard of distinction. The secret occasion of envy broiled +long in the breast of Autumn; but no opportunity of contention +on that subject happening, kept all things quiet until the accident +of which you demand an account.</p> + +<p>'It was given out among all the gay people of this place, that +on the ninth instant several damsels, swift of foot, were to run for +a suit of head-cloaths at the Old Wells. Lady Autumn, on this +occasion, invited Springly to go with her in her coach to see the +race. When they came to the place, where the Governor of +Epsom and all his court of citizens were assembled, as well as a +crowd of people of all orders, a brisk young fellow addressed himself +to the younger of the ladies, viz. Springly, and offers her his +services to conduct her into the music-room. Springly accepts +the compliment, and is led triumphantly through a bowing crowd, +while Autumn is left among the rabble, and has much ado to +get back into her coach; but she did it at last, and as it is +usual to see, by the horses, my lady's present disposition, she +orders John to whip furiously home to her husband; where, when +she enters, down she sits, began to unpin her hood, and lament +her foolish fond heart to marry into a family where she was so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +little regarded. Lady Springly, an hour or two after, returns +from the Wells, and finds the whole company together. Down +she sat, and a profound silence ensued. You know a premeditated +quarrel usually begins and works up with the words <i>some +people</i>. The silence was broken by Lady Autumn, who began to +say, "There are some people who fancy, that if some people"—Springly +immediately takes her up, "There are some people who +fancy, if other people"—Autumn repartees, "People may give +themselves airs; but other people, perhaps, who make less ado, +may be, perhaps, as agreeable as people who set themselves out +more." All the other people at the table sat mute, while these +two people, who were quarrelling, went on with the use of the +word <i>people</i>, instancing the very accidents between them, as if they +kept only in distant hints. Therefore, says Autumn, reddening, +"There are some people will go abroad in other people's coaches, +and leave those with whom they went to shift for themselves; and +if, perhaps, those people have married the younger brother, yet, +perhaps, he may be beholden to those people for what he is." +Springly smartly answers, "People may bring so much ill humour +into a family, as people may repent their receiving their money," +and goes on—"Everybody is not considerable enough to give her +uneasiness."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-256.jpg" width="363" height="99" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Upon this Autumn comes up to her, and desired her to kiss +her, and never to see her again; which her sister refusing, my +lady gave her a box on the ear. Springly returns, "Ay, ay," said +she, "I knew well enough you meant me by your some people;" +and gives her another on the other side. To it they went, with +most masculine fury; each husband ran in. The wives immediately +fell upon their husbands, and tore periwigs and cravats. +The company interposed; when (according to the slip-knot of +matrimony, which makes them return to one another when anyone +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +puts in between) the ladies and their husbands fell upon all +the rest of the company; and, having beat all their friends and +relations out of the house, came to themselves time enough to +know there was no bearing the jest of the place after these adventures, +and therefore marched off the next day. It is said, the +governor has sent several joints of mutton, and has proposed +divers dishes, very exquisitely dressed, to bring them down again. +From his address and knowledge in roast and boiled, all our +hopes of the return of this good company depend.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'I am, dear Jenny,<br /> +<span class="i2">'Your ready friend and servant,</span><br /> +<span class="i4">'<span class="smcap">Martha Tatler</span>.'</span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 37. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 5, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' is discoursing of country squires, with fox-hunting +tastes, and how in their rough music of the field they +outdo the best Italian singers for noise and volume. One of +these worthies is described on a visit in genteel society in town. +'Mr. Bellfrey being at a visit where I was, viz. at his cousin's +(Lady Dainty's), in Soho Square, was asked what entertainments +they had in the country. Now, Bellfrey is very ignorant, and +much a clown; but confident withal: in a word, he struck up a +fox-chase; Lady Dainty's dog, Mr. Sippet, as she calls him, +started, jumped out of his lady's lap, and fell a barking. Bellfrey +went on, and called all the neighbouring parishes into the square. +Never was woman in such confusion as that delicate lady; but +there was no stopping her kinsman. A roomful of ladies fell into +the most violent laughter; my lady looked as if she was shrieking; +Mr. Sippet, in the middle of the room, breaking his heart +with barking, but all of us unheard. As soon as Bellfrey became +silent, up gets my lady, and takes +him by the arm, to lead him off. +Bellfrey was in his boots. As she +was hurrying him away, his spurs +take hold of her petticoat; his +whip throws down a cabinet of +china: he cries, "What! are your +crocks rotten? are your petticoats ragged? A man cannot walk +in your house for trincums."'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-257.jpg" width="178" height="86" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 38. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 7, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The practice of duelling had been early discountenanced by +the 'Tatler.' An altercation after a stock-broking transaction was +settled in the fashion thus reported in its pages:—</p> + +<p>'... However, having sold the bear, and words arising about +the delivery, the most noble major, according to method, abused +the other with the titles of rogue, villain, bear-skin man, and the +like. Whereupon satisfaction was demanded and accepted, and +forth they marched to a most spacious room +in the sheriff's house, where, having due regard +to what you have lately published, yet +not willing to put up with affronts without +satisfaction, they stripped and in decent +manner fought full fairly with their wrathful +hands. The combat lasted a quarter of an +hour; in which time victory was often doubtful, until the major, +finding his adversary obstinate, unwilling to give him further chastisement, +with most shrill voice cried out, "I am satisfied! +enough!" whereupon the combat ceased, and both were friends +immediately.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-258.jpg" width="105" height="94" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 41. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 14, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>A battle fought in the very streets of London by the Volunteers +of 1709, from their head-quarters, the Artillery Ground, Moorgate, +is thus described by one of the Grub Street auxiliaries:—</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-258-copy.jpg" width="85" height="137" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Indeed, I am extremely concerned for the lieutenant-general, +who by his overthrow and defeat is made a deplorable instance of +the fortune of war, and the vicissitudes of human +affairs. He, alas! has lost in Beech Lane and +Chiswell Street all the glory he lately gained in and +about Holborn and St. Giles's. The art of sub-dividing +first and dividing afterwards is new and +surprising; and according to this method the troops +are disposed in King's Head Court and Red Lion +Market, nor is the conduct of these leaders less +conspicuous in the choice of the ground or field +of battle. Happy was it that the greatest part of +the achievements of this day was to be performed near Grub +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +Street, that there might not be wanting a sufficient number of +faithful historians who, being eye-witnesses of these wonders, +should impartially transmit them to posterity! but then it can +never be enough regretted that we are left in the dark as to the +name and title of that extraordinary hero who commanded the +divisions in Paul's Alley; especially because those divisions are +justly styled brave, and accordingly were to push the enemy along +Bunhill Row, and thereby occasion a general battle. But Pallas +appeared, in the form of a shower of rain, and prevented the +slaughter and desolation which were threatened by these extraordinary +preparations.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 45. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 23, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff, having paid a visit to Oxford, has spent the +evening with some merry wits, and, after his custom, he relates +the adventures of the evening to furnish a paper for the +'Tatler':—</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-259.jpg" width="201" height="81" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I am got hither safe, but never spent time with so little satisfaction +as this evening; for, you must know, I was five hours with +three merry and two honest fellows. The former sang catches +and the latter even died with laughing at the noise they made. +"Well," says Tom Bellfrey, "you scholars, Mr. Bickerstaff, are +the worst company in the world." "Ay," says his opposite, "you +are dull to-night; prythee, +be merry." With that I +huzzaed, and took a jump +across the table, then came +clever upon my legs, and +fell a laughing. "Let Mr. +Bickerstaff alone," says one of the honest fellows; "when he is in +a good humour, he is as good company as any man in England." +He had no sooner spoke, but I snatched his hat off his head, and +clapped it upon my own, and burst out a laughing again; upon +which we all fell a laughing for half an hour. One of the honest +fellows got behind me in the interim and hit me a sound slap on +the back; upon which he got the laugh out of my hands; and +it was such a twang on my shoulders, that I confess he was +much merrier than I. I was half angry, but resolved to keep +up the good humour of the company; and after hallooing as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +loud as I could possibly, I drank off a bumper of claret that +made me stare again. "Nay," says one of the honest fellows, +"Mr. Isaac is in the right; there is no conversation in this: +what signifies jumping or hitting one another on the back? let +us drink about." We did so from seven of the clock until eleven; +and now I am come hither, and, after the manner of the wise +Pythagoras, began to reflect upon the passages of the day. I remember +nothing but that I am bruised to death; and as it is my +way to write down all the good things I have heard in the last +conversation, to furnish my paper, I can from this only tell you +my sufferings and my bangs.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 46. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 26, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>Aurengezebe, a modern Eastern potentate, is described as +amusing his later years by playing the grand Turk to the Sultanas +of Little Britain.</p> + +<p>'There is,' proceeds the account, 'a street near Covent Garden +known by the name of Drury, which, before the days of Christianity, +was purchased by the Queen of Paphos, and is the only +part of Great Britain where the tenure of vassalage is still in +being.... This seraglio is disposed into convenient alleys and +apartments, and every house, from the cellar to the garret, inhabited +by nymphs of different orders.</p> + +<p>'Here it is that, when Aurengezebe thinks fit to give loose to +dalliance, the purveyors prepare the entertainment; and what +makes it more august is, that every person concerned in the interlude +has his set part, and the prince sends beforehand word what +he designs to say, and directs also the +very answer which shall be made to him.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-260.jpg" width="137" height="97" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The entertainment is introduced by +the matron of the temple; whereon an +unhappy nymph, who is to be supposed +just escaped from the hands of a ravisher, +with her tresses dishevelled, runs into +the room with a dagger in her hand, and falls before the emperor.</p> + +<p>'"Pity, oh! pity, whoever thou art, an unhappy virgin, whom +one of thy train has robbed of her innocence; her innocence, +which was all her portion—or rather let me die like the memorable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +Lucretia!" Upon which she stabs herself. The body is immediately +examined, Lucretia recovers by a cup of right Nantz, and +the matron, who is her next relation, stops all process at law.'</p> + +<p>Similar extraordinary entertainments continue the evening, +which concludes in a distribution of largesse by the fictitious +sultan.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 47. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 28, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' describes an incident of Sir Taffety Trippet, a +fortune-hunter, whose follies, according to Mr. Bickerstaff, are too +gross to give diversion; and whose vanity is +too stupid to let him be sensible that he is a +public offence.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-261.jpg" width="109" height="216" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It happened that, when he first set up for +a fortune-hunter, he chose Tunbridge for the +scene of action, where were at that time two +sisters upon the same design. The knight +believed, of course, the elder must be the +better prize; and consequently makes all +sail that way. People that want sense do +always in an egregious manner want modesty, +which made our hero triumph in +making his amour as public as was possible. +The adored lady was no less vain of his +public addresses. An attorney with one +cause is not half so restless as a woman with one lover. Wherever +they met, they talked to each other aloud, chose each other +partner at balls, saluted at the most conspicuous part of the +service of the church, and practised, in honour of each other, all +the remarkable particularities which are usual for persons who +admire one another, and are contemptible to the rest of the world. +These two lovers seemed as much made for each other as Adam +and Eve, and all pronounced it a match of nature's own making; +but the night before the nuptials, so universally approved, the +younger sister, envious of the good fortune even of her sister, who +had been present at most of the interviews, and had an equal taste +for the charm of a fop, as there are a set of women made for that +order of men; the younger, I say, unable to see so rich a prize +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +pass by her, discovered to Sir Taffety that a coquet air, much +tongue, and three suits was all the portion of his mistress. His +love vanished that moment; himself and equipage the next +morning.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 52. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Aug. 9, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>'<span class="smcap">Delamira resigns her Fan.</span></p> + +<p>'When the beauteous Delamira had published her intention of +entering the bonds of matrimony, the matchless Virgulta, whose +charms had made no satires, thus besought her to confide the +secret of her triumphs:—</p> + +<p>'"Delamira! you are now going into that state of life wherein +the use of your charms is wholly to be applied to the pleasing +only one man. That swimming air of your body, that jaunty +bearing of your head over one shoulder, and that inexpressible +beauty in your manner of playing your fan, must be lowered into +a more confined behaviour, to show that you would rather shun +than receive addresses for the future. Therefore, dear Delamira, +give me those excellences you leave off, and acquaint me with +your manner of charming; for I take the liberty of our friendship +to say, that when I consider my own stature, motion, +complexion, wit, or breeding, I cannot think +myself any way your inferior; yet do I go through +crowds without wounding a man, and all my +acquaintance marry round me while I live a virgin +masked, and I think unregarded."</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-262.jpg" width="78" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Delamira heard her with great attention, and, +with that dexterity which is natural to her, told +her that "all she had above the rest of her sex and contemporary +beauties was wholly owing to a fan (that was left her by her +mother, and had been long in the family), which whoever had in +possession and used with skill, should command the hearts of all +her beholders; and since," said she, smiling, "I have no more to +do with extending my conquests or triumphs, I will make you a +present of this inestimable rarity." Virgulta made her expressions +of the highest gratitude for so uncommon a confidence in her, and +desired she would "show her what was peculiar in the management +of that utensil, which rendered it of such general force when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +she was mistress of it." Delamira replied, "You see, madam, +Cupid is the principal figure painted on it; and the skill in playing +the fan is, in your several motions of it, to let him appear as +little as possible; for honourable lovers fly all endeavours to +ensnare them, and your Cupid must hide his bow and arrow, +or he will never be sure of his game. You observe," continued +she, "that in all public assemblies the sexes seem to separate +themselves, and draw up to attack each other with eye-shot: that +is the time when the fan, which is all the armour of a woman, is +of most use in our defence; for our minds are construed by the +waving of that little instrument, and our thoughts appear in composure +or agitation according to the motion of it."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 57. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Aug. 20, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' transcribes from La Bruyère an extract, which he +introduces as 'one of the most elegant pieces of raillery and +satire.' La Bruyère describes the French as if speaking of a people +not yet discovered, in the air and style of a traveller:—</p> + +<p>'I have heard talk of a country where the old men are gallant, +polite, and civil; the young men, on the contrary, stubborn, wild, +without either manners or civility. Amongst these people, he is +sober who is never drunk with anything but wine; the too frequent +use of it having rendered it flat and insipid to them: they +endeavour by brandy, or other strong liquors, to quicken their +taste, already extinguished, and want nothing to complete their +debauches but to drink aqua-fortis. The women of that country +hasten the decay of their beauty by their artifices +to preserve it; they paint their cheeks, eye-brows, +and shoulders, which they lay open, together with +their breasts, arms, and ears, as if they were afraid +to hide those places which they think will please, +and never think they show enough of them.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-263.jpg" width="79" height="140" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The physiognomies of the people of that +country are not at all neat, but confused and embarrassed +with a bundle of strange hair, which they +prefer before their natural; with this they weave +something to cover their heads, which descends half way down +their bodies, hides their features, and hinders you from knowing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +men by their faces. This nation has, besides this, their god and +their king.</p> + +<p>'The grandees go every day, at a certain hour, to a temple +they call a church: at the upper end of that temple there stands +an altar consecrated to their god, where the priest celebrates some +mysteries which they call holy, sacred, and tremendous. The +great men make a vast circle at the foot of the altar, standing with +their backs to the priests and the holy mysteries, and their faces +erected towards their king, who is seen on his knees upon a +throne, and to whom they seem to direct the desires of their hearts, +and all their devotion. However, in this custom there is to be +remarked a sort of subordination; for the people appear adoring +their prince and their prince adoring God.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 61. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Aug. 30, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff is musing on the degeneracy of the fair, and on +the changes which beauty has undergone since his youth.</p> + +<p>'We have,' he argues, 'no such thing as a standard for good +breeding. I was the other day at my Lady Wealthy's, and asked +one of her daughters how she did. She answered, "She never +conversed with men." The same day I visited at my Lady Plantwell's, +and asked her daughter the same question. She answers, +"What is that to you, you old thief?" and gives me a slap on the +shoulders....</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-264.jpg" width="157" height="125" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I will not answer for it, but it may be that I (like other old +fellows) have a fondness for the fashions and manners which prevailed +when I was young and in +fashion myself. But certain it is +that the taste of youth and beauty +is very much lowered. The fine +women they show me now-a-days +are at best but pretty girls to me +who have seen Sacharissa, when all +the world repeated the poems she +inspired; and Villaria (the Duchess +of Cleveland), when a youthful king was her subject. The <i>things</i> +you follow and make songs on now should be sent to knit, or sit +down to bobbins or bone-lace: they are indeed neat, and so are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +their sempstresses; they are pretty, and so are their handmaids. +But that graceful motion, that awful mien, and that winning +attraction, which grew upon them from the thoughts and conversations +they met with in my time, are now no more seen. They +tell me I am old: I am glad I am so, for I do not like your present +young ladies.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 64. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Sept. 6, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>'"⁂ Lost, from the Cocoa-tree, in Pall +Mall, two Irish dogs, belonging to the pack of +London; one a tall white wolf dog; the other +a black nimble greyhound, not very sound, and +supposed to be gone to the Bath, by instinct, +for cure. The man of the inn from whence they +ran, being now there, is desired, if he meets +either of them, to tie them up. Several others +are lost about Tunbridge and Epsom, which, +whoever will maintain, may keep."'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-265.jpg" width="92" height="141" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 67. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Sept. 13, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' proposes to work upon the post, to establish +a charitable society, from which there shall go every day +circular letters to all parts, within the bills of mortality, to tell +people of their faults in a friendly manner, whereby they may know +what the world thinks of them. An example follows, which had +been already sent, by way of experiment, without success:—</p> + +<p>'"Madam,—Let me beg of you to take off the patches at the +lower end of your left cheek, and I will allow two more under your +left eye, which will contribute more to the symmetry +of your face; except you would please to remove +the two black atoms on your ladyship's chin, and +wear one large patch instead of them. If so, you +may properly enough retain the three patches above +mentioned. I am, &c."</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-265-copy.jpg" width="78" height="101" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This I thought had all the civility and reason +in the world in it; but whether my letters are +intercepted, or whatever it is, the lady patches as she used to do. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +It is observed by all the charitable society, as an instruction in +their epistles, that they tell people of nothing but what is in their +power to mend. I shall give another instance of this way of +writing: two sisters in Essex Street are eternally gaping out of the +window, as if they knew not the value of time, or would call in +companions. Upon which I writ the following line:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>'"Dear Creatures,—On the receipt of this, shut your casements." +</p> +</div> + +<p>'But I went by yesterday, and found them still at the window. +What can a man do in this case, but go in and wrap himself up in +his own integrity, with satisfaction only in this melancholy truth, +that virtue is its own reward; and that if no one is the better for +his admonitions, yet he is himself the more virtuous, in that he +gave those advices?'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 79. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Oct. 11, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff's sister Jenny is going to be married. The +'Tatler' tells the following anecdote, as a warning 'to be above +trifles:'—</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-266.jpg" width="238" height="109" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This, dear Jenny, is the reason that the quarrel between Sir +Harry and his lady, which began about her squirrel, is irreconcilable. +Sir Harry was reading a grave author; she runs into his +study, and, in a playing humour, claps the squirrel upon the folio: +he threw the animal, in +a rage, on the floor; she +snatches it up again, +calls Sir Harry a sour +pedant, without good +nature or good manners. +This cast him +into such a rage, that +he threw down the table before him, kicked the book round the +room, then recollected himself: "Lord, madam," said he, "why +did you run into such expressions? I was," said he, "in the +highest delight with that author when you clapped your squirrel +upon my book;" and smiling, added upon recollection, "I have +a great respect for your favourite, and pray let us be all friends." +My lady was so far from accepting this apology, that she immediately +conceived a resolution to keep him under for ever, and, with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +a serious air, replied, "There is no regard to be had to what a man +says who can fall into so indecent a rage and an abject submission +in the same moment, for which I absolutely despise you." Upon +which she rushed out of the room. Sir Harry stayed some minutes +behind, to think and command himself; after which he followed +her into her bed-chamber, where she was prostrate upon the bed, +tearing her hair, and naming twenty coxcombs who would have +used her otherwise. This provoked him to so high a degree that +he forbade nothing but beating her; and all the servants in the +family were at their several stations listening, whilst the best man +and woman, the best master and mistress, defamed each other in a +way that is not to be repeated even at Billingsgate. You know +this ended in an immediate separation: she longs to return home, +but knows not how to do it; and he invites her home every day. +Her husband requires no submission of her; but she thinks her +very return will argue she is to blame, which she is resolved to be +for ever, rather than acknowledge it.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-267.jpg" width="302" height="332" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 86. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Oct. 27, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>'When I came home last night, my servant delivered me the +following letter:—</p> + +<p>'"Sir,—I have orders from Sir Harry Quickset, of Staffordshire, +Baronet, to acquaint you, that his honour, Sir Harry himself; +Sir Giles Wheelbarrow, Knight; Thomas Rentfree, Esquire, justice +of the quorum; Andrew Windmill, Esquire; and Mr. Nicolas +Doubt, of the Inner Temple, Sir Harry's grandson, will wait upon +you at the hour of nine to-morrow morning, being Tuesday, the +twenty-fifth of October, upon business which Sir Harry will impart +to you by word of mouth. I thought it proper to acquaint you +beforehand, so many persons of quality came, that you might not +be surprised therewith. Which concludes, though by many years' +absence since I saw you at Stafford, unknown, Sir, your most +humble servant,</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'"<span class="smcap">John Thrifty</span>."</p> + +<p>'I received this note with less surprise than I believe Mr. +Thrifty imagined; for I know the good company too well to feel +any palpitations at their approach: but I was in very great concern +how I could adjust the ceremonial, and demean myself to all +these great men, who perhaps had not seen anything above themselves +for these twenty years last past. I am sure that is the case +of Sir Harry. Besides which, I was sensible that there was a great +point in adjusting my behaviour to the simple squire, so as to give +him satisfaction, and not disoblige the justice of the quorum.</p> + +<p>'The hour of nine was come this morning, and I had no +sooner set chairs, by the steward's letter, and fixed my tea-equipage, +but I heard a knock at my door, which was opened, but +no one entered; after which followed a long silence, which was at +last broken by, "Sir, I beg your pardon; I think I know better:" +and another voice, "Nay, good Sir Giles——" I looked out +from my window, and saw the good company all with their hats +off, and arms spread, offering the door to each other. After many +offers, they entered with much solemnity, in the order Mr. Thrifty +was so kind as to name them to me. But they had now got to +my chamber-door, and I saw my old friend Sir Harry enter. I +met him with all the respect due to so reverend a vegetable; for +you are to know that is my sense of a person who remains idle in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +the same place for half a century. I got him with great success +into his chair by the fire, without throwing down any of my cups. +The knight-bachelor told me, "he had a great respect for my +whole family, and would, with my leave, place himself next to Sir +Harry, at whose right hand he had sat at every quarter-sessions +these thirty years, unless he was sick." The steward in the rear +whispered the young templar, "That is true to my knowledge." +I had the misfortune, as they stood cheek by jole, to desire the +squire to sit down before the justice of the quorum, to the no +small satisfaction of the former, and the resentment of the latter. +But I saw my error too late, and got them as soon as I could into +their seats. "Well," said I, "gentlemen, after I have told you +how glad I am of this great honour, I am to desire you to drink a +dish of tea." They answered one and all, "that they never drank +tea of a morning." "Not drink tea of a morning?" said I, staring +round me. Upon which the pert jackanapes, Nic Doubt, tipped +me the wink, and put out his tongue at his grandfather. Here +followed a profound silence, when the steward, in his boots and +whip, proposed, "that we should adjourn to some public house, +where everybody might call for what they pleased, and enter upon +the business." We all stood up in an instant, and Sir Harry filed +off from the left, very discreetly, countermarching behind the +chairs towards the door. After him Sir Giles, in the same manner. +The simple squire made a sudden start to follow; but the justice +of the quorum whipped between upon the stand of the stairs. A +maid, going up with coals, made us halt, and put us into such confusion +that we stood all in a heap, without any visible possibility of +recovering our order; for the young jackanapes seemed to make a +jest of this matter, and had so contrived, by pressing in amongst +us, under pretence of making way, that his grandfather was got +into the middle, and he knew nobody was of quality to stir a step +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +until Sir Harry moved first. We were fixed in this perplexity for +some time, until we heard a very loud noise in the street; and Sir +Harry asking what it was, I, to make them move, said, "it was +fire." Upon this all ran down as fast as they could, without order +or ceremony, until we got into the street, where we drew up in +very good order, and filed down Sheer Lane; the impertinent +templar driving us before him as in a string, and pointing to his +acquaintance who passed by. When we came to Dick's coffee-house +we were at our old difficulty, and took up the street upon +the same ceremony. We proceeded through the entry, and were +so necessarily kept in order by the situation that we were now got +into the coffee-house itself; where, as soon as we arrived, we +repeated our civilities to each other: after which we marched up +to the high table, which has an ascent to it inclosed in the middle +of the room. The whole house was alarmed at this entry, made +up of persons of so much state and rusticity. Sir Harry called for +a mug of ale and "Dyer's Letter." The boy brought the ale in an +instant, but said, "they did not take in the letter." "No!" says +Sir Harry, "then take back your mug; we are like indeed to have +good liquor at this house!" Here the templar tipped me a +second wink, and, if I had not looked very grave upon him, I +found he was disposed to be very familiar with me. In short, I +observed, after a long pause, that the gentlemen did not care to +enter upon business until after their morning draught, for which +reason I called for a bottle of mum; and finding that had no effect +upon them, I ordered a second, and a third; after which Sir +Harry reached over to me, and told me in a low voice, "that place +was too public for business; but he would call upon me again to-morrow +morning at my own lodgings, and bring some more friends +with him."'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-269.jpg" width="224" height="109" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 88. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Nov. 1, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' has been much surprised by the manœuvres of a +studious neighbour.</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'From my own Apartment, October 31.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-271.jpg" width="110" height="443" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I was this morning awakened by a sudden shake of the +house; and as soon as I had got a little out of my consternation, +I felt another, which was followed by two or three repetitions of +the same convulsion. I got up as fast as possible, girt on my rapier, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +and snatched up my hat, when my landlady came up to me, and +told me, "that the gentlewoman of the next house begged me to +step thither, for that a lodger that she had taken in was run mad; +and she desired my advice." I went immediately. Our neighbour +told us, "she had the day before let her +second floor to a very genteel youngish man, +who told her he kept extraordinary good +hours, and was generally at home most part +of the morning and evening at study; but +that this morning he had for an hour together +made this extravagant noise which we +then heard." I went up stairs with my hand +upon the hilt of my rapier, and approached +this new lodger's door. I looked in at the +key-hole, and there I saw a well-made man +look with great attention on a book, and on +a sudden jump into the air so high, that his +head almost touched the ceiling. He came +down safe on his right foot, and again flew +up, alighting on his left; then looked again +at his book, and, holding out his leg, put it +into such a quivering motion, that I thought +that he would have shaken it off. He used +the left after the same manner, when on a +sudden, to my great surprise, he stooped +himself incredibly low, and turned gently on +his toes. After this circular motion, he continued +bent in that humble posture for some +time looking on his book. After this, he recovered +himself with a sudden spring, and +flew round the room in all the violence and +disorder imaginable, until he made a full pause +for want of breath. In this interim my woman +asked "what I thought?" I whispered "that +I thought this learned person an enthusiast, who possibly had his +education in the Peripatetic way, which was a sect of philosophers, +who always studied when walking." Observing him much out of +breath, I thought it the best time to master him if he were disordered, +and knocked at his door. I was surprised to find him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +open it, and say with great civility and good mien, "that he hoped +he had not disturbed us." I believed him in a lucid interval, and +desired "he would please to let me see his book." He did so, +smiling. I could not make anything of it, and, therefore, asked +"in what language it was writ?" He said, "it was one he studied +with great application; but it was his profession to teach it, and +could not communicate his knowledge without a consideration." I +answered that I hoped he would hereafter keep his thoughts to himself, +for his meditations this morning had cost me three coffee dishes +and a clean pipe. He seemed concerned at that, and told me "he +was a dancing master, and had been reading a dance or two before +he went out, which had been written by one who taught at an +academy in France." He observed me at a stand, and informed +me, "that now articulate motions as well as sounds were expressed +by proper characters; and that there is nothing so common as to +communicate a dance by a letter." I besought him hereafter to +meditate in a ground room, for that otherwise it would be impossible +for an artist of any other kind to live near him, and that I +was sure several of his thoughts this morning would have shaken +my spectacles off my nose, had I been myself at study.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 91. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Nov. 8, 1709.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-272.jpg" width="211" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>One of the celebrated beauties of 1709 pays the 'Tatler' a +friendly visit to obtain his counsel on the choice of her future +husband, being perplexed between two suitors—between inclination +on one hand and riches on the other.</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'From my own Apartment, November 7.</p> + +<p>'I was very much surprised this evening with a visit from one +of the top Toasts of the +town, who came privately +in a chair, and bolted +into my room, while I +was reading a chapter of +Agrippa upon the occult +sciences; but, as she entered +with all the air and +bloom that nature ever bestowed on woman, I threw down the +conjurer and met the charmer. I had no sooner placed her at my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +right hand by the fire, but she opened to me the reason of her visit. +"Mr. Bickerstaff," said the fine creature, "I have been your correspondent +some time, though I never saw you before; I have writ +by the name of Maria. You have told me you are too far gone in +life to think of love. Therefore I am answered as to the passion +I spoke of; and," continued she, smiling, "I will not stay until +you grow young again, as you men never fail to do in your dotage; +but am come to consult you as to disposing of myself to another. +My person you see, my fortune is very considerable; but I am at +present under much perplexity how to act in a great conjuncture. I +have two lovers, Crassus and Lorio. Crassus is prodigiously rich, +but has no one distinguishing quality. Lorio has travelled, is well +bred, pleasant in discourse, discreet in his conduct, agreeable in +his person; and with all this, he has a competency of fortune +without superfluity. When I consider Lorio, my mind is filled +with an idea of the great satisfactions of a pleasant conversation. +When I think of Crassus, my equipage, numerous servants, gay +liveries, and various dresses, are opposed to the charms of his +rival. In a word, when I cast my eyes upon Lorio, I forget and +despise fortune; when I behold Crassus, I think only of pleasing +my vanity, and enjoying an uncontrolled expense in all the pleasures +of life, except love."'</p> + +<p>The 'Tatler' naturally advised the lady that the man of her +affections, rather than the lover who could gratify her vanity with +outward show, would afford her the truest happiness, and counselled +her to keep her thoughts of happiness within the means +of her fortune, and not to measure it by comparison with the mere +riches of others.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 93. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Nov. 12, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler,' from his eagerness to promote social reforms, has +succeeded in drawing upon himself numerous challenges from the +individuals who have considered themselves aggrieved by his +writings.</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'From my own Apartment, November 11.</p> + +<p>'I have several hints and advertisements from unknown hands, +that some who are enemies to my labours design to demand the +fashionable way of satisfaction for the disturbance my lucubrations +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +have given them. I confess that as things now stand I do not +know how to deny such inviters, and am preparing myself accordingly. +I have bought pumps, and foils, and am every morning +practising in my chamber. My neighbour, the dancing-master, +has demanded of me, "why I take this liberty since I will not +allow it to him?" but I answered, "his was an act of indifferent +nature, and mine of necessity." My late treatises against duels +have so far disobliged the fraternity of the noble science of defence, +that I can get none of them to show me so much as one pass. I +am, therefore, obliged to learn by book, and have accordingly +several volumes, wherein all the postures are exactly delineated. +I must confess I am shy of letting people see me at this exercise, +because of my flannel waistcoat, and my spectacles, which I +am forced to fix on the better to observe the posture of the +enemy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-274.jpg" width="243" height="99" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I have upon my chamber walls drawn at full length the +figures of all sorts of men, from eight feet to three feet two inches. +Within this height, I take it, that all the fighting men of Great +Britain are comprehended. But as I push, I make allowance for +my being of a lank and spare body, and have chalked out in every +figure my own dimensions; for I scorn to rob any man of his life +by taking advantage of his breadth; therefore, I press purely in a +line down from his nose, and take no more of him to assault than +he has of me; for, to speak impartially, if a lean fellow wounds +a fat one in any part to the right or left, whether it be in <i>carte</i> or in +<i>tierce</i>, beyond the dimensions of the said lean fellow's own breadth, +I take it to be murder, and such a murder as is below a gentleman +to commit. As I am spare, I am also very tall, and behave +myself with relation to that advantage with the same punctilio, +and I am ready to stoop or stand, according to the stature of my +adversary. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span></p> + +<p>'I must confess that I have had great success this morning, +and have hit every figure round the room in a mortal part, without +receiving the least hurt, except a little scratch by falling on my +face, in pushing at one at the lower end of my chamber; but I +recovered so quick, and jumped so nimbly on my guard, that, if he +had been alive, he could not have hurt me. It is confessed I +have written against duels with some warmth; but in all my discourses +I have not ever said that I knew how a gentleman could +avoid a duel if he were provoked to it; and since that custom is +now become a law, I know nothing but the legislative power, with +new animadversions upon it, can put us in a capacity of denying +challenges, though we were afterwards hanged for it. But no more +of this at present. As things stand, I shall put up with no more +affronts; and I shall be so far from taking ill words that I will not +take ill looks. I therefore warn all hot young fellows not to look +hereafter more terrible than their neighbours; for if they stare at +me with their hats cocked higher than other people, I will not bear +it. Nay, I give warning to all people in general to look kindly at +me; for I will bear no frowns, even from ladies; and if any +woman pretends to look scornfully at me, I shall demand satisfaction +of the next of kin of the masculine gender.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 96. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Nov. 19, 1709.</i></p> + +<p>The 'Tatler,' in despair of effecting his object by discouraging +certain acts of foppery, endeavours to carry out his principle by an +opposite course of treatment.</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'From my own Apartment, November 18.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-276.jpg" width="56" height="132" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'When an engineer finds his guns have not had their intended +effect, he changes his batteries. I am forced at present to take +this method; and instead of continuing to write against the singularity +some are guilty of in their habit and behaviour, I shall +henceforth desire them to persevere in it; and not only so, but +shall take it as a favour of all the coxcombs in the town, if they +will set marks upon themselves, and by some particular in their +dress show to what class they belong. It would be very obliging +in all such persons, who feel in themselves that they are not of +sound understanding, to give the world notice of it, and spare +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +mankind the pains of finding them out. A cane upon the fifth +button shall from henceforth be the sign of a dapper; red-heeled +shoes and a hat hung upon one side of the head shall signify a +smart; <i>a good periwig made into a twist, with a brisk cock</i>, shall +speak a mettled fellow; and an upper lip covered +with snuff, a coffee-house statesman. But as it is +required that all coxcombs hang out their signs, it is, +on the other hand, expected that men of real merit +should avoid anything particular in their dress, gait, +or behaviour. For, as we old men delight in proverbs, +I cannot forbear bringing out one on this occasion, +that "good wine needs no bush."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-276-copy.jpg" width="221" height="108" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I must not leave this subject without reflecting +on several persons I have lately met, who at a distance +seem very terrible; but upon a stricter enquiry into their +looks and features, appear as meek and harmless as any of my +neighbours. These are country gentlemen, who of late years have +taken up a humour of coming to town in red coats, whom an +arch wag of my acquaintance used to describe very well by calling +them "sheep in wolves' clothing." I have often wondered that +honest gentlemen, who are good neighbours, and live quietly in +their own possessions, should take it into their heads to frighten +the town after this unreasonable manner. I shall think myself +obliged, if they persist in so unnatural a dress, notwithstanding +any posts they may have in the <i>militia</i>, to give away their red +coats to any of the soldiery who shall think fit to strip them, provided +the said soldiers can make it appear that they belong to a +regiment where there is a deficiency in the clothing. About two +days ago I was walking in the park, and accidentally met a rural +esquire, clothed in all the types above mentioned, with a carriage +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +and behaviour made entirely out of his own head. He was of a +bulk and stature larger than ordinary, had a red coat, flung open +to show a gay calamancho waistcoat. His periwig fell in a very +considerable bush upon each shoulder. His arms naturally swung +at an unreasonable distance from his sides; which, with the +advantage of a cane that he brandished in a great variety of +irregular motions, made it unsafe for any one to walk within +several yards of him. In this manner he took up the whole Mall, +his spectators moving on each side of it, whilst he cocked up his +hat, and marched directly for Westminster. I cannot tell who +this gentleman is, but for my comfort may say, with the lover in +Terence, who lost sight of a fine young lady, "Wherever thou art, +thou canst not be long concealed."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 103. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Dec. 6, 1709.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>These toys will once to serious mischiefs fall,</p> +<p>When he is laughed at, when he's jeer'd by all.</p> + +<p class="i10"><i>Creech</i> (ab Hor., Ars Poet. v. 452).</p> +</div> + +<p>The 'Tatler,' pursuing his vocation as a censor of manners, is +presumed to have established a court, before which all bearers of +canes, snuff-boxes, perfumed handkerchiefs, perspective glasses, +&c., are brought, that they may, upon showing proper cause, have +licences granted for carrying the same; but upon conviction that +these appendages of fashion are adopted merely out of frivolous +show, the articles thus exposed are ordered to become forfeited.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-277.jpg" width="238" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Having despatched this set of my petitioners, the bearers of +canes, there came in a well-dressed man, with a glass tube in one +hand, and his petition in the other. Upon his entering the room, +he <i>threw back the right side of his wig</i>, put forward his left leg, +and advancing the glass to his right eye, aimed it directly at me. +In the meanwhile, to make my observations also, I put on my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +spectacles; in which posture we surveyed each other for some +time. Upon the removal of our glasses, I desired him to read his +petition, which he did very promptly and easily; though at the +same time it sets forth "that he could see nothing distinctly, and +was within very few degrees of being utterly blind," concluding, +with a prayer, "that he might be permitted to strengthen his sight +by a glass." In answer to this, I told him "he might sometimes +extend it to his own destruction. As you are now," said I, "you +are out of the reach of beauty; the shafts of the finest eyes lose +their force before they can come at you; you cannot distinguish a +Toast from an orange-wench; you can see a whole circle of beauty +without any interruption from an impertinent face to discompose +you. In short, what are snares for others"—my petitioner would +hear no more, but told me very seriously, "Mr. Bickerstaff, you +quite mistake your man; it is the joy, the pleasure, the employment +of my life to frequent public assemblies and gaze upon the +fair." In a word, I found his use of a glass was occasioned by no +other infirmity but his vanity, and was not so much designed to +make him see as to make him be seen and distinguished by +others. I therefore refused him a licence for a perspective, but +allowed him a pair of spectacles, with full permission to use them +in any public assembly as he should think fit. He was followed +by so very few of this order of men, that I have reason to hope +that this sort of cheat is almost at an end.</p> + +<p>'Little follies in dress and behaviour lead to greater evils. +The bearing to be laughed at for such singularity teaches us +insensibly an impertinent fortitude, and enables us to bear public +censure for things that most substantially deserve it. By this +means they open a gate to folly, and often render a man so ridiculous +as to discredit his virtues and capacities, and unqualify him +from doing any good in the world. Besides, the giving in to uncommon +habits of this nature, it is a want of that humble deference +which is due to mankind, and, what is worst of all, the certain +indication of some secret flaw in the mind of the person that +commits them.</p> + +<p>'When I was a young man, I remember a gentleman of great +integrity and worth was very remarkable for wearing a broad belt +and a hanger instead of a fashionable sword, though in other +points a very well-bred man. I suspected him at first sight to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +have something wrong in him, but was not able for a long time to +discover any collateral proofs of it. I watched him narrowly for +six-and-thirty years, when at last, to the surprise of everybody but +myself, who had long expected to see the folly break out, he +married his own cook-maid.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-279.jpg" width="228" height="204" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 108. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Dec. 17, 1709.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Thus while the mute creation downward bend</p> +<p>Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend,</p> +<p>Man looks aloft, and with erected eyes</p> +<p>Beholds his own hereditary skies.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>The 'Tatler,' for a little rational recreation, has visited the +theatre, hoping to enlarge his ideas; but even in 1709 we find +a passion for mere acrobatic exhibitions engaging and corrupting +the popular taste.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-280.jpg" width="127" height="174" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'While I was in suspense, expecting every moment to see my +old friend Mr. Betterton appear in all the majesty of distress, to +my unspeakable amazement there came up a monster with a face +between his feet, and as I was looking on he raised himself on one +leg in such a perpendicular posture that the other grew in a direct +line above his head. It afterwards twisted itself into the motions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +and writhings of several different animals, and, after a great variety +of shapes and transformations, went off the stage in the figure of a +human creature. The admiration, the +applause, the satisfaction of the audience, +during this strange entertainment, is not +to be expressed. I was very much out of +countenance for my dear countrymen, and +looked about with some apprehension, for +fear any foreigner should be present. Is it +possible, thought I, that human nature +can rejoice in its disgrace, and take pleasure +in seeing its own figure turned to +ridicule and distorted into forms that raise +horror and aversion!'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 109. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Dec. 20, 1709.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i2">In this giddy, busy maze,</p> +<p>I lose the sunshine of my days.—<i>Francis.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>A fine lady has condescended to consult the 'Tatler' on a +trifling matter; the solemnity of her state—an admirable picture +of the equipage of a fine lady of that period—electrifies the philosopher +and amazes his simple neighbours.</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'Sheer Lane, December 19.</p> + +<p>'There has not some years been such a tumult in our neighbourhood +as this evening, about six. At the lower end of the +lane, the word was given that there was a great funeral coming by. +The next moment came forward, in a very hasty instead of a +solemn manner, a long train of lights, when at last a footman, in +very high youth and health, with all his force, ran through the +whole art of beating the door of the house next to me, and ended +his rattle with the true finishing rap. This did not only bring one +to the door at which he knocked, but to that of everyone in the +lane in an instant. Among the rest, my country-maid took the +alarm, and immediately running to me, told me "there was a fine, +fine lady, who had three men with burial torches making way +before her, carried by two men upon poles, with looking-glasses +each side of her, and one glass also before, she herself appearing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +the prettiest that ever was." The girl was going on in her story, +when the lady was come to my door in her chair, having mistaken +the house. As soon as she entered I saw she was Mr. Isaac's +scholar, by her speaking air, and the becoming stop she made +when she began her apology. "You will be surprised, sir," said +she, "that I take this liberty, who am utterly a stranger to you; +besides that, it may be thought an indecorum that I visit a man." +She made here a pretty hesitation, and held her fan to her face. +Then, as if recovering her resolution, she proceeded, "But I think +you have said, that men of your age are of no sex; therefore, I +may be as free with you as with one of my own."'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-281.jpg" width="351" height="158" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The fine lady consults Mr. Bickerstaff on a trivial subject; she +then describes to him the honour he should esteem her visit; the +number of calls she is compelled to make, out of custom or ceremony, +taking her miles round; several acquaintances on her visiting +list having been punctually called on every week, and yet +never seen for more than a year. Then follows an account of a +visiting list for 1708:—</p> + +<table summary="Account of Visiting List"> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">Mrs. Courtwood—<i>Debtor.</i></td> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">Per contra—<i>Creditor.</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>To seventeen hundred and four visits received</td> +<td class="tdr">1704</td> +<td>By eleven hundred and nine paid</td> +<td class="tdr">1109</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td>Due to balance</td> +<td class="tdr">595—1704</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 111. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Dec. 24, 1709.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Oh! mortal man, thou that art born in sin!</p> + +<p class="i10"><i>The Bellman's Midnight Homily.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-282.jpg" width="170" height="154" alt="" /> +</div> +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff is meditating on mental infirmities; after examining +the faults of others, he is disposed to philosophise on his +own bad propensities, and his cautiousness to keep them within +reasonable subjection.</p> + +<p>'I have somewhere either read or heard a very memorable +sentence, "that a man would be a most insupportable monster, +should he have the faults that are incident to his years, constitution, +profession, family, religion, age, and country;" and yet +every man is in danger of them all. For this reason, as I am an +old man, I take particular care to avoid being covetous, and telling +long stories. As I am choleric, I forbear not only swearing, +but all interjections of fretting, as pugh! or pish! and the like. +As I am a lay-man, I resolve not to conceive an aversion for a +wise and good man, because his +coat is of a different colour from +mine. As I am descended of +the ancient family of the Bickerstaffs, +I never call a man of +merit an upstart. As a Protestant, +I do not suffer my zeal +so far to transport me as to +name the Pope and the Devil +together. As I am fallen into +this degenerate age, I guard myself +particularly against the folly +I have now been speaking of. As I am an Englishman, I am +very cautious not to hate a stranger, or despise a poor palatine.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 116. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>Jan. 5, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-283.jpg" width="182" height="146" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The 'Tatler,' still maintaining his court for the examination of +frivolities in costume, is engaged in giving judgment on female +fashions. The hooped petticoat is the subject before his worshipful +board. A fair offender has been captured, and stripped of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +her encumbrances until she is reduced to dimensions which will +allow her to enter the house; the petticoat is then hung up to +the roof—its ample dimensions covering the entire court like a +canopy. The late wearer had the sense to confess that she 'should +be glad to see an example made of it, that she wore it for no +other reason but that she had a mind to look as big and burly as +other persons of her quality, and that she kept out of it as long as +she could and until she began to appear little in the eyes of her +acquaintance.' After hearing arguments concerning the encouragement +the wearing of these monstrous appendages offered to the +woollen manufacturers, to the rope and cord makers, and to the +whalebone fisheries of Greenland, the 'Tatler' pronounced his +decision that the expense thus entailed on fathers and husbands, +and the prejudice to the ladies themselves, 'who could never +expect to have any money in the pocket if they laid out so much +on the petticoat,' together with the fact that since the introduction +of these garments several persons of quality were in the habit of +cutting up their cast gowns to strengthen their stiffening, instead +of bestowing them as perquisites or in charity, determined him to +seize the petticoat as a forfeiture, to be sent as a present to a +widow gentlewoman, who had five daughters, to be made into +petticoats for each, the remainder to be returned to be cut up into +stomachers and caps, facings for waistcoat sleeves, and other garniture. +He thus concludes: 'I consider woman as a beautiful, +romantic animal, that may be adorned with furs and feathers, +pearls and diamonds, ores and +silks. The lynx shall cast its +skin at her feet to make her a +tippet; the peacock, parrot, and +swan shall pay contributions to +her muff; the sea shall be +searched for shells, and the +rocks for gems; and every part +of nature furnish out its share +towards the embellishment of a +creature that is the most consummate work of it. All this I shall +indulge them in; but as for the petticoat I have been speaking of +I neither can nor will allow it.'</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 145. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>March 14, 1710.</i></p> + +<p class="center">Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.—<i>Virg. Ecl.</i> III. 103.</p> + +<p class="center">Ah! what ill eyes bewitch my tender lambs?</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-284.jpg" width="191" height="117" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This paper was allotted for taking into consideration a late +request of two indulgent parents, touching the care of a young +daughter, whom they design to send to a boarding-school, or keep +at home, according to my determination; but I am diverted from +that subject by letters which I have received from several ladies, +complaining of a certain sect of professed enemies to the repose +of the fair sex, called oglers. These are, it seems, gentlemen who +look with deep attention on one object at the playhouses, and are +ever staring all round them in churches. It is urged by my correspondents, +that they do all +that is possible to keep their +eyes off these ensnarers; but +that, by what power they +know not, both their diversions +and devotions are interrupted +by them in such a manner as that they cannot +attend to either, without stealing +looks at the persons whose eyes are fixed upon them. By this +means, my petitioners say, they find themselves grow insensibly +less offended, and in time enamoured of these their enemies. +What is required of me on this occasion is, that as I love and +study to preserve the better part of mankind, the females, I would +give them some account of this dangerous way of assault; against +which there is so little defence, that it lays ambush for the sight +itself, and makes them seeingly, knowingly, willingly, and forcibly +go on to their own captivity. The naturalists tell us that the +rattlesnake will fix himself under a tree where he sees a squirrel +playing; and when he has once got the exchange of a glance +from the pretty wanton, will give it such a sudden stroke on its +imagination, that though it may play from bough to bough, and +strive to avert its eyes from it for some time, yet it comes nearer +and nearer, by little intervals looking another way, until it drops +into the jaws of the animal, which it knew gazed at it for no other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +reason but to ruin it. I did not believe this piece of philosophy +until the night when I made my observations of the play of eyes at +the opera, where I then saw the same thing pass between an ogler +and a coquette.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 146. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>March 16, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Intrust thy fortune to the Powers above;</p> +<p>Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant</p> +<p>What their unerring wisdom sees thee want:</p> +<p>In wisdom as in greatness they excel;</p> +<p>Ah! that we lov'd ourselves but half so well!</p> +<p>We, blindly by our headstrong passions led,</p> +<p>Are hot for action, and desire to wed;</p> +<p>Then wish for heirs, but to the gods alone</p> +<p>Our future offspring and our wives are known.</p> + +<p class="i10"><i>Juv. Sat., Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div></div> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-285.jpg" width="169" height="170" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'As I was sitting after dinner +in my elbow-chair, I took up +Homer, and dipped into that +famous speech of Achilles to +Priam,<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> + in which he tells him +that Jupiter has by him two great +vessels, the one filled with blessings, +and the other with misfortunes; +out of which he mingles +a composition for every man that +comes into the world. This passage +so exceedingly pleased me, that, as I fell insensibly into my +afternoon's slumber, it wrought my imagination into the following +dream:— +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span></p> + +<p>'When Jupiter took into his hands the government of the +world, the several parts of nature with the presiding deities did +homage to him. One presented him with a mountain of winds, +another with a magazine of hail, and a third with a pile of thunderbolts. +The Stars offered up their influences; Ocean gave his +trident, Earth her fruits, and the Sun his seasons.</p> + +<p>'Among others the Destinies advanced with two great urns, +one of which was fixed on the right hand of Jove's throne, and the +other on the left. The first was filled with all the blessings, the +second with all the calamities, of human life. Jupiter, in the +beginning of his reign, poured forth plentifully from the right +hand; but as mankind, degenerating, became unworthy of his +blessings, he broached the other vessel, which filled the earth +with pain and poverty, battles and distempers, jealousy and falsehood, +intoxicating pleasures and untimely deaths. He finally, in +despair at the depravity of human nature, resolved to recall his +gifts and lay them in store until the world should be inhabited by +a more deserving race.</p> + +<p>'The three sisters of Destiny immediately repaired to the +earth in search of the several blessings which had been scattered +over it, but found great difficulties in their task. The first places +they resorted to, as the most likely of success, were cities, palaces, +and courts; but instead of meeting with what they looked for +here, they found nothing but envy, repining, uneasiness, and the +like bitter ingredients of the left-hand vessel; whereas, to their +great surprise, they discovered content, cheerfulness, health, innocence, +and other the most substantial blessings of life, in cottages, +shades, and solitudes. In other places the blessings had been +converted into calamities, and misfortunes had become real +benefits, while in many cases the two had entered into alliance. In +their perplexity the Destinies were compelled to throw all the blessings +and calamities into one vessel, and leave them to Jupiter to +use his own discretion in their future distribution.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 148. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>March 21, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>They ransack ev'ry element for choice</p> +<p>Of ev'ry fish and fowl, at any price.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'I may, perhaps, be thought extravagant in my notion; but I +confess I am apt to impute the dishonours that sometimes happen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +in great families to the inflaming diet which is so much in fashion. +For this reason we see the florid complexion, the strong limb, and +the hale constitution are to be found among the meaner sort of +people, or in the wild gentry who have been educated among the +woods or mountains; whereas many great families are insensibly +fallen off from the athletic constitution of their progenitors, and are +dwindled away into a pale, sickly, spindle-legged generation of +valetudinarians.</p> + +<p>'I look upon a French ragoût to be as pernicious to the +stomach as a glass of spirits; and when I see a young lady +swallow all the instigations of high soups, seasoned sauces, and +forced meats, I have wondered at the despair or tedious sighing +of her lovers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-287.jpg" width="278" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The rules among these false delicates are, to be as contradictory +as they can be to nature. They admit of nothing at their +tables in its natural form, or without some disguise. They are to +eat everything before it comes in season, and to leave it off as +soon as it is good to be eaten.</p> + +<p>'I remember I was last summer invited to a friend's house, +who is a great admirer of the French cookery, and, as the phrase +is, "eats well." At our sitting down, I found the table covered +with a great variety of unknown dishes. I was mightily at a loss +to learn what they were, and therefore did not know where to help +myself. That which stood before me I took to be roasted porcupine—however, +I did not care for asking questions—and have since +been informed that it was only a larded turkey. I afterwards +passed my eye over several hashes, which I do not know the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +names of to this day; and, hearing that they were delicacies, did +not think fit to meddle with them. Among other dainties, I saw +something like a pheasant, and therefore desired to be helped to a +wing of it; but to my great surprise, my friend told me it was a +rabbit, which is a sort of meat I never cared for. Even the +dessert was so pleasingly devised and ingeniously arranged that I +cared not to displace it.</p> + +<p>'As soon as this show was over, I took my leave, that I might +finish my dinner at my own house; for as I in everything love +what is simple and natural, so particularly my food. Two plain +dishes, with two or three good-natured, cheerful, ingenuous +friends, would make me more pleased and vain than all that +pomp and luxury can bestow; for it is my maxim that "he keeps +the greatest table who has the most valuable company at it."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 155. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>April 17, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>When he had lost all business of his own,</p> +<p>He ran in quest of news through all the town.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'There lived some years since, within my neighbourhood, a +very grave person, an upholsterer,<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> + who seemed a man of more +than ordinary application to business. He was a very early riser, +and was often abroad two or three hours before any of his neighbours. +He had a particular carefulness in the knitting of his +brows, and a kind of impatience in all his motions, that plainly +discovered he was always intent upon matters of importance. +Upon my inquiry into his life and conversation, I found him to be +the greatest newsmonger in our quarter; that he rose before day +to read the "Postman;" and that he would take two or three +turns to the other end of the town before his neighbours were up, +to see if there were any Dutch mails come in. He had a wife and +several children; but was much more inquisitive to know what +passed in Poland than in his own family, and was in greater pain +and anxiety of mind for King Augustus's welfare than that of his +nearest relations. He looked extremely thin in a dearth of news, +and never enjoyed himself in a westerly wind. This indefatigable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +kind of life was the ruin of his shop; for, about the time that his +favourite prince left the crown of Poland, he broke and disappeared.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-289.jpg" width="368" height="145" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This man and his affairs had been long out of my mind, until +about three days ago, as I was walking in St. James's Park, I +heard somebody at a distance hemming after me; and who should +it be but my old neighbour the upholsterer! I saw he was +reduced to extreme poverty, by certain shabby superfluities in his +dress; for notwithstanding that it was a very sultry day for the +time of the year, he wore a loose great-coat and a muff, with a +long campaign wig out of curl; to which he had added the ornament +of a pair of black garters buckled under the knee. Upon +his coming up to me, I was going to inquire into his present +circumstances; but I was prevented by his asking me, with a +whisper, "whether the last letters brought any accounts that one +might rely upon from Bender." I told him, "None that I heard +of;" and asked him "whether he had yet married his eldest +daughter." He told me, "No; but pray," says he, "tell me sincerely, +what are your thoughts of the King of Sweden?" For, +though his wife and children were starving, I found his chief concern +at present was for this great monarch. I told him "that I +looked upon him as one of the first heroes of the age." "But +pray," says he, "do you think there is any truth in the story of his +wound?" And finding me surprised at the question, "Nay," says +he, "I only propose it to you." I answered "that I thought +there was no reason to doubt of it." "But why in the heel," says +he, "more than in any other part of the body?" "Because," +said I, "the bullet chanced to light there."</p> + +<p>'We were now got to the upper end of the Mall, where were +three or four very odd fellows sitting together upon the bench. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +These I found were all of them politicians, who used to sun themselves +in that place every day about dinner-time. Observing them +to be curiosities in their kind, and my friend's acquaintance, I sat +down among them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-290.jpg" width="235" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The chief politician of the bench was a great asserter of paradoxes. +He told us, with a seeming concern, "that, by some +news he had lately read from Muscovy, it appeared to him that +there was a storm gathering in the Black Sea, which might in time +do hurt to the naval forces of this nation." To this he added, +"that, for his part, he could not wish to see the Turk driven out +of Europe, which, he believed, could not but be prejudicial to our +woollen manufacture."</p> + +<p>'He backed his assertions with so many broken hints and +such a show of depth and wisdom, that we gave ourselves up to +his opinions. The discourse at length fell upon a point which +seldom escapes a knot of true-born Englishmen; whether, in case +of a religious war, the Protestants would not be too strong for the +Papists. This we unanimously determined on the Protestant side.<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +</p> + +<p>'When we had fully discussed this point, my friend the upholsterer +began to exert himself upon the present negotiations of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +peace; in which he deposed princes, settled the bounds of kingdoms, +and balanced the power of Europe, with great justice and +impartiality.</p> + +<p>'I at length took my leave of the company, and was going +away; but had not gone thirty yards before the upholsterer +hemmed again after me. Upon his advancing towards me with a +whisper, I expected to hear some secret piece of news, which he +had not thought fit to communicate to the bench; but, instead of +that, he desired me in my ear to lend him half-a-crown. In compassion +to so needy a statesman, and to dissipate the confusion I +found he was in, I told him, "if he pleased, I would give him five +shillings, to receive five pounds of him when the great Turk was +driven out of Constantinople;" which he very readily accepted, +but not before he had laid down to me the impossibility of such +an event as the affairs of Europe now stand.</p> + +<p>'This paper I design for the peculiar benefit of those worthy +citizens who live more in a coffee-house than in their shops, and +whose thoughts are so taken up with foreign affairs that they +forget their customers.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 163. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>April 25, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Suffenus has no more wit than a mere clown, when he attempts to write +verses; and yet he is never happier than when he is scribbling; so much does +he admire himself and his compositions. And, indeed, this is the foible of +every one of us; for there is no man living who is not a Suffenus in one thing +or other.—<i>Catul. de Suffeno</i>, XX. 14. +</p> +</div> + +<p>'I yesterday came hither about two hours before the company +generally make their appearance, with a design to read over all +the newspapers; but, upon my sitting down, I was accosted by +Ned Softly, who saw me from a corner in the other end of the +room, where I found he had been writing something. "Mr. +Bickerstaff," says he, "I observe, by a late paper of yours, that +you and I are just of a humour; for you must know, of all impertinences, +there is nothing which I so much hate as news. I never +read a gazette in my life; and never trouble my head about our +armies, whether they win or lose, or in what part of the world they +lie encamped." Without giving me time to reply, he drew a +paper of verses out of his pocket, telling me "that he had something +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +that would entertain me more agreeably; and that he would +desire my judgment upon every line, for that we had time enough +before us until the company came in."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-292.jpg" width="342" height="149" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Finding myself unavoidably engaged in such a conversation, +I was resolved to turn my pain into a pleasure and to divert +myself as well as I could with <i>so very odd</i> a fellow. "You must +understand," says Ned, "that the sonnet I am going to read to +you was written upon a lady, who showed me some verses of her +own making, and is, perhaps, the best <i>poet</i> of our age. But you +shall hear it."</p> + +<p>'Upon which he began to read as follows:—</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">To Mira, on her incomparable Poems.</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="center">1.</p> + +<p>When dress'd in laurel wreaths you shine,</p> +<p class="i1">And tune your soft melodious notes,</p> +<p>You seem a sister of the Nine,</p> +<p class="i1">Or Phœbus' self in petticoats.</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="center">2.</p><p>I fancy when your song you sing</p> +<p class="i1">(Your song you sing with so much art)</p> +<p>Your pen was pluck'd from Cupid's wing;</p> +<p class="i1">For, ah! it wounds me like a dart.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'"Why," says I, "this is a little nosegay of conceits, a very +lump of salt. Every verse has something in it that piques; and +then the <i>dart</i> in the last line is certainly as pretty a sting on the +tail of an epigram, for so I think you critics call it, as ever entered +into the thought of a poet." "Dear Mr. Bickerstaff," says he, +shaking me by the hand, "everybody knows you to be a judge of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +these things; and, to tell you truly, I read over Roscommon's +'Translation of Horace's Art of Poetry' three several times before +I sat down to write the sonnet which I have shown you. But +you shall hear it again, and pray observe every line of it; for not +one of them shall pass without your approbation. My friend +Dick Easy," continued he, "assured me he would rather have +written that '<i>Ah!</i>' than to have been the author of the 'Æneid.'</p> + +<p>'"He indeed objected that I made Mira's pen like a quill in one +of the lines and like a dart in the other." "But as to that—oh! +as to that," says I, "it is but supposing Cupid to be like a porcupine, +and his quills and darts will be the same thing." He was +going to embrace me for the hint; but half-a-dozen critics coming +into the room, whose faces he did not like, he conveyed the +sonnet into his pocket, and whispered me in the ear, "he would +show it me again as soon as his man had written it over fair."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 178. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>May 30, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-293.jpg" width="62" height="156" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'When we look into the delightful history of the most ingenious +Don Quixote of La Mancha, and consider the exercises and +manner of life of that renowned gentleman, we cannot +but admire the exquisite genius and discerning spirit +of Michael Cervantes; who has not only painted his +adventurer with great mastery in the conspicuous +parts of his story, which relate to love and honour, +but also intimated in his ordinary life, in his economy +and furniture, the infallible symptoms he gave of his +growing phrenzy, before he declared himself a knight-errant. +His hall was furnished with old lances, halberds, +and morions; his food, lentiles; his dress, +amorous. He slept moderately, rose early, and spent +his time in hunting. When by watchfulness and exercise he was +thus qualified for the hardships of his intended peregrinations, he +had nothing more to do but to fall hard to study; and, before he +should apply himself to the practical part, get into the methods of +making love and war by reading books of knighthood. As for +raising tender passions in him, Cervantes reports that he was wonderfully +delighted with a smooth intricate sentence; and when +they listened at his study-door, they could frequently hear him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +read aloud, "The reason of the unreasonableness, which against +my reason is wrought, doth so weaken my reason, as with all +reason I do justly complain of your beauty." Again he would +pause until he came to another charming sentence, and, with the +most pleasing accent imaginable, be loud at a new paragraph: +"The high heavens, which, with your divinity, do fortify you +divinely with the stars, make you deserveress of the deserts that +your greatness deserves." With these and other such passages, +says my author, the poor gentleman grew distracted, and was +breaking his brains day and night to understand and unravel their +sense.</p> + +<p>'What I am now warning the people of is, that the newspapers +of this island are as pernicious to weak heads in England as ever +books of chivalry to Spain; and therefore shall do all that in me +lies, with the utmost care and vigilance imaginable, to prevent +these growing evils.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Bickerstaff goes on to describe the private Bedlam he has +provided for such as are seized with these <i>rabid</i> political <i>maladies</i>.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 186. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>June 17, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Virtue alone ennobles human kind,</p> +<p>And power should on her glorious footsteps wait.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'There is nothing more necessary to establish reputation than +to suspend the enjoyment of it. He that cannot bear the sense of +merit with silence, must of necessity destroy it; for fame being +the general mistress of mankind, whoever gives it to himself insults +all to whom he relates any circumstances to his own advantage. +He is considered as an open ravisher of that beauty for whom all +others pine in silence. But some minds are so incapable of any +temperance in this particular, that <i>on every second</i> in their discourse +you may observe an earnestness in their eyes which shows they +wait for your approbation; and perhaps the next instant cast an +eye in a glass to see how they like themselves.</p> + +<p>'Walking the other day in a neighbouring inn of court, I saw +a more happy and more graceful orator than I ever before had +heard or read of. A youth of about nineteen years of age was in +an Indian dressing-gown and laced cap, pleading a cause before +a glass. The young fellow had a very good air, and seemed to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +hold his brief in his hand rather to help his action, than that he +wanted notes for his further information. When I first began to +observe him, I feared he would soon +be alarmed; but he was so zealous +for his client, and so favourably received +by the court, that he went on +with great fluency to inform the +bench that he humbly hoped they +would not let the merit of the cause +suffer by the youth and inexperience +of the pleader; that in all things he +submitted to their candour; and modestly desired they would not +conclude but that strength of argument and force of reason may +be consistent with grace of action and comeliness of person.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-295.jpg" width="171" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'To me (who see people every day in the midst of crowds, +whomsoever they seem to address, talk only to themselves and of +themselves) this orator was not so extravagant a man as perhaps +another would have thought him; but I took part in his success, +and was very glad to find he had in his favour judgment and costs, +without any manner of opposition.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 204. <span class="smcap">The 'Tatler.'</span>—<i>July 29, 1710.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>He with rapture hears</p> +<p>A title tingling in his tender ears.</p> +<p class="i10"><i>Francis's Horace, Sat.</i> V. 32.</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-295-copy.jpg" width="203" height="92" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Were distinctions used according +to the rules of reason +and sense, those additions +to men's names would be, +as they were first intended, +significant of their worth, and +not their persons; so that in +some cases it might be proper to say of a deceased ambassador, +"The man is dead; but his excellency will never die." It is, +methinks, very unjust to laugh at a Quaker, because he has taken +up a resolution to treat you with a word the most expressive of +complaisance that can be thought of, and with an air of good-nature +and charity calls you <i>Friend</i>. I say, it is very unjust to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +rally him for this term to a stranger, when you yourself, in all your +phrases of distinction, confound phrases of honour into no use at all.</p> + +<p>'Tom Courtly, who is the pink of courtesy, is an instance of +how little moment an undistinguishing application of sounds of +honour are to those who understand themselves. Tom never fails +of paying his obeisance to every man he sees who has title or +office to make him conspicuous; but his deference is wholly given +to outward considerations. I, who know him, can tell him within +half an acre how much land one man has more than another by +Tom's bow to him. Title is all he knows of honour, and civility +of friendship; for this reason, because he cares for no man living, +he is religiously strict in performing, what he calls, his respects to +you. To this end he is very learned in pedigree, and will abate +something in the ceremony of his approaches to a man, if he is in +any doubt about the bearing of his coat of arms. What is the +most pleasant of all his character is, that he acts with a sort of +integrity in these impertinences; and though he would not do any +solid kindness, he is wonderfully just and careful not to wrong his +quality. But as integrity is very scarce in the world, I cannot +forbear having respect for the impertinent: it is some virtue to be +bound by anything. Tom and I are upon very good terms, for +the respect he has for the house of Bickerstaff. Though one +cannot but laugh at his serious consideration of things so little +essential, one must have a value even for a frivolous good conscience.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-296.jpg" width="420" height="261" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Extracts of Characteristic Passages from the Works of 'The Humourists,' from +Thackeray's Library, illustrated with Original Marginal Sketches by the +Author's Hand—The Series of <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian</span>,' 1713—Introduction—Steele's +Programme—Authors who contributed to the 'Guardian'—Paragraphs +and Pencillings. +</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Introduction to The 'Guardian.'</span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-297.jpg" width="228" height="287" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The seventh volume of the 'Spectator,' +originally intended to be the last, was +concluded Dec. 6, 1712, and the first +paper of the 'Guardian' made its appearance +March 12, 1713. This work +had been actually projected by Steele +before the conclusion of the 'Spectator.' +In a letter to Pope, dated +Nov. 12, 1712, he thus announces his +intention: 'I desire you would let me +know whether you are at leisure or +not. I have a design which I shall +open in a month or two hence, with +the assistance of a few like yourself. If your thoughts are unengaged, +I shall explain myself further.'</p> + +<p>It appears that Steele undertook this work without any previous +concert with his illustrious colleague, and that he pursued it for +many weeks with vigour and assiduity, and with very little assistance +from his friends or from the letter-box.</p> + +<p>The views of our essayists in the choice of a name have been +either to select one that did not pledge them to any particular +plan, or one that expressed humility, or promised little, and might +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +afterwards excite an agreeable surprise by its unexpected fertility. +Of the former class are the 'Spectator,' 'World,' 'Mirror;' of the +latter class are the 'Tatler,' 'Rambler,' 'Idler,' 'Adventurer,' &c. +The 'Connoisseur' is a name of some danger, because of great +promise; and the 'Guardian' might perhaps have been liable to +the same objection, if 'Nestor Ironside' had not tempered the +austerity of the preceptor with the playfulness of the friend and +companion, and partaken of the amusements of his pupils while +he provided for their instruction. And with respect to his 'literary +speculations, as well as his merriment and burlesque,' we may +surely allow him some latitude, when we consider that the public +at large were put under his guardianship, and that the demand for +variety became consequently more extensive. The 'Guardian'—which +was in effect a continuation of the 'Spectator' under +another name—was published daily until Oct. 1, 1713, No. 175, +when it was abruptly closed by Steele, in consequence of a quarrel +between him and Tonson, the bookseller. Pope informs us that +Steele stood engaged to his publisher in articles of penalty for all +the 'Guardians;' and by desisting two days, and altering the title +of the paper, was quit of the obligation. Steele started the +'Englishman,' which was printed for Buckley, with a view of +carrying his politics into a new paper in which they might be in +place. Steele behaved vindictively to Tonson, and ruthlessly +destroyed the original publisher's legitimate rights of proprietorship +in the joint enterprise by advertising the 'Englishman' <i>as the +sequel</i> of the 'Guardian.'</p> + +<p>In his first paper he likewise declared that he had 'for valuable +considerations purchased the lion<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> + (frequently alluded to in the +papers), desk, pen, ink, and paper, and all other goods of Nestor +Ironside, Esq., who had thought fit to write no more himself.'</p> + +<p>Whatever stormy circumstances, declares Dr. Chalmers, attended +the conclusion, it appears that Steele came prepared for +the commencement of the 'Guardian,' with more industry and +richer stores than usual. He wrote a great many papers in succession, +with very little assistance from his contemporaries. Addison, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +for what reason is not very obvious, unless he was then looking to +higher employment, did not make his appearance until No. 67, +nor, with one exception, did he again contribute until No. 97, +when he proceeds without interruption for twenty-seven numbers, +during which time Steele's affairs are said to have been embarrassed. +Steele's share amounts to seventy-one papers, written in +his happiest vein. Addison wrote fifty-one papers, and generally +with his accustomed excellence; but it may perhaps be thought +that there is a greater proportion of serious matter, and more +frequent use made of the letter-box, than was usual with this +author.</p> + +<p>The contributors to the 'Guardian' were not numerous. The +first for quality and value was the celebrated Bishop of Cloyne, +Dr. George Berkeley, a man so uniformly amiable as to be ranked +among the first of human beings; a writer sometimes so absurd +that it has been doubted whether it was possible he could be +serious in the principles he has laid down. His actions manifested +the warmest zeal for the interests of Christianity, while some of his +writings seemed intended to assist the cause of infidelity. The +respect of those who knew Dr. Berkeley, and his own excellent +character, have rescued his name from the imputations to which +his writings may have given occasion; and to posterity he will be +deservedly handed down as an able champion of religion, although +infected with an incurable love of paradox, and somewhat tainted +with the pride of philosophy, which his better sense could not +restrain.</p> + +<p>Dr. Berkeley's share in the 'Guardian' has been ascertained, +partly on the authority of his son, who claimed Nos. 3, 27, 35, 39, +49, 55, 62, 70, 77, and 126, and partly on that of the annotators, +who added to these Nos. 83, 88, and 89.</p> + +<p>It is asserted, on unquestionable authority, that Dr. Berkeley +had a guinea and a dinner with Steele for every paper he furnished. +This is the only circumstance that has come to light respecting +the payment received by the assistants in any of these works. In +the 'Spectator' it is probable that Addison and Steele were joint +sharers or proprietors. In the case of the 'Guardian,' as already +noticed, there was a contract between Steele and Tonson, the +nature of which has not been clearly explained.</p> + +<p>Pope's share of the 'Guardian' can be traced with some degree +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +of certainty, and at least eight papers can be confidently assigned +to his pen, which entitle him to the very highest praise as an +essayist. These are Nos. 4, 11, 40, 61, 78, 91, 92, and 173.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 10. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>March 23, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Venit ad me sæpe clamitans ——</p> +<p>Vestitu nimium indulges, nimium ineptus es,</p> +<p>Nimium ipse est durus præter æquumque et bonum.</p> +<p class="i10"><i>Ter. Adelph.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p class="center p2"><i>'To the "Guardian."</i></p> + +<p class="left65"> +'Oxford, 1712.</p> + +<p>'Sir,—I foresee that you will have many correspondents in this +place; but as I have often observed, with grief of heart, that +scholars are wretchedly ignorant in the science I profess, I flatter +myself that my letter will gain a place in your papers. I have +made it my study, sir, in these seats of learning, to look into the +nature of dress, and am what they call an <i>academical beau</i>. I have +often lamented that I am obliged to wear a grave habit, since by +that means I have not an opportunity to introduce fashions +amongst our young gentlemen; and so am forced, contrary to my +own inclinations, and the expectation of all who know me, to +appear in print. I have indeed met with some +success in the projects I have communicated to +some sparks with whom I am intimate, and I +cannot, without a secret triumph, confess that +the sleeves turned up with green velvet, which +now flourish throughout the university, sprung +originally from my invention.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-302.jpg" width="83" height="198" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'As it is necessary to have the head clear, as +well as the complexion, to be perfect in this part +of learning, I rarely mingle with the men (for I +abhor wine), but frequent the tea-tables of the +ladies. I know every part of their dress, and +can name all their things by their names. I +am consulted about every ornament they buy; +and, I speak it without vanity, have a very pretty fancy to knots +and the like. Sometimes I take a needle and spot a piece of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +muslin for pretty Patty Cross-stitch, who is my present favourite; +which, she says, I do neatly enough; or read one of your papers +and explain the motto, which they all like mightily. But then I +am a sort of petty tyrant among them, for I own I have my +humours. If anything be amiss, they are sure Mr. Sleek will find +fault; if any hoity-toighty things make a fuss, they are sure to be +taken to pieces the next visit. I am the dread of poor Celia, +whose wrapping gown is not right India; and am avoided by +Thalestris in her second-hand manteau, which several masters of +arts think very fine, whereas I discovered with half an eye that +it had been scoured.</p> + +<hr class="l15" /> + +<p>'Though every man cannot fill his head with learning, it is in +anyone's power to wear a pretty periwig; he who hath no knack +at writing sonnets, may however have a soft hand; and he may +arch his eye-brows, who hath not strength of genius for the +mathematics.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +<span class="smcap">'Simon Sleek.'</span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 22. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>April 6, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>My next desire is, void of care and strife,</p> +<p>To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life;</p> +<p>A country cottage near a crystal flood,</p> +<p>A winding valley, and a lofty wood.</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-303.jpg" width="338" height="158" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Pastoral poetry not only amuses the fancy most delightfully, +but it is likewise more indebted to it than any other sort whatever. +It transports us into a kind of fairy-land, where our ears are +soothed with the melody of birds, bleating flocks and purling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +streams; our eyes are enchanted with flowery meadows and +springing greens; we are laid under cool shades, and entertained +with all the sweets and freshness of nature. It is a dream, it is a +vision, which may be real, and we believe that it is true.</p> + +<p>'Another characteristic of a shepherd is simplicity of manners, +or innocence. This is so obvious that it would be but repetition +to insist long upon it. I shall only remind the reader, that as the +pastoral life is supposed to be where nature is not much depraved, +sincerity and truth will generally run through it. Some slight +transgressions, for the sake of variety, may be admitted, which in +effect will only serve to set off the simplicity of it in general. I +cannot better illustrate this rule than by the following example of +a swain who found his mistress asleep:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Once Delia slept, on easy moss reclined,</p> +<p>Her lovely limbs half bare, and rude the wind;</p> +<p>I smooth'd her coats, and stole a silent kiss;</p> +<p>Condemn me, shepherds, if I did amiss.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'A third sign of a swain is, that something of religion, and even +superstition, is part of his character. For we find that those who +have lived easy lives in the country, and contemplate the works of +nature, live in the greatest awe of their author; nor doth this +humour prevail less now than of old. Our peasants as sincerely +believe the tales of goblins and fairies as the heathens those of +fawns, nymphs, and satyrs. Hence we find the works of Virgil +and Theocritus sprinkled with left-handed ravens, blasted oaks, +witchcrafts, evil eyes, and the like. And I observe with great +pleasure, that our English author of the pastorals I have quoted +hath practised this secret with admirable judgment.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 29. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>April 14, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Ride si sapis—<i>Mart. Epig.</i></p> +<p>Laugh if you're wise.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'In order to look into any person's temper I generally make +my first observation upon his laugh; whether he is easily moved, +and what are the passages which throw him into that agreeable +kind of convulsion. People are never so unguarded as when they +are pleased; and laughter being a visible symptom of some inward +satisfaction, it is then, if ever, we may believe the face. It +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +may be remarked in general under this head, that the laugh of +men of wit is, for the most part, but a faint, constrained kind of +half laugh, as such persons are never without some diffidence +about them; but that of fools is the most honest, natural, open +laugh in the world.</p> + +<p>'As the playhouse affords us the most occasions of observing +upon the behaviour of the face, it may be useful (for the direction +of those who would be critics this way) to remark, that the virgin +ladies usually dispose themselves in front of the boxes; the young +married women compose the second row; while the rear is generally +made up of mothers of long standing, undesigning maids, and +contented widows. Whoever will cast his eye upon them under +this view, during the representation of a play, will find me so far +in the right that a <i>double entendre</i> strikes the first row into an +affected gravity, or careless indolence; the second will venture at +a smile; but the third take the conceit entirely, and express their +mirth in a downright laugh.</p> + +<p>'When I descend to particulars, I find the reserved prude will +relapse into a smile at the extravagant freedoms of the coquette, +the coquette in her turn laughs at the starchness and awkward +affectation of the prude; the man of letters is tickled with the +vanity and ignorance of the fop, and the fop confesses his ridicule +at the unpoliteness of the pedant.</p> + +<p>'I fancy we may range the several kinds of laughers under +the following heads:—</p> + +<table summary="Laughers"> +<tr> +<td>The Dimplers,</td> +<td>The Laughers,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The Smilers,</td> +<td>The Grinners,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdc">The Horse-laughers.</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>'The Dimple is practised to give a grace to the features, and is +frequently made a bait to entangle a gazing lover. This was +called by the ancients the Chian laugh.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-305.jpg" width="282" height="82" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The Smile is for the most part confined to the fair sex, and +their male retinue. It expresses our satisfaction in a silent sort of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +approbation, doth not too much disorder the features, and is +practised by lovers of the most delicate address. This tender +motion of the physiognomy the ancients called the Ionic laugh.</p> + +<p>'The Laugh among us is the common <i>risus</i> of the ancients.</p> + +<p>'The Grin, by writers of antiquity, is called the Syncrusian, and +was then, as it is at this time, made use of to display a beautiful +set of teeth.</p> + +<p>'The Horse-laugh, or the Sardonic, is made use of with great +success in all kinds of disputation. The proficients in this kind, +by a well-timed laugh, will baffle the most solid argument. This +upon all occasions supplies the want of reason, is always received +with great applause in coffee-house disputes; and that side the +laugh joins with is generally observed to gain the better of his +antagonist.</p> + +<p>'The prude hath a wonderful esteem for the Chian laugh, or +Dimple; she looks upon all the other kinds of laughter as excesses +of levity, and is never seen upon the most extravagant jests to disorder +her countenance with the ruffle of a smile. Her lips are +composed with a primness peculiar to her character; all her +modesty seems collected into her face, and she but very rarely +takes the freedom to sink her cheek into a dimple.</p> + +<p>'The coquette is a proficient in laughter, and can run through +the whole exercise of the features. She subdues the formal lover +with the dimple, accosts the fop with the smile, joins with the wit +in the downright laugh; to vary the air of her countenance frequently +rallies with the grin; and when she has ridiculed her lover +quite out of his understanding, to complete his misfortune, strikes +him dumb with the horse-laugh.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 34. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>April 20, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Mores multorum vidit.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +<p>He many men and many manners saw.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'I happened to fall in with a circle of young ladies very lately, +at their afternoon tea, when the conversation ran upon fine gentlemen. +From the several characters that were given, and the +exceptions that were made, as this or that gentleman happened to +be named, I found that a lady is not difficult to be pleased, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +that the town swarms with fine gentlemen. A nimble pair of +heels, a smooth complexion, a full-bottomed wig, a laced shirt, an +embroidered suit, a pair of fringed gloves, a hat and feather, alike, +one and all, ennoble a man, and raise him above the vulgar in +female imagination.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-307.jpg" width="89" height="69" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I could not forbear smiling at one of the prettiest and liveliest +of this gay assembly, who excepted to the gentility of Sir +William Hearty, because he wore a frieze coat, and breakfasted +upon toast and ale. I pretended to admire the fineness of her +taste, and to strike in with her in ridiculing those awkward healthy +gentlemen who seek to make nourishment the chief end of eating. +I gave her an account of an honest Yorkshire gentleman, who, +when I was a traveller, used to invite his acquaintances +at Paris to break their fast with him +upon cold roast beef and mum. There was, +I remember, a little French marquis, who was +often pleased to rally him unmercifully upon +beef and pudding, of which our countryman +would despatch a pound or two with great alacrity, while his antagonist +was picking at a mushroom or the haunch of a frog. I could +perceive the lady was pleased with what I said, and we parted very +good friends, by virtue of a maxim I always observe, never to contradict +or reason with a sprightly female. I went home, however, +full of a great many serious reflections upon what had passed; and +though in complaisance I disguised my sentiments, to keep up the +good humour of my fair companions, and to avoid being looked +upon as a testy old fellow; yet, out of the good-will I bear the +sex, and to prevent for the future their being imposed upon by +counterfeits, I shall give them the distinguishing marks of a true +fine gentleman.</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p class="center">'ADVERTISEMENT.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>'For the Benefit of my Female Readers.</i></p> + +<p>'N.B.—The gilt chariot, the diamond ring, the gold snuff-box, +and brocade sword-knot are no essential parts of a fine gentleman; +but may be used by him, provided he casts his eye upon them but +once a day.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 44.<span class="smcap"> The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>May 1, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>This path conducts us to the Elysian fields.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'I have frequently observed in the walks belonging to all the +inns of court, a set of old fellows who appear to be humourists, +and wrapped up in themselves. I am very glad to observe that +these sages of this peripatetic sect study tranquillity and indolence +of body and mind in the neighbourhood of so much contention +as is carried on among the students of Littleton. Now +these, who are the jest of such as take themselves, and the world +usually takes to be in prosperity, are the very persons whose happiness, +were it understood, would be looked upon with burning +envy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-308.jpg" width="334" height="101" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I fell into the discovery of them in the following manner: +One day last summer, being particularly under the dominion of +the spleen, I resolved to soothe my melancholy in the company of +such, whose appearance promised a full return of any complaints I +could possibly utter. Living near Gray's Inn walks, I went +thither in search of the persons above described, and found some +of them seated upon a bench, where, as Milton sings—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>The unpierced shade imbrown'd their noontide bow'r.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'I squeezed in among them; and they did not only receive +my moanings with singular humanity, but gave me all possible +encouragement to enlarge them. If the blackness of my spleen +raised an imaginary distemper of body, some one of them immediately +sympathised with me. If I spake of any disappointment in +my fortune, another of them would abate my sorrowing by recounting +to me his own defeat upon the very same circumstances. If I +touched upon overlooked merit, the whole assembly seemed to +condole with me very feelingly upon that particular. In short, I +could not make myself so calamitous in mind, body, or circumstances, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +but some one of them was upon a level with me. When +I had wound up my discourse, and was ripe for their intended +raillery, at first they crowned my narration with several piteous +sighs and groans; but after a short pause, and a signal given for +the onset, they burst out into a most incomprehensible fit of +laughter. You may be sure I was notably out of countenance, +which gave occasion to a second explosion of the same mirth. +What troubled me most was, that their figure, age, and short +sword preserved them from any imputation of cowardice upon +refusal of battle, and their number from insult. I had now no +other way to be upon good terms with them, but desiring I might +be admitted into this fraternity. This was at first vigorously +opposed, it being objected to me that I affected too much the +appearance of a happy man to be received into a society so proud +of appearing the most afflicted. However, as I only seemed to be +what they really were, I am admitted, by way of triumph, upon +probation for a year; and if within that time it shall be possible +for them to infuse any of their gaiety into me, I can, at Monmouth +Street, upon mighty easy terms, purchase the robes necessary for +my instalment into this order; and when they have made me as +happy, shall be willing to appear as miserable, as any of this +assembly.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 60. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>May 20, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Nihil legebat quod non excerperet.—<i>Plin.</i></p> +<p>He picked something out of everything he read.</p> +</div></div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-309.jpg" width="116" height="149" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is nothing in which men deceive +themselves more ridiculously than in point +of reading, and which, as it is constantly +practised under the notion of improvement, +has less advantage.</p> + +<p>'When I was sent to Oxford, my +chiefest expense ran upon books, and my +only expense upon numbers; so that you +may be sure I had what they call a choice +collection, sometimes buying by the pound, +sometimes by the dozen, at others by the hundred. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span></p> + +<p>'As I always held it necessary to read in public places, by way +of ostentation, but could not possibly travel with a library in my +pockets, I took the following method to gratify this errantry of +mine. I contrived a little pocket-book, each leaf of which was a +different author, so that my wandering was indulged and concealed +within the same enclosure.</p> + +<p>'This extravagant humour, which should seem to pronounce +me irrecoverable, had the contrary effect; and my hand and eye +being thus confined to a single book, in a little time reconciled +me to the perusal of a single author. However, I chose such a +one as had as little connection as possible, turning to the Proverbs +of Solomon, where the best instructions are thrown together in the +most beautiful range imaginable, and where I found all that +variety which I had before sought in so many different authors, +and which was so necessary to beguile my attention. By these +proper degrees I have made so glorious a reformation in my +studies that I can keep company with Tully in his most extended +periods, and work through the continued narrations of the most +prolix historian. I now read nothing without making exact collections, +and shall shortly give the world an instance of this in the +publication of the following discourses. The first is a learned +controversy about the existence of griffins, in which I hope to convince +the world that notwithstanding such a mixed creature has +been allowed by Ælian, Solinus, Mela, and Herodotus, that they +have been perfectly mistaken in the matter, and shall support myself +by the authority of Albertus, Pliny, Aldrovandus, and Matthias +Michovius; which two last have clearly argued that animal out of +the creation.</p> + +<p>'The second is a treatise of sternutation or sneezing, with the +original custom of saluting or blessing upon that motion; as also +with a problem from Aristotle, showing why sneezing from noon +to night was innocent enough; from night to noon, extremely +unfortunate.</p> + +<p>'The third and most curious is my discourse upon the nature +of the lake Asphaltites, or the lake of Sodom; being a very careful +enquiry whether brickbats and iron will swim in that lake, and +feathers sink, as Pliny and Mandevil have averred.</p> + +<p>'The discussing these difficulties without perplexity or prejudice, +the labour of collecting and collating matters of this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +nature, will, I hope, in a great measure atone for the idle hours I +have trifled away in matters of less importance.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 77. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>June 9, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Certum voto pete finem.—<i>Hor. Ep.</i></p> +<p>To wishes fix an end.—<i>Creech.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-311.jpg" width="279" height="161" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The same weakness, or defect in the mind, from whence +pedantry takes its rise, does likewise give birth to avarice. Words +and money are both to be regarded as only marks of things; and +as the knowledge of the one, so the possession of the other is of +no use, unless directed to a farther end. A mutual commerce +could not be carried on among men, if some common standard +had not been agreed upon, to which the value of all the various +productions of art and nature were reducible, and which might be +of the same use in the conveyance of property as words are in that +of ideas. Gold, by its beauty, scarceness, and durable nature, +seems designed by Providence to a purpose so excellent and +advantageous to mankind. Upon these considerations that metal +came first into esteem. But such who cannot see beyond what +is nearest in the pursuit, beholding mankind touched with an +affection for gold, and being ignorant of the true reason that +introduced this odd passion into human nature, imagine some +intrinsic worth in the metal to be the cause of it. Hence the +same men who, had they been turned towards learning, would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +have employed themselves in laying up words in their memory, +are by a different application employed to as much purpose in +treasuring up gold in their coffers. They differ only in the object; +the principle on which they act, and the inward frame of mind, is +the same in the critic and the miser.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 84. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>June 17, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +<p>Sticking like leeches, till they burst with blood.—<i>Roscommon.</i></p> +</div></div> +<p class="center">'<i>To Nestor Ironside, Esq.</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—Presuming you may sometimes condescend to take +cognisance of small enormities, I lay one here before you without +farther apology.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-312.jpg" width="98" height="135" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is a silly habit among many of our minor orators, who +display their eloquence in the several coffee-houses of this fair +city, to the no small annoyance of considerable numbers of her +Majesty's spruce and loving subjects, and that is, a humour they +have got of twisting off your buttons. These +ingenious gentlemen are not able to advance +three words till they have got fast hold of one +of your buttons; but as soon as they have +procured such an excellent handle for discourse, +they will indeed proceed with great +elocution. I know not how well some may +have escaped; but for my part, I have often +met with them to my cost; having, I believe, +within these three years last past, been argued +out of several dozen; insomuch that I have for some time ordered +my tailor to bring me home with every suit a dozen at least of +spare ones, to supply the place of such as, from time to time, are +detached as a help to discourse, by the vehement gentlemen +before mentioned. In the coffee-houses here about the Temple, +you may harangue even among our dabblers in politics for about +two buttons a-day, and many times for less. I had yesterday the +good fortune to receive very considerable additions to my knowledge +in state affairs; and I find this morning that it has not stood +me in above a button. Besides the gentlemen before mentioned, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +there are others who are no less active in their harangues, but with +gentle services rather than robberies. These, while they are improving +your understanding, are at the same time setting off your +person: they will new plait and adjust your neckcloth.</p> + +<p>'I am of opinion that no orator or speaker in public or private +has any right to meddle with anybody's clothes but his own. I +indulge men in the liberty of playing with their own hats, fumbling +in their own pockets, settling their own periwigs, tossing or twisting +their heads, and all other gesticulations which may contribute to +their elocution, but pronounce it an infringement of the English +liberty, for a man to keep his neighbour's person in custody in +order to force a hearing; and farther declare, that all assent +given by an auditor under such constraint is of itself void and of +no effect.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 92. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>June 26, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Homunculi quanti sunt, cum recognito!—<i>Plautus.</i></p> +<p>Now I recollect, how considerable are these little men.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'The most eminent persons of our club are, a little poet, a little +lover, a little politician, and a little hero.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-313.jpg" width="141" height="136" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Tom Tiptoe, a dapper little fellow, +is the most gallant lover of the age. He +is particularly nice in his habiliments; +and to the end justice may be done in +that way, constantly employs the same +artist who makes attire for the neighbouring +princes, and ladies of quality. +The vivacity of his temper inclines him +sometimes to boast of the favours of +the fair. He was the other night excusing +his absence from the club on account of an assignation with +a lady (and, as he had the vanity to tell us, a tall one too), but +one of the company, who was his confidant, assured us she was a +woman of humour, and consented she would permit him to kiss +her, but only on the condition that his toe must be tied to hers.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 100. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>July 6, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>If snowy-white your neck, you still should wear</p> +<p>That, and the shoulder of the left arm, bare;</p> +<p>Such sights ne'er fail to fire my am'rous heart,</p> +<p>And make me pant to kiss the naked part.—<i>Congreve.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-314.jpg" width="151" height="133" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is a certain female ornament, +by some called a <i>tucker</i>, and +by others the <i>neckpiece</i>, being a slip +of fine linen or muslin, that used to +run in a small kind of ruffle round +the uppermost verge of the women's +stays, and by that means covered a +great part of the shoulders and +bosom. Having thus given a definition, +or rather description, of the +tucker, I must take notice, that our ladies have of late thrown +aside this fig-leaf, and exposed in its primitive nakedness that +gentle swelling of the breast which it was used to conceal.</p> + +<p>'If we survey the pictures of our great-grandmothers in Queen +Elizabeth's time, we see them clothed down to the very wrists, and +up to the very chin. The hands and face were the only samples +they gave of their beautiful persons. The following age of females +made larger discoveries of their complexion. They first of all +tucked up their garments to the elbow; and, notwithstanding the +tenderness of the sex, were content, for the information of mankind, +to expose their arms to the coldness of the air, and injuries +of the weather. This artifice hath succeeded to their wishes, and +betrayed many to their arms, who might have escaped them had +they been still concealed.</p> + +<p>'About the same time, the ladies considering that the neck +was a very modest part in a human body, they freed it from those +yokes, I mean those monstrous linen ruffs in which the simplicity +of their grandmothers had enclosed it. In proportion as the +age refined, the dress still sunk lower; so that when we now say +a woman has a handsome neck, we reckon into it many of the +adjacent parts. The disuse of the tucker has still enlarged it, +insomuch that the neck of a fine woman at present takes in almost +half the body.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 114. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>July 22, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Take the hives, and fall to work upon the honeycombs; the drones refuse, +the bees accept the proposal. +</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-315.jpg" width="117" height="132" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I think myself obliged to acquaint the public +that the lion's head, of which I advertised +them about a fortnight ago, is now erected +at Button's coffee-house, in Russell Street, +Covent Garden, where it opens its mouth +at all hours for the reception of such intelligence +as shall be thrown into it. It is +reckoned an excellent piece of workmanship, +and was designed by a great hand in +imitation of the antique Egyptian lion, the face of it being compounded +out of that of a lion and a wizard. The features are +strong and well furrowed. The whiskers are admired by all that +have seen them. It is planted on the western side of the coffee-house, +holding its paws under the chin upon a box, which contains +everything that he swallows. He is indeed a proper emblem of +knowledge and action, being all head and paws.</p> + +<p>'I need not acquaint my readers that my lion, like a moth or +bookworm, feeds upon nothing but paper, and shall only beg of +them to diet him with wholesome and substantial food. I must +therefore desire that they will not gorge him either with nonsense +or obscenity; and must likewise insist that his mouth must not be +defiled with scandal, for I would not make use of him to revile the +human species, and satirise those who are his betters. I shall not +suffer him to worry any man's reputation; nor indeed fall on any +person whatsoever, such only excepted as disgrace the name of +this generous animal, and under the title of lions contrive the ruin +of their fellow-subjects. Those who read the history of the Popes, +observe that the Leos have been the best and the Innocents the +worst of that species; and I hope I shall not be thought to derogate +from my lion's character, by representing him as such a +peaceable, good-natured, well-designing beast.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 129. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>Aug. 8, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>And part with life, only to wound their foe.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'The "Guardian" prints the following genuine letters to enlighten +readers on the cool and deliberate preparation men of +honour have beforetime made for murdering one another under +the convenient pretences of duelling:—</p> + +<p>'"À Monsieur Sackville,—I that am in France hear how much +you attribute to yourself in this time, that I have given the world +leave to ring your praises.... If you call to memory, whereas I +gave you my hand last, I told you I reserved the heart for a truer +reconciliation. Be master of your own weapons and time; the +place wheresoever I will wait on you. By doing this you shall +shorten revenge, and clear the idle opinion the world hath of both +our worths.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +<span class="smcap">Ed. Bruce.</span>"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-316.jpg" width="318" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"À Monsieur le Baron de Kinloss,—As it shall be always far +from me to seek a quarrel, so will I always be ready to meet with +any that desire to make trial of my valour by so fair a course as +you require. A witness whereof yourself shall be, who within a +month shall receive a strict account of time, place, and weapon, +where you shall find me ready disposed to give you honourable +satisfaction by him that shall conduct you thither. In the meantime +be as secret of the appointment as it seems you are desirous +of it.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +<span class="smcap">Ed. Sackville.</span>"</p> + +<p class="left65"> +'"Tergosa: August 10, 1613.</p> + +<p>'"À Monsieur le Baron de Kinloss,—I am ready at Tergosa, +a town in Zealand, to give you that satisfaction your sword can +tender you, accompanied with a worthy gentleman for my second, +in degree a knight; and for your coming I will not limit you a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +peremptory day, but desire you to make a definite and speedy +repair, for your own honour, and fear of prevention, until which +time you shall find me there.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +<span class="smcap">Ed. Sackville.</span>"</p> + +<p>'"À Monsieur Sackville,—I have received your letter by your +man, and acknowledge you have dealt nobly with me; and now I +come with all possible haste to meet you.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +<span class="smcap">Ed. Bruce.</span>"'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 140. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>Aug. 21, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>A sight might thaw old Priam's frozen age,</p> +<p>And warm e'en Nestor into amorous rage.</p> +</div></div> +<p class="center">'<i>To Pope Clement VIII. Nestor Ironside, Greeting.</i></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-317.jpg" width="157" height="167" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I have heard, with great satisfaction, that you have forbidden +your priests to confess any woman who appears before them +without a tucker; in which you please me well. I do agree with +you that it is impossible for a good man to discharge his office +as he ought, who gives an ear to those alluring penitents that +discover their hearts and necks to him at the same time. I am +labouring, as much as in me lies, +to stir up the same spirit of modesty +among the women of this +island, and should be glad we might +assist one another in so good a +work. In order to it, I desire that +you would send me over the length +of a Roman lady's neck, as it stood +before your late prohibition. We +have some here who have necks of +one, two, and three feet in length; +some that have necks which reach +down to their middles; and, indeed, +some who may be said to be all neck, and no body. I hope at +the same time you observe the stays of your female subjects, that +you have also an eye to their petticoats, which rise in this island +daily. When the petticoat reaches but to the knee, and the stays +fall to the fifth rib (which I hear is to be the standard of each +as it has been lately settled in a junto of the sex), I will take care to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +send you one of either sort, which I advertise you of beforehand, +that you may not compute the stature of our English women from +the length of their garments. In the meantime, I have desired +the master of a vessel, who tells me that he shall touch at Civita +Vecchia, to present you with a certain female machine, which I +believe will puzzle your infallibility to discover the use of it. Not +to keep you in suspense, it is what we call, in this country, a +hooped petticoat. I shall only beg of you to let me know whether +you find any garment of this nature among all the relics of your +female saints; and, in particular, whether it was ever worn by any +of your twenty thousand virgin martyrs.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'Yours, <i>usque ad aras</i>,<br /> +<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">'Nestor Ironside</span>.'</span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 153. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>Sept. 5, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>A mighty pomp, tho' made of little things.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> +<p>'If there be anything which makes human nature appear ridiculous +to beings of superior faculties it must be pride. They +know so well the vanity of those imaginary perfections that swell +the heart of man, and of those little supernumerary advantages, +whether of birth, fortune, or title, which one man enjoys above +another, that it must certainly very much astonish, if it does not +very much divert them, when they see a mortal puffed up, and +valuing himself above his neighbours on any of these accounts, at +the same time that he is obnoxious to all the common calamities +of the species.</p> + +<p>'To set this thought in its true light, we will fancy, if you +please, that yonder molehill is inhabited by reasonable creatures, +and that every pismire (his shape and way of life only excepted) +is endowed with human passions. How should we smile to hear +one give us an account of the pedigrees, distinctions, and titles +that reign among them! Observe how the whole swarm divide +and make way for the pismire that passes through them! You +must understand he is an emmet of quality, and has better blood +in his veins than any pismire in the molehill. Do not you see +how sensible he is of it, how slow he marches forward, how the +whole rabble of ants keep their distance? Here you may observe +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +one placed upon a little eminence, and looking down on a long +row of labourers. He is the richest insect on this side the hillock; +he has a walk of half a yard in length, and a quarter of an inch in +breadth; he keeps a hundred menial servants, and has at least +fifteen barleycorns in his granary. He is now chiding and beslaving +the emmet that stands before him, and who, for all that we can +discover, is as good an emmet as himself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-319.jpg" width="272" height="80" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'But here comes an insect of figure! Do not you take notice +of a little white straw that he carries in his mouth? That straw, +you must understand, he would not part with for the longest track +about the molehill; did you but know what he has undergone to +purchase it. See how the ants of all qualities and conditions +swarm about him. Should this straw drop out of his mouth, you +would see all this numerous circle of attendants follow the next +that took it up, and leave the discarded insect, or run over his +back to come at his successor.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 167. <span class="smcap">The 'Guardian.'</span>—<i>Sept. 22, 1713.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Fata viam invenient.—<i>Virg.</i></p> +<p>Fate the way will find.</p> +</div></div> +<p>The following story is translated from an Arabian manuscript:—</p> + +<p>'"The name of Helim is still famous through all the Eastern +parts of the world. He was the Governor of the Black Palace, a +man of infinite wisdom, and chief of the physicians to Alnareschin, +the great King of Persia.</p> + +<p>'"Alnareschin was the most dreadful tyrant that ever reigned +over that country. He was of a fearful, suspicious, and cruel nature, +having put to death, upon slight surmises, five-and-thirty of his +queens, and above twenty sons, whom he suspected of conspiring. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +Being at length wearied with the exercise of so many cruelties, +and fearing the whole race of Caliphs would be extinguished, he +sent for Helim, the good physician, and confided his two remaining +sons, Ibrahim and Abdallah, then mere infants, to his charge, +requesting him to bring them up in virtuous retirement. Helim +had an only child, a girl of noble soul, and a most beautiful person. +Abdallah, whose mind was of a more tender turn than that of +Ibrahim, grew by degrees so enamoured of her conversation that +he did not think he lived unless in the company of his beloved +Balsora.</p> + +<p>'"The fame of her beauty was so great that it came to the ears +of the king, who, pretending to visit the young princes, his sons, +demanded of Helim the sight of his fair daughter. The king was +so inflamed with her beauty and behaviour that he sent for Helim +the next morning, and told him it was now his design to recompense +him for all his faithful services, and that he intended to +make his daughter Queen of Persia.</p> + +<p>'"Helim, who remembered the fate of the former queens, and +who was also acquainted with the secret love of Abdallah, contrived +to administer a sleeping draught to his daughter, and +announced to the king that the news of his intention had overcome +her. The king ordered that as he had designed to wed Balsora, +her body should be laid in the Black Palace among those of his +deceased queens.</p> + +<p>'"Abdallah soon fretted after his love, and Helim administered +a similar potion to his ward, and he was laid in the same tomb. +Helim, having charge of the Black Palace, awaited their revival, +and then secretly supplied them with sustenance, and finally contrived, +by dressing them as spirits, to convey them away from +this sepulchre, and concealed them in a palace which had been +bestowed on him by the king in reward for his recovering him +from a dangerous illness.</p> + +<p>'"About ten years after their abode in this place the old king +died. The new king, Ibrahim, being one day out hunting, and +separated from his company, found himself, almost fainting with +heat and thirst, at the foot of Mount Khacan, and, ascending the +hill, he arrived at Helim's house and requested refreshments. +Helim was, very luckily, there at that time, and after having set +before the king the choicest of wines and fruits, finding him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +wonderfully pleased with so seasonable a treat, told him that the +best part of his entertainment was to come; upon which he +opened to him the whole history of what had passed. The king +was at once astonished and transported at so strange a relation, +and seeing his brother enter the room with Balsora in his hand, +he leaped off from the sofa on which he sat, and cried out, ''Tis +he! 'tis my Abdallah!' Having said this, he fell upon his neck +and wept.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-321.jpg" width="303" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-321-copy.jpg" width="295" height="203" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"Ibrahim offered to divide his empire with his brother, but, +finding the lovers preferred their retirement, he made them a +present of all the open country as far as they could see from the +top of Mount Khacan, which Abdallah continued to improve and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +beautify until it became the most delicious spot of ground within +the empire, and it is, therefore, called the garden of Persia.</p> + +<p>'"Ibrahim, after a long and happy reign, died without children, +and was succeeded by Abdallah, the son of Abdallah and +Balsora. This was that King Abdallah who afterwards fixed the +imperial residence upon Mount Khacan, which continues at this +time to be the favourite palace of the Persian Empire."' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Characteristic passages from the Works of Humorous Writers of the 'Era of +the Georges,' from Thackeray's Library, illustrated with original Marginal +Sketches by the Author's hand—<span class="smcap">The 'Humourist</span>,' 1724—Extracts and +Pencillings. +</p> + +<p class="center p2 b12">THE 'HUMOURIST.'</p> + +<p class="center">BEING ESSAYS UPON SEVERAL SUBJECTS: 'DEDICATED TO THE MAN IN +THE MOON.'</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London, 1724-5.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Of News-writers.</span><a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> +</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto.—<i>Hor. Ep.</i> II. l. 2.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>'As to the filling the paper with trifles and things of no significancy, +the instances of it are obvious and numerous. The French +king's losing a rotten tooth, and the surgeon's fee thereupon; a +duke's taking physic, and a magistrate's swearing a small oath, and +a poor thief's ravishing a knapsack, have all, in their turns, furnished +out deep matter for wit and eloquence to these vigilant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> +writers, who hawk for adventures. A man of quality cannot steal +out of town for a day or two, or return to it, without the attendance +of a coach and six horses, and a news-writer, who makes +the important secret the burden of his paper next day. I have +observed, that if a man be but great or rich, the most wretched +occasion entitles him to fill a long paragraph in print; the cutting +of his corns for the purpose, or his playing at ombre, never fails to +merit publication. Now, if my <i>most diligent</i> brother-writers, who +are spies upon the actions and cabinets of the great, would go a +little farther, and tell us when his grace or his lordship broke his +custom by keeping his word, or said a witty thing, or did a generous +one, we will freely own they tell us some news, and will thank +them for our pleasure and our surprise.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-324.jpg" width="396" height="210" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It is with concern, I see, that even the privacies of the poor +ladies cannot escape the eyes of these public searchers. How +many great ladies do they bring to bed every day of their lives! +for poor madam no sooner begins to make faces, and utter the +least groan, but instantly an author stands with his pen in his +teeth, ready to hold her back, and to tell the town whether the +baby is boy or girl, before the midwife has pulled off her spectacles, +and described its <i>nose</i>.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of a Country Entertainment.</span></p> + +<p>'I am led by the regard which I bear to the ladies and the +Christmas holidays to divert my readers with the history of an +entertainment, where I made one at the house of a country squire.</p> + +<p>'When I went in I found the dining-room full of ladies, to +whom I made a profound bow, and was repaid by a whole circle +of curtsies. While I was meditating, with my eyes fixed upon +the fire, what I had best say, I could hear one of them whisper to +another, "I believe he thinks we smoke tobacco;" for, my reader +must know, I had omitted the country fashion, and not kissed one +of them.</p> + +<p>'At dinner we had many excuses from the lady of the house +for <i>our indifferent fare</i>, and she had as many declarations from us, +her guests, that <i>all was very good</i>. And the squire gave us the +history and extraction of every fowl that came to the table. He +assured us that his poultry had neither kindred nor allies anywhere +on this side of the Channel.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-325.jpg" width="254" height="91" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'As soon as we were risen from the table, our great parliament +of females presently resolved themselves into committees of twos +and threes all over the dining-room, and I perceived that every +party was engaged in talking scandal.</p> + +<p>'The ladies then went into one parlour to their tea, and we +men into another to our bottle, over which I was entertained with +many ingenious remarks on the price of barley, on dairies and the +sheepfold. But as the most engaging conversation is, when too +long, sometimes cloying, having smoked my pipe in due silence +and attention, I took a trip to the ladies, who had sent to know +whether I would drink some tea. When I made my entrance, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +the topic they were on was religion, in their statements about +which they were terribly divided, and debated with such agitation +and fervour, that I grew in pain for the china cups.</p> + +<p>'But they happily departed from this warm point, and unanimously +fell backbiting their neighbours, which instantly qualified +all their heat and heartily reconciled them to one another, insomuch +that all the time the business of scandal was handling there +was not one dissenting voice to be heard in the whole assembly.</p> + +<p>'By this time the music was come, and happy was the woman +that could first wipe her mouth and be soonest upon her legs. In +the dance some moved very becomingly, but the majority made +such a rattle on the boards as quite drowned the music. This +made me call to mind your mettlesome horses, that dance on a +pavement to the music of their own heels.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-326.jpg" width="334" height="155" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'We had among us the squire's eldest son, a batchelor and +captain of the militia. This honest gentleman, believing, as one +would imagine, that good humour and wit consisted in activity of +body and thickness of bone, was resolved to be very witty, that is +to say, very strong; he therefore not only threw down most of the +women, and with abundance of wit hauled them round the room, +but gave us several farther proofs of the sprightliness of his genius, +by a great many leaps he made about a yard high, always remembering +to fall on somebody's toes. This ingenious fancy was +applauded by everyone, except the person who felt it, who never +happened to have complaisance enough to fall in with the general +laugh that was raised on that occasion. For my own part, who +am an occasional conformist to common custom, I was ashamed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +to be singular, so I even extended my mouth into a smile, and +put my face into a laughing posture too. His mother, observing +me to look pleased with her son's activity and gay deportment, +told me in my ear, "<i>he was never worse company than I saw him</i>." +To which I answered, "<i>I vow, madam, I believe you</i>."'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of the Spleen.</span></p> + +<p>'In constitutions where this humorous distemper prevails, it +is surprising how trifling a matter will inflame it.</p> + +<p>'I shall never forget an ingenious doctor of physick, who was so +jealous of the honour of his whiskers, which he was pleased to +christen "the emblems of his virility," that he resolutely made the +sun shine through every unhappy cat that ill-fate threw in his way. +He magnanimously professed that his spirit could not brook it, +that any cat in Christendom, noble or ignoble, should rival the +reputation of his upper lip. In every other respect our physician +was a well-bred person, and, which is as wonderful, understood +Latin. But we see the deepest learning is no charm against the +spleen.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-327.jpg" width="315" height="96" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Ghosts.</span></p> + +<p>'All sorts of people, when they get together, will find something +to talk of. News, politics, and stocks comprise the conversation +of the busy and trading world. Rakes and men of +pleasure fight duels with men they never spoke to, and betray +women they never saw, and do twenty fine feats over their cups +which they never do anywhere else. And children, servants, and +old women, and others of the same size of understanding, please +and terrify themselves and one another with spirits and goblins. +In this case a ghost is no more than a help to discourse. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span></p> + +<p>'A late very pious but very credulous bishop was relating a +strange story of a demon, that haunted a girl in Lothbury, to a +company of gentlemen in the City, when one of them told his +lordship the following adventure:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-328.jpg" width="256" height="139" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"As I was one night reading in bed, as my custom is, and all +my family were at rest, I heard a foot deliberately ascending the +stairs, and as it came nearer I heard something breathe. While I +was musing what it should be, three hollow knocks at my door +made me ask who was there, and instantly the door blew open." +"Ah! sir, and pray what did you see?" "My lord, I'll tell you. +A tall thin figure stood before me, with withered hair, and an +earthly aspect; he was covered with a long sooty garment, that +descended to his ankles, and his waist was clasped close within a +broad leathern girdle. In one hand he held a black staff taller +than himself, and in the other a round body of pale light, which +shone feebly every way." "That's remarkable! pray, sir, go on." +"It beckoned to me, and I followed it down stairs, and there it +pointed to the door, and then left me, and made a hideous noise +in the street." "This is really odd and surprising; but, pray now, +did it give you no notice what it might particularly seek or aim +at?" "Yes, my lord, it was the watchman, who came to show +me that my servants had left all my doors open."' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Keeping the Commandments.</span></p> + +<p>'I have been humbly of opinion for many years that the keeping +of the Ten Commandments was a matter not altogether unworthy +of our consideration and practice; and though I am of the same +sentiments still, yet I dare hardly publish them, knowing that if I +am against the world, the world will be against me. I must not +affront modern politeness and the common mode.</p> + +<p>'Who would have the boldness to mention the first commandment +to Matilda, when he has seen her curt'sying to herself in +the glass, and kissing her lap-dog, and worshipping these two +<i>divine creatures</i> from morning till night? Nor is Matilda without +other deities; she has several sets of china, a diamond necklace, +and a grey monkey; and, in spite of her parents and her reason, +she is guilty of will-worship to Dick Noodle. But this last is no +wonder at all, for Dick +wears fine brocade waistcoats +and the best Mechlin, +and no man of the age +picks his teeth with greater +elegance.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-329.jpg" width="204" height="203" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p> +'And would it not be +equally bold and barbarous +to enslave a beau or a bully +with the tyranny of the +third commandment? when +it's well known that these +worthy gentlemen and brothers +in understanding and +courage must either be dumb or damning themselves; and, therefore, +to stop their swearing would be to stop their breath, and gag +them to all eternity. Beau Wittol courts Arabella with great success, +and it is not doubted he will carry her, though he was never +heard to make any other speech or compliment to her than that +of "Demme, madam!" after which he squeezes her hand, takes +snuff, and grins in her face with wonderful wit and gaiety. +Arabella smiles, and owns with her eyes her admiration of these +<i>accomplishments of a fine gentleman</i>.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Flattery.</span></p> + +<p>'Flattery <i>is the art of selling wind for a round sum of ready +money</i>. A sycophant blows up the mind of his unhappy patient +into a tympany, and then, like other physicians, receives a fee for +his poison. It is his business to instruct men to mistake themselves +at a great expense; to shut their eyes, and then pay for +being blind. Thus the end of excelling in any art or profession +is to have that excellence known and admired.</p> + +<p>'Sing-song Nero, an ancestor of Mr. Tom d'Urfey, would, probably, +never have banished the sceptre and adopted the fiddle, +but that he found it much easier for his talents to scrape than to +govern. In this reign, he that had a musical ear, or could twist a +catgut, was made a man; and the fiddlers ruled the Roman +empire by the singular merit of condescending to be viler thrummers +than the emperor himself. He who at that time could but +<i>wonder greatly</i>, and <i>gape artfully</i> at his Majesty's <i>royal skill</i> in +crowding, might be governor of a province, or Lord High +Treasurer, or what else he pleased.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-330.jpg" width="239" height="129" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This imperial piper used to go the circuit, and call the +provinces together, to be refreshed with a tune upon the fiddle, +and if they had the policy to smother a laugh, and raise an +outrageous clap, their taxes were paid, and they had whatever they +asked; and so miserably was this monarch and madman bewitched +by himself and his sycophants with the character of a victorious +fiddler, that when he was abandoned by God and man, and, as an +enemy to mankind, sentenced to be whipped to death, he did not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +grieve so much for the loss of his empire as the loss of his fiddle. +When he had no mortal left to flatter him, he flattered himself, +and his last words were, "<i>Qualis Artifex pereo!</i>—What a brave +scraper is lost in me!" And then he buried a knife in his inside, +and made his death the best action of his life!'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Retirement.</span></p> + +<p>'To be absolute master of one's own time and actions is an +instance of liberty which is not found but in solitude. A man that +lives in a crowd is a slave, even though all that are about him fawn +upon him and give him the upper-hand. They call him master, or +lord, and treat him as such; but as they hinder him from doing +what he otherwise would, the title and homage which they pay +him is flattery and contradiction.<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-331.jpg" width="293" height="129" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I ever loved retirement, and detested crowds; I would rather +pass an afternoon amongst a herd of deer, than half an hour at a +coronation; and sooner eat a piece of apple-pie in a cottage, than +dine with a judge on the circuit. To lodge a night by myself in a +cave would not grieve me so much as living half a day in a fair. +It will look a little odd when I own that I have missed many a +good sermon for no other reason but that many others were to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +hear it as well as myself. I have neither disliked the man, nor +his principles, nor his congregation, singly; but altogether I could +not abide them.</p> + +<p>'I am, therefore, exceedingly happy in the solitude which I +am now enjoying. I frequently stand under a tree, and with great +humanity pity one half of the world, and with equal contempt +laugh at the other half. I shun the company of men, and seek +that of oxen, and sheep, and deer, and bushes; and when I can +hide myself for the moiety of a day from the sight of every creature +but those that are dumb, I consider myself as monarch of all that +I see or tread upon, and fancy that Nature smiles and the sun +shines for my sake only.</p> + +<p>'My eyes at those seasons are the seat of pleasure, and I do +not interrupt their ranging by the impertinence of memory, or +solicitude of any kind. I neither look a day forward nor a day +backward, but voluptuously enjoy the present moment. My mind +follows my senses, and refuses all images which these do not then +present.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Bubbles.</span></p> + +<p>'The world has often been ruled by men who were themselves +ruled by the worst qualities and most sordid views. The <i>prince</i>, +says a great French politician, <i>governs the people, and interest +governs the prince</i>.</p> + +<p>'Hence it comes to pass, that few men care how they rise in +the world, so they do but rise. They know that success expiates +all rogueries, and never misses reverence; and that he who was +called villain or murderer in the race, is often christened saint or +hero at the goal.</p> + +<p>'The present possession of money or power is always a ready +patent for respect and submission. He that gets a hundred thousand +pounds by a bubble—that is, by selling a bag of wind to his +credulous countrymen—is a greater idol in every coffee-house in +town than he who is worth but ninety thousand, though acquired +by honest trading or ingenious arts, which profit mankind, and +bring credit to his country; and thus every South Sea cub shall, +by the sole merit of his million, vie for respect and followers with +any lord in the land, though it should strangely happen, as it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +sometimes does, that his lordship's virtues and parts ennoble his +title and quality. It matters not whether your father was a tinker, +and you, his worthy son, a broker or a sharper, provided you be +but a South Sea man. If you are but that, the whole earth is your +humble servant.</p> + +<p>'At present, nothing farther is necessary towards getting an +estate—that is, merit and respect—than a little money, much +roguery, and many lies. With what indignation have I beheld a +peer of the realm courting the good graces of a little haberdasher +with great cash, and begging a few shares in a bubble which the +honourable Goodman Bever had just then invented to cheat his +fellow-citizens!</p> + +<p>'But exalted boobies being below satire, I shall here only consider +a little the mischiefs brought upon the public by the projects +which bring them their wealth. It is melancholy to consider that +power follows property, when we consider at the same time into +what vile hands the property is fallen, and by what vile means, +even by bubbles and direct cheating.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-333.jpg" width="222" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Of our second-hand bubbles, I blame not one more than +another; their name shows +their nature. The "Great +Bubble" of all set them +an example, and began +first. By it immense fortunes +have been got to +particular men, most of +them obscure and unheard +of; happy for +their own characters, and for the nation's trade, if they had still +remained so. I hope our all is not yet at the mercy of sharpers, +ignorant, mercenary sharpers; but I should be glad to see it +proved that it will not be so.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Travels.</span></p> + +<p>'As every man is in his own opinion fit to come abroad in +print, so every occasion that can put him upon prating to mankind +is sufficient to put his pen running, provided he himself can hold +the principal character in his own book. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span></p> + +<p>'Of all the several classes of scribblers, there is none more +silly than your authors of Travels. There are several things +common to all these travellers, and yet peculiar to every particular +traveller. I have at this time in my hands a little manuscript, +entitled "Travels from <span class="smcap">Exeter to London</span>, with <i>proper observations</i>." +By the sagacity shown in the remarks, I take the author +to be some polite squire of Devon. In the following passages our +traveller records his observations in the great metropolis:—</p> + +<p>'"In this great city people are quite another thing than what +they are out of it; insomuch, that he who will be very great with +you in the country, will scarce pull off his hat to you in London. +I once dined at Exeter with a couple of judges, and they talked to +me <i>there</i>, and drank my health, and we were very familiar +together. So when I saw them again passing through Westminster +Hall, I was glad of it with all my heart, and ran to them +with a broad smile, to ask them how they did, and to shake hands +with them; but they looked at me so coldly and so proudly as you +cannot imagine, and did not seem to know me, at which I was +confounded, angry, and mad; but I kept my mind to myself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-334.jpg" width="251" height="163" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"At another time I was at the playhouse (which is a rare place +for mirth, music, and dancing), and, being in the pit, saw in one of +the boxes a member of Parliament of our county, with whom I +have been as great as hand and glove; so being overjoyed to see +him, I called to him aloud by his name, and asked him how he +did; but instead of saluting me again, or making any manner of +answer, he looked plaguy sour, and never opened his mouth, +though when he is in the country he is as merry a grig as any in +forty miles, and we have cracked many a bottle together."' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Education.</span></p> + +<p>'People, put by their education into a narrow track of +thinking, are as much afraid of getting out of it as children of +quitting their leading-strings when first they learn to go. They +are taught a raging fondness for a parcel of names that are never +explained to them; and an implacable fierceness against another +set of names that are never explained to them; so they jog on in +the heavy steps of their forefathers, or in the wretched and narrow +paths of poor-spirited and ignorant pedagogues. They believe +they are certainly in the right, and therefore never take the pains +to find out that they are certainly in the wrong.</p> + +<p>'From this cause it comes to pass that many English gentlemen +are as much afraid of reading some English books as were +the poor blind Papists of reading books prohibited by their +priests; which were, indeed, all books that had either religion or +sense in them.</p> + +<p>'How nicely are those men taught who are taught prejudice! +A tincture of bigotry appears in all the actions of a bigot. He +will neither, with his good liking, eat or drink, or sleep or travel +with you, till he has received full conviction that you wash your +hands and pare your nails just as he does.</p> + +<p>'Here is a squire come down from London who is very rich, +and has bought a world of land in our county of Wilts. The first +thing he did when he came among us was to declare that he would +have no dealings nor conversation with any Whig whatsoever; and, +to make his word good, having bespoke several beds and other +furniture to a considerable value of an upholsterer here, he returned +the whole upon the poor man's hands because his wife had +a brother who was a Presbyterian parson.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-336.jpg" width="73" height="163" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-336-copy.jpg" width="144" height="93" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'But this worthy and ingenious squire was very well served by +an officer of the army at a horse race here. They were drinking, +among other company, the King's health, at the door of a public-house, +on horseback; the officer, when it came to his turn, drank +it to this Doughty Highflyer, who happened to be next to him, +upon which he made some difficulty at pledging it, suggesting that +public healths should not be proposed in mixed company. "You +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span> +would say," says the officer, "if you durst, that a High Churchman +would not have his Majesty's health proposed to him at all." +Upon this he swore he was a High Churchman, and was not +ashamed of it. "So I guessed," said the officer, "by your disloyalty." +"But, Sir," says the officer, "even disloyalty to your prince +need not make you show your ill-breeding in company." The +squire chafed most violently at this, and urged, as a proof of his +good breeding, that he had been bred at Oxford. +"So I guessed," says the officer, "by your ignorance." +This nettled the squire to the height, and fired his +little soul at the expense of the outer case, for he +proceeded to give ill +words, and to call ill +names; but the officer +quickly taught him, by +the nose, to hold his +tongue, and ask pardon. +Thus it always fares with +the High Church in fighting as it does in disputing: she is constantly +beaten; and the courage and understanding of her passive +sons tally with each other.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Women.</span></p> + +<p>'Some of my fair correspondents have lately reproached me +with negligence and indifference to their sex; but if they could +know how vain I am of so obliging a reprimand, they would be +sensible, too, how little I deserved it. I am not so entirely a +statue as to be insensible of the power of beauty, nor so absolutely +a woman's creature as to be blind to their little weaknesses, their +pretty follies and impertinences.</p> + +<p>'It will be necessary to inform my readers that my landlady is +an eminent milliner, and a considerable dealer in Flanders lace. +She is one of those whom we call notable women; she has run +through the rough and smooth of life, has a very good plain sense +of things, and knows the world, as far as she is concerned in it, +very well. I am very much entertained by her company; her +discourse is sure to be seasoned with scandal, ancient and modern, +which, though the morals and gravity of my character do not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +allow me to join in, yet, such is the infirmity of human nature, I +find it impossible to be heartily displeased with it as I ought.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-337.jpg" width="133" height="106" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'If I come in at a time when the shop, which is commodiously +situated above stairs, is full of company, I usually place myself in +an obscure corner of it, and observe +what passes with secret satisfaction. 'Tis +pleasant to hear my landlady, by the +mere incessancy of tittle-tattle, persuade +her pretty customers out of all the understanding +that they brought along with +them; and on the other side of the counter +to see the little bosoms pant with irresolution, +and swell at the view of trifles, which humour and custom +have taught them to call necessary and convenient. Hard by +perhaps stands a customer of inferior quality, a citizen's wife +suppose her, who is reduced to the hard necessity of regulating her +expenses by her husband's allowance, and is bursting with vexation +to know herself stinted to lace of but fifty shillings a yard; whereas +if she could rise to three pounds, she might be mistress of a very +pretty head, and what she really thinks she need not be ashamed +to be seen in. But for want of this all goes wrong; she hates her +superiors, despises her husband, neglects her children, and is +ashamed and weary of herself.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-337-copy.jpg" width="131" height="106" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'This seems ridiculous to my men readers, and it certainly is +so; but are our follies and extravagances more reasonable? +Or, rather, are they not infinitely more +dangerous and destructive? What violences +do we not commit upon our consciences +for the mere gratification of our +avarice? How much of the real ease and +happiness of life do we daily sacrifice to +the vanity of ambition? Is it possible, +then, since even the greatest men are but a +bigger sort of children, to be seriously angry that women are no +more? If in my old age I am struck with the harmony of a +rattle, or long to get astride on a hobby-horse; if I love still to be +caressed and flattered, and am delighted with good words and +high titles, why should I be angry that my wife and daughters do +not play the philosopher, and have not more wit than myself? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Masquerades.</span></p> + +<p>'I must desire my reader, as he values his repose, not to let +his thoughts run upon anything loose or frightful for two hours at +least before he goes to bed. <i>Titus Livius</i>, the Roman historian, +is my usual entertainment, when I don't find myself disposed for +closer application. Happening to come home sooner than ordinary +two nights ago, I took it up, and read the 8th and following +chapters of his 39th book, where he gives us a large account of +some nocturnal assemblies lately set up at Rome; I think he calls +them <i>Bacchanals</i>, and describes the ceremonies, rites of initiation, +and religious practices, together with their music, singing, shrieks, +and howlings. The men were dressed like satyrs, and raved like +persons distracted, with enthusiastic motions of the head and +violent distortions of the body. The ladies ran with their hair +about their ears and burning torches in their hands; some covered +with the skins of panthers, others with those of tigers, all attended +with drums and trumpets, while they themselves were the most +noisy. "To this diversion," says the historian, "were added the +pleasures of feasting and wine to draw the more in; and when +wine, the night, and a mixed company of men and women, jumbled +together, had extinguished all sense of shame, there were extravagances +of all sorts committed; each having that pleasure ready +prepared for him to which his nature was most inclined."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-338.jpg" width="366" height="149" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>''Tis with design I have referred my reader to the very place, +being resolved not to trouble him with any farther relation of these +midnight revellings, for fear I should draw him into the same misfortune +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +I unluckily fell under myself. The very idea of it makes +me tremble still, when I think of those monstrous habits, fantastical +gestures, hideous faces, and confused noises I had in my +sleep. Join to these the many assignations made for the next +night, the signs given for the present execution of former agreements; +and the various plots and contrivances I overheard, for +parting man and wife, and ruining whole families at once. These +frightful appearances put me into such uncommon agitations of +body, and I looked so ghastly at my first waking, that a friend of +mine, who came early in the morning to make me a visit, was +struck with such a terror at the sight of me, that he made to the +street door as fast he could, where he had only time to bid one +of my servants run for a physician immediately, for he was sure I +was going mad.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Of Sedition.</span></p> + +<p>'The multitude of papers is a complaint so common in the +introduction of every new one, that it would be a shame to repeat +it; for my own part, I am so far +from repining at this evil, that I +sincerely wish there were ten times +the number. By this means one +may hope to see the appetite for +impertinence, defamation, and treason +(so prevalent in the generality +of readers) at last surfeit itself, and +my honoured brethren the modern +authors be obliged to employ themselves +in some more honest manufacture +than that of the <i>Belles Lettres</i>.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-339.jpg" width="159" height="262" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>''Tis impossible for one who has +the least knowledge and regard for +his country's interest to look into a +coffee-house without the greatest +concern. Industry and application +are the true and genuine honour of +a trading city; where these are everywhere visible all is well. +Whenever I see a false thirst for knowledge in my own countrymen, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +I am sorry they ever learnt to read. I would not be thought +an enemy to literature (being, indeed, a very learned person myself), +but when I observe a worthy trader, without any natural +malice of his own, sucking in the poison of popularity, and boiling +with indignation against an administration which the pamphleteer +informs him is very corrupt, I am grieved that ever <i>Machiavel</i>, +<i>Hobbes</i>, <i>Sidney</i>, <i>Filmer</i>, and the more illustrious moderns, including +myself, appeared in human nature.</p> + +<p>'Idleness is the parent of innumerable vices, and detraction is +generally the first, though not immediately the most mischievous, +that is born of it. The mind of man is of such an ill make that it +relishes defamation much better than applause; so every writer +who makes his court to the multitude must sacrifice his superiors +to his patrons.</p> + +<p>'That there is a very great and indefeasible authority in the +people, or Commons of Great Britain, everyone allows. Power is +ever naturally and rightfully founded in those who have anything +to risk; and this power delegated into the hands of Parliament, it +there becomes legally absolute, and the people are, by their very +constitution, obliged to a passive obedience.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-340.jpg" width="289" height="184" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Nothing is better known than this, nothing on all sides more +generally allowed, and one would imagine nothing could sooner +silence the clamour of little statesmen and politicians; that jargon +of public-spiritedness, which wastes so much of the time of the busy +part of our countrymen. The misfortune is that though everyone +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +(who is not indeed crack-brained with the love of his country) will +own that the populace, by having delegated the right of inspecting +public affairs to others, have no authority to be troublesome about +it themselves, yet everyone excepts himself from the multitude, +and imagines that his own particular talent for public business +ought to exempt him from so severe a restraint. Hence arises the +great demand for newspapers and coffee. Happy is it for the +nation and for the Government that the distemper and the medicine +are found at the same place, and the blue-apron officer who +presents you with a newspaper, to heat the brain and disturb the +understanding, is ready the same moment to apply those composing +specificks, a dish and a pipe. Otherwise, what revolutions +and abdications might we not expect to see? I should not be +surprised to hear that a general officer in the trained-bands had +run stark staring mad out of a coffee-house at noon day, declared +for a Free Parliament, and proclaimed my Lord Mayor King of +England.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-341.jpg" width="230" height="186" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE EARLY +ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Characteristic Passages from the Works of The 'Humourists,' from Thackeray's +Library, illustrated by the Author's hand, with Marginal Sketches +suggested by the Text—<span class="smcap">The 'World</span>,' 1753—Introduction—Its Difference +from the Earlier Essays—Distinguished Authors who contributed to the +'World'—Paragraphs and Pencillings. +</p> + +<p>The 'World'—writes Dr. Chalmers, in his historical and biographical +preface to this series—differs from its predecessors in +the general plan, although the ultimate tendency is similar. We +have here no philosophy of morals, no indignant censure of the +grosser vices, no critical disquisitions, and, in general, scarcely +anything serious. Irony is the predominant feature. This caustic +species of wit is employed in the 'World' to execute purposes +which other methods had failed to accomplish.</p> + +<p>The authors of these essays affected to consider the follies of +their day as beneath their notice, and therefore tried what good +might be done by turning them into ridicule, under the mask of +defence or apology, and thus ingeniously demonstrated that every +defence of what is in itself absurd and wrong, must either partake +of the ridiculous, or be intolerable and repugnant to common +sense and reason. With such intentions, notwithstanding their +apparent good humour, they may, perhaps, in the apprehension +of many readers, appear more severe censors of the foibles of the +age than any who have gone before them.</p> + +<p>The design, as professed in the first paper, was to ridicule, +with novelty and good humour, the fashions, foibles, vices, and +absurdities of that part of the human species which calls itself +'The World;' and this the principal writers were enabled to +execute with facility, from the knowledge incidental to their rank +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +in life, the elevated sphere in which they moved, their intercourse +with a part of society not easily accessible to authors in general, +and the good sense which prevented them from being blinded by +the glare or enslaved by the authority of fashion.</p> + +<p>The 'World' was projected by Edward Moore<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +—in conjunction +with Robert Dodsley, the eminent publisher of Johnson's +'Dictionary'—who fixed upon the name; and by defraying the +expense, and rewarding Moore, became, and for many years +continued to be, the sole proprietor of the work.</p> + +<p>Edward Moore's abilities, his modest demeanour, inoffensive +manners, and moral conduct, recommended him to the men of +genius and learning of the age, and procured him the patronage +of Lord Lyttleton, who engaged his friends to assist him in the +way which a man not wholly dependent would certainly prefer. +Dodsley, the publisher, stipulated to pay Moore three guineas for +every paper of the 'World' which he should write, or which might +be sent for publication and approved of. Lord Lyttleton, to +render this bargain effectual, and an easy source of emolument to +his <i>protégé</i>, solicited the assistance of such men as are not often +found willing to contribute the labours of the pen, men of high +rank in the state, and men of fame and fashion, who cheerfully +undertook to supply the paper, while Moore reaped the emolument, +and perhaps for a time enjoyed the reputation of the whole. +But when it became known, as the information soon circulated in +whispers, that such men as the Earls of Chesterfield, Bath, and +Cork—that Horace Walpole, Richard Owen Cambridge, and +Soame Jenyns—besides other persons of both distinction and +parts—were leagued in a scheme of authorship to amuse the town, +and that the 'World' was the bow of Ulysses, in which it was 'the +fashion for men of rank and genius to try their strength,' we may +easily suppose that it would excite the curiosity of the public in an +uncommon degree.</p> + +<p>The first paper was published January 24, 1753; it was +consequently contemporary with the 'Adventurer,' which began +November 7, 1752; but as the 'World' was published only once +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +a week, it outlived the 'Adventurer' nearly two years, during +which time it ran its course also with the 'Connoisseur.' It was +of the same size and type and at the same price with the 'Rambler' +and 'Adventurer,' but the sale in numbers was superior to either. +In No. 3, Lord Chesterfield states that the number sold weekly +was two thousand, which number, he adds, 'exceeds the largest +that was ever printed, even of the "Spectator."' In No. 49, he +hints that 'not above <i>three</i> thousand were sold.' The sale was +probably not regular, and would be greater on the days when +rumour announced his lordship as the writer. The usual number +printed was two thousand five hundred, as stated in a letter from +Moore to Dr. Warton. Notwithstanding the able assistance of his +right honourable friends, Moore wrote sixty-one of these papers, +and part of another. He excelled principally in assuming the +serious manner for the purposes of ridicule, or of raising idle +curiosity; his irony is admirably concealed. However trite his +subject, he enlivens it by original turns of thought.</p> + +<p>In the last paper, the conclusion of the work is made to +depend on a fictitious accident which is supposed to have happened +to the author and occasioned his death. When the papers +were collected in volumes, Moore superintended the publication, +and actually died while this last paper was in the press: a circumstance +somewhat singular, when we look at the contents of it, and +which induces us to wish that death may be less frequently included +among the topics of wit.</p> + +<p>It has been the general opinion, for the honour of rank, that +the papers written by men of that description in the 'World' are +superior to those of Moore, or of his assistants of 'low degree.' +It may be conceded that among the contributories the first place +is due, in point of genius, taste, and elegance, to the pen of +Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield.</p> + +<p>Lord Chesterfield's services to this paper were purely voluntary, +but a circumstance occurred to his first communication which had +nearly disinclined him to send a second. He sent his paper to the +publisher without any notice of its authorship; it underwent a +casual inspection, and, from its length, was at least delayed, if +not positively rejected. Fortunately Lord Lyttleton saw it at +Dodsley's, and knew the hand. Moore then hastened to publish +the paper (No. 18), and thought proper to introduce it with an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +apology for the delay, and a neat compliment to the wit and good +sense of his correspondent.</p> + +<p>Chesterfield continued his papers occasionally, and wrote in +all twenty-three numbers, certainly equal, if not superior, in brilliancy +of wit and novelty of thought, to the most popular productions +of this kind.</p> + +<p>A certain interest surrounds most of the authors who assisted +in the 'World,' and many of the papers were written under circumstances +which increase the attraction of their contents. We +have not space to particularise special essays, or to enter upon the +biographical details which properly belong to our subject; we must +restrict further notice to a mere recapitulation of the contributors +and their pieces. Richard Owen Cambridge, the author of the +'Scribleriad,' wrote in all twenty-one papers. Horace Walpole +was the author of nine papers in the 'World,' all of which excel in +keen satire, shrewd remark, easy and scholarly diction, and knowledge +of mankind; indeed, for sprightly humour these papers +probably excel all his other writings, and most of those of his +contemporaries. For five papers we are indebted to Soame Jenyns, +who held the office and rank of one of the Lords Commissioners +of the Board of Trade and Plantations. James Tilson, +Consul at Cadiz, furnished five papers of considerable merit and +novelty. Five papers, chiefly of the more serious kind, were +contributed by Edward Loveybond; the 'Tears of Old May-Day,' +No. 82 of the 'World,' is esteemed one of his best poetic +compositions.</p> + +<p>W. Whitehead, the Poet Laureate, wrote three papers, Nos. 12, +19, and 58. Nos. 79, 156, 202 were written by Richard Berenger, +Gentleman of the Horse to the King. Sir James Marriott, Judge +of the High Court of Admiralty, and Master of Trinity Hall, +Cambridge, wrote Nos. 117, 121, 199. The 'Adventures of the +Pumpkin Family,' zealous to defend their honour, given in +Nos. 47 and 63, were written by John, Earl of Cork and Orrery, +the amiable nobleman who, as Johnson whimsically declared, '<i>was +so generally civil, that nobody thanked him for it</i>.' The Earl of +Cork is also said to have contributed Nos. 161 and 185; he took +a more active part in the 'Connoisseur.'</p> + +<p>To his son, Mr. Hamilton Boyle, who afterwards succeeded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +to the earl's title, the 'World' was indebted for Nos. 60 and 170, +two papers drawn up with vivacity, humour, and elegance.</p> + +<p>William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, to whom the second volume +of the 'Guardian' was dedicated, contributed to the 'World,' in +his seventy-first year, No. 7, a lively paper on horse-racing and the +manners of Newmarket.</p> + +<p>Three papers, Nos. 140, 147, and 204, specimens of easy and +natural humour, came from the pen of Sir David Dalrymple, better +known as Lord Hailes, one of the senators of the College of +Justice in Scotland; in advanced life Lord Hailes contributed +several papers remarkable for vivacity and point to the 'Mirror.' +William Duncombe, a poetical and miscellaneous writer, was the +author of the allegory in No. 84; his son, the Rev. John Duncombe, +of Canterbury, was the author of No. 36. The latter +gentleman appears in connection with the 'Connoisseur.' Nos. +38 and 74 were written by Mr. Parratt, the author of some poems +in Dodsley's collection. Nos. 78 and 86 are from the pen of the +Rev. Thomas Cole.</p> + +<p>The remaining writers in the 'World' were single-paper men, +but some of them of considerable distinction in other departments +of literary and of public life.</p> + +<p>No. 15 was written by the Rev. Francis Coventrye. No. 26 +was the production of Dr. Thomas Warton, who was then contributing +to the 'Adventurer.' In No. 32 criticism is treated with +considerable humour as a species of disease by the publisher, +Robert Dodsley, whose popularity extended to all ranks.</p> + +<p>No. 37, like Lord Chesterfield's first contributions, was accorded +the honour of an extra half-sheet, rather than that the excellences +of the letter should be curtailed. It is not only the longest, but is +considered one of the best papers in the collection. It was +written by Sir Charles Hunbury Williams, for some time the English +Minister at the Courts of Berlin and St. Petersburgh. A +humorous letter on posts (No. 45) was from the pen of William +Hayward Roberts, afterwards Provost of Eton College, Chaplain +to the King, and Rector of Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire. +One of the best papers for delicate irony to be found in the entire +series of humorous essayists, No. 83, on the 'Manufactory of +Thunder and Lightning,' was written by Mr. William Whittaker, a +serjeant-at-law and a Welsh judge. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span></p> + +<p>Nos. 110 and 159 are attributed to John Gilbert Cooper, author +of the 'Life of Socrates,' and 'Letters on Taste.' Thomas +Mulso, a brother of Mrs. Chapone, is set down as the writer of +No. 31. He published, in 1768, 'Calistus, or the Man of Fashion,' +and 'Sophronius, or the Country Gentleman in Dialogues.' James +Ridley, author of the 'Tales of the Genii' and of the 'Schemer,' +contributed No. 155. Mr. Gataker, a surgeon of eminence, was the +author of No. 184. Mr. Herring, rector of Great Mongeham, Kent, +wrote No. 122, on the 'Distresses of a Physician without Patronage.' +Mr. Moyle wrote No. 156, on 'False Honour,' and Mr. Burgess +No. 198, an excellent paper on the 'Difficulty of Getting Rid of +Oneself.' The 'Ode to Sculpture,' in No. 200, was written by +James Scott, D.D. Forty-one papers were written by persons +whose names were either unknown to the publisher, or who desired +to remain anonymous.</p> + +<p>The 'World' has been frequently reprinted, and will probably +always remain a favourite, for its materials, although sustained by +the most whimsical raillery, are not of a perishable kind. The +manners of fashionable life are not so mutable in their principles as +is commonly supposed, and those who practise them may at least +boast that they have stronger stamina than to yield to the attacks +of wit or morals.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 7. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Feb. 15, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>'Whoever is a frequenter of public assemblies, or joins in a +party of cards in private families, will give evidence to the truth of +this complaint.</p> + +<p>'How common is it with some people, at the conclusion of +every unsuccessful hand of cards, to burst forth into sallies of +fretful complaints of their own amazing ill-fortune and the constant +and invariable success of their antagonists! They have such +excellent memories as to be able to recount every game they have +lost for six months successively, and yet are so extremely forgetful +at the same time as not to recollect a single game they have won. +Or if you put them in mind of any extraordinary success that you +have been witness to, they acknowledge it with reluctance, and +assure you, upon their honours, that in a whole twelvemonth's +play they never rose winners but that once. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span></p> + +<p>'But if these <i>growlers</i> (a name which I shall always call men +of this class by) would only content themselves with giving repeated +histories of their ill-fortunes, without +making invidious remarks on the success of +others, the evil would not be so great.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-348.jpg" width="89" height="200" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Indeed, I am apt to impute it to their +fears, that they stop short of the grossest +affronts; for I have seen in their faces such +rancour and inveteracy, that nothing but a +lively apprehension of consequences could +have restrained their tongues.</p> + +<p>'Happy would it be for the ladies if they +had the consequences to apprehend; for, I +am sorry to say it, I have met with female, I +will not say <i>growlers</i>, the word is too harsh +for them; let me call them <i>fretters</i>, who with +the prettiest faces and the liveliest wit imaginable, +have condescended to be the jest and the disturbance of +the whole company.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 18. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>May 3, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>A worthy gentleman, who is suffering from the consequences +of treating his wife and daughter to a visit to Paris, is describing, +in a letter to Mr. FitzAdam, the follies into which the ladies of +his party were betrayed 'in order to fit themselves out to appear, +as the French say, <i>honnêtement</i>.'</p> + +<p>'In about three days,' writes the victim of these vagaries of +fashion, 'the several mechanics, who were charged with the care +of disguising my wife and daughter, brought home their respective +parts of the transformation. More than the whole morning was +employed in this operation, for we did not sit down to dinner till +near five o'clock. When my wife and daughter came at last into +the eating-room, where I had waited for them at least two hours, I +was so struck with their transformation that I could neither conceal +nor express my astonishment. "Now, my dear," said my +wife, "we can appear a little like Christians." "And strollers +too," replied I; "for such have I seen at Southwark Fair. This +cannot surely be serious!" "Very serious, depend upon it, my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +dear," said my wife; "and pray, by the way, what may there be +ridiculous in it?"</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-349.jpg" width="95" height="270" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Addressing myself to my wife and daughter, I told them I +perceived that there was a painter now in Paris who coloured +much higher than Rigault, though he did not paint near so like; +for that I could hardly have guessed them to be the pictures of +themselves. To this they both answered at once, that red was +not paint; that no colour in the world was <i>fard</i> but white, of +which they protested they had none.</p> + +<p>'"But how do you like my <i>pompon</i>, papa?" continued my +daughter; "is it not a charming one? I think it is prettier than +mamma's." "It may be, child, for anything that +I know; because I do not know what part of all +this frippery thy <i>pompon</i> is." "It is this, papa," +replied the girl, putting up her hand to her head, +and showing me in the middle of her hair a complication +of shreds and rags of velvets, feathers, +and ribands, stuck with false stones of a thousand +colours, and placed awry.</p> + +<p>'"But what hast thou done to thy hair, +child, and why is it blue? Is that painted, too, +by the same eminent hand that coloured thy +cheeks?" "Indeed, papa," answered the girl, +"as I told you before, there is no painting in +the case; but what gives my hair that bluish +cast is the grey powder, which has always that +effect on dark-coloured hair, and sets off the complexion +wonderfully." "Grey powder, child!" +said I, with some surprise; "grey hairs I knew +were venerable; but till this moment I never +knew they were genteel." "Extremely so, with some complexions," +said my wife; "but it does not suit with mine, and I +never use it." "You are much in the right, my dear," replied I, +"not to play with edge-tools. Leave it to the girl." This, which +perhaps was too hastily said, was not kindly taken; my wife was +silent all dinner-time, and I vainly hoped ashamed. My daughter, +intoxicated with her dress, kept up the conversation with herself, till +the long-wished-for moment of the opera came, which separated +us, and left me time to reflect upon the extravagances which I had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +already seen, and upon the still greater which I had but too much +reason to dread.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 21. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>May 24, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>I am not so partial to the ladies, particularly the unmarried +ones, as to imagine them without fault; on the contrary, I am +going to accuse them of a very great one, which, if not put a stop +to before the warm weather comes in, no mortal can tell to what +lengths it may be carried. You have already hinted at this fault +in the sex, under the genteel appellation of moulting their dress. +If necks, shoulders, &c., have begun to shed their covering in +winter, what a general display of nature are we to expect this summer, +when the excuse of heat may be alleged in favour of such a +display! I called some time ago upon a friend of mine near St. +James's, who, upon my asking where his sister was, told me, "At +her toilette, undressing for the ridetto." That the expression may +be intelligible to every one of your readers, I beg leave to inform +them that it is the fashion for a lady to undress herself to go abroad, +and to dress only when she stays at home and sees no company.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-350.jpg" width="228" height="177" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It may be urged, perhaps, that the nakedness in fashion is +intended only to be emblematical of the innocence of the present +generation of young ladies; as we read of our first mother before +the fall, that <i>she was naked and not ashamed</i>; but I cannot help +thinking that her daughters of these times should convince us that +they are entirely free from original sin, or else be ashamed of their +nakedness. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span></p> + +<p>'I would ask any pretty miss about town, if she ever went a +second time to see the wax-work, or the lions, or even the dogs or +the monkeys, with the same delight as at first? Certain it is that +the finest show in the world excites but little curiosity in those +who have seen it before. "That was a very fine picture," says +my lord, "<i>but I had seen it before</i>." "'Twas a sweet song," says +my lady, "<i>but I had heard it before</i>." "A very fine poem," says +the critic, "<i>but I had read it before</i>." Let every lady, therefore, +take care, that while she is displaying in public a bosom whiter +than snow, the men do not look as if they were saying, "'Tis very +pretty, <i>but we have seen it before</i>."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 23. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>June 7, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>'A recent visit to Bedlam revived an opinion I have often +entertained, that the maddest people in the kingdom are not <i>in</i> but +<i>out</i> of Bedlam. I have frequently compared in my own mind the +actions of certain persons whom we daily meet with in the world +with those of Bedlam, who, properly speaking, may be said to be +out of it; and I know of no difference between them, than that +the former are mad with their reason about them, and the latter so +from the misfortune of having lost it. But what is extraordinary +in this age, when, to its honour be it spoken, charity is become +fashionable, these unhappy wretches are suffered to run loose +about the town, raising riots in public assemblies, beating constables, +breaking lamps, damning parsons, affronting modesty, +disturbing families, and destroying their own fortunes and constitutions; +and all this without any provision being made for them, +or the least attempt being made to cure them of this madness in +their blood.</p> + +<p>'The miserable objects I am speaking of are divided into two +classes: the Men of Spirit about town, and the Bucks. The Men +of Spirit have some glimmerings of understanding, the Bucks +none; the former are demoniacs, or people possessed; the latter +are uniformly and incurably mad. For the reception and confinement +of both these classes, I would humbly propose that two very +spacious buildings should be erected, the one called the hospital +for the Men of Spirit or demoniacs, and the other the hospital for +the Bucks or incurables. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-352.jpg" width="77" height="166" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'That after such hospitals are built, proper officers appointed, +and doctors, surgeons, apothecaries, and mad nurses provided, all +young noblemen and others within the bills of mortality having +common sense, who shall be found offending against the rules +of decency, shall immediately be conducted to the hospital for +demoniacs, there to be exorcised, physicked, and disciplined into a +proper use of their senses; and that full liberty be granted to all +persons whatsoever to visit, laugh at, and make +sport of these demoniacs, without let or molestation +from any of the keepers, according to the +present custom of Bedlam. To the Buck hospital +for incurables, I would have all such persons +conveyed that are mad through folly, ignorance, +or conceit; therefore to be shut up for life, not +only to be prevented from doing mischief, but +from exposing in their own persons the weaknesses +and miseries of mankind. The incurables +on no pretence whatsoever are to be visited or +ridiculed; as it would be altogether as inhuman +to insult the unhappy wretches who never were possessed of their +senses, as to make a jest of those who have unfortunately lost +them.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 34. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Aug. 23, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>'I am well aware that there are certain of my readers who have +no belief in <span class="smcap">WITCHES</span>; but I am willing to hope they are only +those who either have not read, or else have forgot, the proceedings +against them published at large in the state trials. If there +is any man alive who can deny his assent to the positive and circumstantial +evidence given against +them in these trials, I shall only +say that I pity most sincerely the +hardness of his heart.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-352-copy.jpg" width="184" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'What is it but <i>witchcraft</i> that +occasions that universal and uncontrollable +rage for play, by +which the nobleman, the man of +fashion, the merchant and the tradesman, with their wives, sons, +and daughters, are running headlong to ruin? What is it but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +<i>witchcraft</i> that conjures up that spirit of pride and passion for expense +by which all classes of men, from his grace at Westminster to +the salesman at Wapping, are entailing beggary upon their old age, +and bequeathing their children to poverty and to the parish? I +shall conclude by signifying my intention, one day or other, of +hiring a porter and sending him with a hammer and nails, and a +large quantity of horse-shoes, to certain houses in the purlieus of +St James's. I believe it may not be amiss (as a charm against +play) if he had orders to fix a whole dozen of these horse-shoes +at the door of <i>White's</i>.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 37. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Sept. 13, 1753.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">On Toad-eating.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>'To Mr. FitzAdam.</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—I am the widow of a merchant with whom I lived +happily and in affluence for many years. We had no children, +and when he died he left me all he had; but his affairs were so +involved that the balance which I received, after having gone +through much expense and trouble, was no more than one thousand +pounds. This sum I placed in the hands of a friend of my +husband's, who was reckoned a good man in the City, and who +allowed me an interest of four per cent, for my capital; and with +this forty pounds a year I retired and boarded in a village about a +hundred miles from London.</p> + +<p>'There was a lady, an old lady, of great fortune in that neighbourhood, +who visited often at the house where I lodged; she +pretended, after a short acquaintance, to take a great liking to me; +she professed friendship for me, and at length persuaded me to +come and live with her.</p> + +<p>'One day, when her ladyship had treated me with uncommon +kindness for my having taken her part in a dispute with one of her +relations, I received a letter from London, to inform me that the +person in whose hands I had placed my fortune, and who till that +time had paid my interest money very exactly, was broke, and had +left the kingdom.</p> + +<p>'I handed the letter to her ladyship, who immediately read it +over with more attention than emotion.</p> + +<p>'Whenever Lady Mary spoke to me she had hitherto called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +me Mrs. Truman; but the very next morning at breakfast she left +out Mrs.; and upon no greater provocation than breaking a teacup, +she made me thoroughly sensible of her superiority and my +dependence. "Lord, Truman! you are so awkward; pray be +more careful for the future, or we shall not live long together. Do +you think I can afford to have my china broken at this rate, and +maintain you into the bargain?"</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-354.jpg" width="135" height="100" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'From this moment I was obliged to drop the name and +character of friend, which I had hitherto maintained with a little +dignity, and to take up with that which +the French call <i>complaisante</i>, and the +English <i>humble companion</i>. But it did +not stop here; for in a week I was reduced +to be as miserable a toad-eater +as any in Great Britain, which in the +strictest sense of the word is a servant; +except that the toad-eater has the +honour of dining with my lady, and the misfortune of receiving +no wages.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 46. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Nov. 15, 1753.</i></p> + +<p>'A correspondent who is piqued at not being recognised by the +great people to whom he has been but recently presented, is very +unreasonable, for he cannot but have +observed at the playhouses and other +public places, from the number of +glasses used by people of fashion, +that they are naturally short-sighted.</p> + +<p>'It is from this visual defect that +a great man is apt to mistake fortune +for honour, a service of plate for a +good name, and his neighbour's wife for his own.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 47. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Nov. 22, 1753.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>'To Mr. FitzAdam.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-354-copy.jpg" width="142" height="119" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Sir,—Dim-sighted as I am, my spectacles have assisted me +sufficiently to read your papers. As a recompense for the pleasure +I have received from them, I send you a family anecdote, which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +till now has never appeared in print. I am the grand-daughter of +Sir Josiah Pumpkin, of Pumpkin Hall, in South Wales. I was +educated at the hall-house of my own ancestors, under the care +and tuition of my honoured grandfather. It was the constant +custom of my grandfather, when he was tolerably free from the +gout, to summon his three grand-daughters to his bedside, and +amuse us with the most important transactions of his life. He +told us he hoped we would have children, to whom some of his +adventures might prove useful and instructive.</p> + +<p>'Sir Josiah was scarce nineteen years old when he was introduced +at the Court of Charles the Second, by his uncle Sir Simon +Sparrowgrass, who was at that time Lancaster herald-at-arms, and +in great favour at Whitehall.</p> + +<p>'As soon as he had kissed the King's hand, he was presented +to the Duke of York, and immediately afterwards to the ministers +and the mistresses. His fortune, which was considerable, and his +manners, which were elegant, made him so very acceptable in all +companies, that he had the honour to be plunged at once into +every polite party of wit, pleasure, and expense, that the courtiers +could possibly display. He danced with the ladies, he drank with +the gentlemen, he sang loyal catches, and broke bottles and +glasses in every tavern throughout London. But still he was by no +means a perfect fine gentleman. He had not fought a <span class="smcap">DUEL</span>. He +was so extremely unfortunate as never to have had even the happiness +of a <i>rencontre</i>. The want of opportunity, not of courage, +had occasioned this inglorious chasm in his character. He appeared, +not only to the whole court, but even in his own eye, an +unworthy and degenerate Pumpkin, till he had shown himself as +expert in opening a vein with a sword as any surgeon in England +could be with a lancet. Things remained in this unhappy situation +till he was near two-and-twenty years of age.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-356.jpg" width="257" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'At length his better stars prevailed, and he received a most +egregious affront from Mr. Cucumber, one of the gentlemen-ushers +of the privy-chamber. Cucumber, who was in waiting at court, +spit inadvertently into the chimney, and as he stood next to Sir +Josiah Pumpkin, part of the spittle rested upon Sir Josiah's shoe. +It was then that the true Pumpkin honour arose in blushes upon +his cheeks. He turned upon his heel, went home immediately, +and sent Mr. Cucumber a challenge. Captain Daisy, a friend to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +each party, not only carried the challenge, but adjusted preliminaries. +The heroes were to fight in Moorfields, and to bring +fifteen seconds on a side. Punctuality is a strong instance of +valour upon these occasions; the clock of St. Paul's struck seven +just when the combatants were marking out their ground, and +each of the two-and-thirty gentlemen was adjusting himself into +a posture of defence against his adversary. It happened to be the +hour for breakfast in the hospital of Bedlam. A small bell had +rung to summon the Bedlamites into the great gallery. The +keepers had already unlocked the cells, and were bringing forth +their mad folks, when the porter of Bedlam, Owen Macduffy, +standing at the iron gate, and beholding such a number of armed +men in the fields, immediately roared out, "Fire, murder, swords, +daggers, bloodshed!" Owen's voice was always remarkably loud, +but his fears had rendered it still louder and more tremendous. +His words struck a panic into the keepers; they lost all presence +of mind, they forgot their prisoners, and hastened most precipitately +down stairs to the scene of action. At the sight of the naked +swords their fears increased, and at once they stood open-mouthed +and motionless. Not so the lunatics; freedom to madmen and +light to the blind are equally rapturous. Ralph Rogers, the tinker, +began the alarm. His brains had been turned with joy at the +Restoration, and the poor wretch imagined that this glorious set +of combatants were Roundheads and Fanatics, and accordingly +he cried out, "Liberty and property, my boys! Down with the +Rump! Cromwell and Ireton are come from hell to destroy us. +Come, my Cavalier lads, follow me, and let us knock out their +brains." The Bedlamites immediately obeyed, and, with the tinker +at their head, leaped over the balusters of the staircase, and ran +wildly into the fields. In their way they picked up some staves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +and cudgels, which the porters and the keepers had inadvertently +left behind, and, rushing forward with amazing fury, they forced +themselves outrageously into the midst of the combatants, and +in one unlucky moment disturbed all the decency +and order with which this most illustrious +duel had begun.</p> + +<p>'It seemed, according to my grandfather's +observation, a very untoward fate that two-and-thirty +gentlemen of courage, honour, fortune, +and quality should meet together in hopes of +killing each other with all that resolution and +politeness which belonged to their stations, and +should at once be routed, dispersed, and even +wounded by a set of madmen, without sword, +pistol, or any other more honourable weapon +than a cudgel.</p> + +<p>'The madmen were not only superior in +strength, but numbers. Sir Josiah Pumpkin and +Mr. Cucumber stood their ground as long as +possible, and they both endeavoured to make +the lunatics the sole object of their mutual +revenge; but the two friends were soon overpowered, +and, no person daring to come to their +assistance, each of them made as proper a retreat +as the place and circumstances would +admit.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-357.jpg" width="392" height="556" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Many other gentlemen were knocked down +and trampled under foot. Some of them, whom +my grandfather's generosity would never name, +betook themselves to flight in a most inglorious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +manner. An earl's son was spied clinging submissively round the +feet of mad Pocklington, the tailor. A young baronet, although +naturally intrepid, was obliged to +conceal himself at the bottom of +Pippin Kate's apple-stall. A +Shropshire squire, of three thousand +pounds a year, was discovered, +chin deep and almost +stifled, in Fleet Ditch. Even +Captain Daisy himself was found +in a milk-cellar, with visible marks +of fear and consternation. Thus +ended this inauspicious day. But the madmen continued their +outrages many days after. It was near a week before they were +all retaken and chained to their cells, and during that interval of +liberty they committed many offensive pranks throughout the cities +of London and Westminster.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-358.jpg" width="177" height="106" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Such unforeseen disasters occasioned some prudent regulations +in the laws of honour. It was enacted from that time that +six combatants (three on a side) might be allowed and acknowledged +to contain such a quantity of blood in their veins as should +be sufficient to satisfy the highest affront that could be offered.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 64. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>March 21, 1754.</i></p> + +<p>One of Mr. FitzAdam's correspondents is describing a morning +he spent in the library of Lord Finican, with which nobleman +he was invited to breakfast:—</p> + +<p>'I now fell to the books with a good appetite, intending to +make a full meal; and while I was chewing upon a piece of +Tully's philosophical writings, my lord came in upon me. His +looks discovered great uneasiness, which I attributed to the +effects of the last night's diversions; but good manners requiring +me to prefer his lordship's conversation to my own amusement, +I replaced his book, and by the sudden satisfaction in his countenance +perceived that the cause of his perturbation was my holding +open the book with a pinch of snuff in my fingers. He said +he was glad to see me, for he should not have known else what to +have done with himself. I returned the compliment by saying I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +thought he could not want entertainment amidst so choice a +collection of books. "Yes," replied he, "the collection is not +without elegance; but I read men only now, for I finished my +studies when I set out on my travels. You +are not the first who has admired my library; +and I am allowed to have as fine a taste in books +as any man in England."</p> + +<p>'Hereupon he showed me a "Pastor Fido," +bound in green and decorated with myrtle-leaves. +He then took down a volume of Tillotson, +in a black binding, with the leaves as white +as a law-book, and gilt on the back with little +mitres and crosiers; and lastly, Cæsar's "Commentaries," +clothed in red and gold, in imitation of the military +uniform of English officers.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-359.jpg" width="313" height="264" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The literary gentleman finally elicits that his lordship's books +are simply selected for fashion and show, and that they are never +read, Lord Finican having long given up the study of books, and +merely collecting a library to establish the excellence of his taste.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 68. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>April 18, 1754.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. FitzAdam prints a letter received from a widow, describing +the real facts of the injuries by which her husband had lost his +life in a duel:—</p> + +<p>'Mr. Muzzy was very fat and extremely lethargic, and so +stupidly heavy that he fell asleep even in musical assemblies, and +snored in the playhouse, as loud, poor man! as he used to snore +in bed. However, having received many taunts and reproaches, +he resolved to challenge his own cousin-german, Brigadier +Truncheon, of Soho Square. It seems the person challenged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> +fixed upon the place and weapons. Truncheon, a deep-sighted +man, chose Primrose Hill for the field of battle, and swords for +the weapons of defence. To avoid suspicion and to prevent a +discovery, they were to walk together from Piccadilly, where we +then lived, to the summit of Primrose Hill. Truncheon's scheme +took effect. Mr. Muzzy was much fatigued and out of breath +with the walk. However, he drew his sword; and, as he assured +me himself, began to attack his cousin with valour. The brigadier +went back; Mr. Muzzy pursued; but not having his adversary's +alacrity, he stopped a little to take breath. He stopped, alas! +too long: his lethargy came on with more than usual violence; he +first dozed as he stood upon his legs, and then beginning to nod +forward, dropped by degrees upon his face in a most profound +sleep.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-360.jpg" width="389" height="105" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Truncheon, base man! took this opportunity to wound my +husband as he lay snoring on the ground; and he had the cunning +to direct his stab in such a manner as to make it supposed +that Mr. Muzzy had fled, and in his flight had received a wound +in the most ignominious part of his body. You will ask what +became of the seconds. They were both killed upon the spot; +but being only two servants, the one a butler and the other a +cook, they were buried the same night; and by the power of a +little money, properly applied, no further inquiry was made about +them.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Muzzy, wounded as he was, might probably have slept +upon that spot for many hours, had he not been awakened by the +cruel bites of a mastiff. My poor husband was thoroughly +awakened by the new hurt he had received; and indeed it was +impossible to have slept while he was losing whole collops of the +fattest and most pulpy part of his flesh: so that he was brought +home to me much more wounded by the teeth of the mastiff than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +by the sword of his cousin Truncheon.' The wound eventually +mortified, Mr. Muzzy lost his life, and the writer became a +widow.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 82. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>July 25, 1754.</i></p> + +<p class="center">'<span class="smcap">The Tears of Old May-day.</span></p> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-361.jpg" width="98" height="222" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="o1">'Led by the jocund train of vernal hours,</p> +<p class="i1">And vernal airs, up rose the gentle May,</p> +<p>Blushing she rose and blushing rose the flowers</p> +<p class="i1">That spring spontaneous in her genial ray.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="o1">'Her locks with Heaven's ambrosial dews were bright,</p> +<p class="i1">And am'rous Zephyrs flutter'd on her breast;</p> +<p>With ev'ry shifting gleam of morning light</p> +<p class="i1">The colours shifted of her rainbow vest.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="o1">'Imperial ensigns graced her smiling form,</p> +<p class="i1">A golden key and golden wand she bore;</p> +<p>This charms to peace each sullen eastern storm,</p> +<p class="i1">And that unlocks the summer's copious store.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>'Vain hope, no more in choral bands unite</p> +<p class="i1">Her virgin vot'ries, and at early dawn,</p> +<p>Sacred to May and Love's mysterious rite,</p> +<p class="i1">Brush the light dewdrops<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> + from the spangled lawn.</p> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> +<p class="i7">'To her no more Augusta's<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> + wealthy pride</p> +<p class="i8">Pours the full tribute of Potosi's mine;</p> +<p class="i7">Nor fresh-blown garlands village maids provide,</p> +<p class="i8">A purer off'ring at her rustic shrine.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i7">'No more the May-pole's verdant height around,</p> +<p class="i8">To valour's games th' adventurous youth advance;</p> +<p class="i7">To merry bells and tabor's sprightlier sound</p> +<p class="i8">Wake the loud carol and the sportive dance.'</p> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'I have hinted more than once that the present age (1754), +notwithstanding the vices and follies with which it abounds, has +the happiness of standing as high in my opinion as any age whatsoever. +But it has always been the fashion to believe that from +the beginning of the world to the present day men have been +increasing in wickedness. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span></p> + +<p>'I believe that all vices will be found to exist amongst us +much in the same degree as heretofore, forms only changing.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-362.jpg" width="184" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Our grandfathers used to get drunk with strong beer and port; +we get drunk with claret and champagne. They would lie abominably +to conceal their peccadilloes; +we lie as abominably in +boasting of ours. They stole +slily in at the back-door of a +bagnio; we march in boldly at +the front-door, and immediately +steal out slily at the back-door. +Our mothers were prudes; their +daughters coquettes. The first +dressed like modest women, and perhaps were wantons; the last +dress like women of pleasure, and perhaps are virtuous. Those +treated without hanging out a sign; these hang out a sign without +intending to treat. To be still more particular: the abuse of +power, the views of patriots, the flattery of dependents, and the +promises of great men are, I believe, pretty much the same now +as in former ages. Vices that we have no relish for, we part with +for those we like; giving up avarice for prodigality, hypocrisy +for profligacy, and looseness for play.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 86. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Aug. 22, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-362-copy.jpg" width="342" height="190" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>A correspondent, after summing up the lessons he daily extracts +from trees, flowers, insects, and the inmates of his garden, +continues:—</p> + +<p>'In short, there is such a close affinity +between a proper cultivation of a flower-garden +and a right discipline of the mind +that it is almost impossible for any thoughtful +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +person, that has made any proficiency in the one, to avoid paying +a due attention to the other. That industry and care which are +so requisite to cleanse a garden from all sorts of weeds will naturally +suggest to him how much more expedient it would be to +exert the same diligence in eradicating all sorts of prejudices, +follies, and vices from the mind, where they will be sure to prevail, +without a great deal of care and correction, as common weeds +in a neglected piece of ground.</p> + +<p>'And as it requires more pains to extirpate some weeds than +others, according as they are more firmly fixed, more numerous, or +more naturalised to the soil; so those faults will be found to be +most difficult to be suppressed which have been of the largest +growth and taken the deepest root, which are more predominant +in number and most congenial to the constitution.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 92. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Oct. 3, 1754.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. FitzAdam, defining the characters of <i>Siphons</i> and <i>Soakers</i>, +points to a theory that dropsy, of which so many of their order +perish, is a manifest judgment upon them, the wine they so much +loved being turned into water, and themselves drowned at last in +the element they so much abhorred.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-363.jpg" width="221" height="90" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A rational and sober man, invited by the wit and gaiety of +good company, and hurried away by an uncommon flow of spirits, +may happen to drink +too much, and perhaps +accidentally to get drunk; +but then these sallies will +be short and not frequent. +Whereas the +soaker is an utter stranger to wit and mirth, and no friend to +either. His business is serious, and he applies himself seriously +to it; he steadily pursues the numbing, stupefying, and petrifying, +not the animating and exhilarating qualities of the wine. The +more he drinks, the duller he grows; his politics become more +obscure, and his narratives more tedious and less intelligible; till, +at last <i>maudlin</i>, he employs what little articulation he has left in +relating his doleful state to an insensible audience.</p> + +<p>'I am well aware that the numerous society of <i>siphons</i> (as I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +shall for the future typify the soakers, suction being equally the +only business of both) will say, like Sir Tunbelly, "What would +this fellow have us do?" To which I am at no loss for an +answer: "Do anything else."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 100. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Nov. 28, 1754.</i></p> + +<p>'I heard the other day with great pleasure from my friend, +Mr. Dodsley, that Mr. Johnson's "English Dictionary," with a +grammar and history of our language, will be published this winter, +in two large volumes in folio.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-364.jpg" width="105" height="198" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Many people have imagined that so extensive a work would +have been best performed by a number of persons, who should +have taken their several departments of examining, +fitting, winnowing, purifying, and +finally fixing our language by incorporating +their respective funds into one joint stock.</p> + +<p>'But, whether this opinion be true or false, +I think the public in general, and the republic +of letters in particular, are greatly obliged +to Mr. Johnson for having undertaken and +executed so great and desirable a work. Perfection +is not to be expected from man; but +if we are to judge by the various works of +Mr. Johnson already published, we have good +reason to believe that he will bring this as +near to perfection as any one man could do. +The plan of it, which we published some years ago, seems to +me to be a proof of it. Nothing can be more rationally imagined +or more accurately and elegantly expressed. I therefore recommend +the previous perusal of it to all those who intend to buy the +dictionary, and who, I suppose, are all those who can afford it.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 103. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Dec. 19, 1754.</i></p> + +<p>Mr. FitzAdam relates an anecdote establishing the good breeding +of highwaymen of the upper class:—</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-365.jpg" width="145" height="115" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'An acquaintance of mine was robbed a few years ago, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +very near shot through the head by the going off of a pistol of the +accomplished Mr. M'Lean, yet the whole affair was conducted +with the greatest good breeding on both +sides. The robber, who had only taken +a purse <i>this way</i> because he had that +morning been disappointed of marrying +a great fortune, no sooner returned to +his lodgings than he sent the gentleman +two letters of excuses, which, with +less wit than the epistles of Voltaire, +had infinitely more natural and easy politeness in the turn of their +expressions. In the postscript he appointed a meeting at Tyburn, +at twelve at night, where the gentleman might <i>purchase again</i> any +trifles he had lost; and my friend has been blamed for not accepting +the rendezvous, as it seemed liable to be construed by ill-natured +people into a doubt of the <i>honour</i> of a man who had given +him all the satisfaction in his power for having unluckily been near +shooting him through the head.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 112. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Feb. 20, 1755.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-365-copy.jpg" width="215" height="83" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My cobbler is also a politician. He reads the first newspapers +he can get, desirous to be informed of the state of affairs in +Europe, and of the street +robberies of London. He +has not, I presume, analysed +the interests of the respective +countries of Europe, nor +deeply considered those of +his own; still less is he systematically informed of the political +duties of a citizen and subject. But his heart and his habits +supply these defects. He glows with zeal for the honour and +prosperity of old England; he will fight for it if there be an occasion, +and drink to it perhaps a little too often and too much. +However, is it not to be wished that there were in this country six +millions of such honest and zealous, though uninformed, citizens?</p> + +<p>'Our honest cobbler is thoroughly convinced, as his forefathers +were for many centuries, that one Englishman can beat three +Frenchmen; and in that persuasion he would by no means +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +decline the trial. Now, though in my own private opinion, +deduced from physical principles, I am apt to believe that one +Englishman could beat no more than two Frenchmen of equal +size with himself, I should, however, be unwilling to undeceive +him of that useful and sanguine error, which certainly made his +countrymen triumph in the fields of Poictiers and Crecy.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 122. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>May 1, 1755.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-366.jpg" width="255" height="114" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'As I was musing one morning, in a most disconsolate mood, +with my leg in my landlady's lap, while she darned one of my +stockings, it came into my head to collect from various books, +together with my own experience and observations, plain and +wholesome rules on the subject of <i>diet</i>, and then publish them in +a neat pocket volume; for I was always well inclined to do good +to the world, however ungratefully it used me. I doubt, Mr. +FitzAdam, you will hardly forbear smiling to hear a man who was +almost starved talk gravely of compiling observations on diet. +The moment I finished my volume I ran to an eminent bookseller +near the Mansion House; he was just set down to dinner.... +As soon as the cloth was taken away I produced my manuscript, +and the bookseller put on his spectacles; but to my no small +mortification, after glancing an eye over the title-page, he looked +steadfastly upon me for near a minute in a kind of amazement I +could not account for, and then broke out in the following manner:—"My +dear sir, you are come to the very worst place in the world +for the sale of such a <i>performance</i> as this—to think of expecting +the Court of Aldermen's permission to preach upon the subject of +<i>lean and fallow abstinence</i> between the Royal Exchange and +Temple Bar!"' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 130. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>June 26, 1755.</i></p> + +<p>Extracts from a letter written by 'Priscilla Cross-stitch,' for +herself and sisters, on the subject of the indelicacy of nankin +breeches, as indulged in by Patrick, their footman:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-367.jpg" width="262" height="118" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'We give him no livery, but allow him a handsome sum yearly +for clothes; and, to <i>say the truth</i>, till within the last week he has +dressed with great propriety and decency, when all at once, to our +great confusion and distress, he has the assurance to appear at +the sideboard in a pair of filthy nankin breeches, and those made +to fit so extremely tight, that a less curious observer might have +mistaken them for no breeches at all. The shame and confusion +so visible in all our faces one would think would suggest to him +the odiousness of his dress; but the fellow appears to have thrown +off every appearance of decency, for at tea-table before company, +as well as at meals, we are forced to endure him in this abominable +nankin, our modesty conflicting with nature, to efface the idea it +conveys.'</p> + +<p>The ladies cannot well discharge a good servant for this indiscretion; +their delicacy will not allow them to mention the dreadful +word, nor venture on allusions to the objectionable part of the +apparel; nor will they venture to entrust the task to their maids, +as it might draw them into puzzling explanations. The publication +of Priscilla's letter, with a warning to Patrick, and a general +decree against suggestive drapery, declaring it a capital offence, is +intended to relieve the ladies of their confusion.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 135. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>July 31, 1755.</i></p> + +<p>'Hilarius is a downright country gentleman; a <i>bon vivant</i>; an +indefatigable sportsman. He can drink his gallon at a sitting, and +will tell you he was neither sick nor sorry in his life. Having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +an estate of above five thousand a year, his strong beer, ale, and +wine cellar are always well stored; to either of which, as also to +his table, abounding in plenty of good victuals, ill-sorted and ill-dressed, +every voter and fox-hunter claims a kind of right. He +roars for the Church, which he never visits, and is eternally cracking +his coarse jests and talking obscenity to the parsons, whom if +he can make fuddled, and expose to contempt, it is the highest +pleasure he can enjoy. As for his lay friends, nothing is more +common with him than to set them and their servants dead drunk +on their horses; and should any of them be found half smothered +in a ditch the next morning, it affords him excellent diversion for +a twelvemonth after. No one is readier to club a laugh with you, +but he has no ear to the voice of distress or complaint. Thus +Hilarius, on the false credit of generosity and good humour, swims +triumphantly with the stream of applause without one single virtue +in his composition.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-368.jpg" width="297" height="172" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 142. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Sept. 18, 1755.</i></p> + +<p>Extract from the letter of a lady, a lover of peace and quietness, +on the sufferings produced by her connection with people +who are fond of noise. After describing the violence practised in +her own home, the writer continues:—</p> + +<p>'At last I was sent to board with a distant relation, who had +been captain of a man-of-war, who had given up his commission +and retired into the country. Unfortunately for poor me, the +captain still retained a passion for firing a great gun, and had +mounted, on a little fortification that was thrown up against the +front of his house, eleven nine-pounders, which were constantly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +discharged ten or a dozen times over on the arrival of visitors, and +on all holidays and rejoicings. The noise of these cannon was +more terrible to me than all the rest, and would have rendered my +continuance there intolerable, if a young gentleman, a relation of +the captain's, had not held me by the heart-strings, and softened +by the most tender courtship in the world the horrors of these +firings.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-369.jpg" width="332" height="122" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The unfortunate lady's married life was doomed, however, to +prove a union of noise and contention.</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 150. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Nov. 13, 1755.</i></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-369-copy.jpg" width="164" height="93" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span></p> + +<p>'Among the ancient Romans the great offices of state were all +elective, which obliged them to be very observant of the shape of +the noses of those persons to whom they were to apply for votes. +Horace tells us that a sharp nose was an indication of satirical wit +and humour; for when speaking of his friend Virgil, though he +says, "At est bonus, ut melior non alius quisquam," yet he allows +he was no joker, and not a fit match +at the sneer for those of his companions +who had sharper noses than +his own. They also looked upon +the short noses, with a little inflection +at the end tending upwards, as +a mark of the owner's being addicted +to jibing; for the same author, talking of Mæcenas, says that +though he was born of an ancient family, yet was he not apt to +turn persons of low birth into ridicule, which he expresses by saying +that "he had not a turn-up nose." Martial, in one of his +epigrams, calls this kind of nose the rhinocerotic nose, and says +that everyone in his time affected this kind of snout, as an indication +of his being <i>master of the talent of humour</i>.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. —. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—1755.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-370.jpg" width="98" height="126" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-370-copy.jpg" width="92" height="129" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-370-copy-2.jpg" width="78" height="85" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'You may have frequently observed upon the face of that useful +piece of machinery, a clock, the minute and hour hands, in their +revolution through the twelve +divisions of the day, to be not +only shifting continually from +one figure to another, but to +stand at times in a quite opposite +direction to their former +bearings, and to each other. +Now I conceive this to be +pretty much the case with that +complicated piece of mechanism, a modern female, or young woman +of fashion: for as such I was accustomed to consider that part of +the species as having no power to determine their own motions +and appearances, but acted upon by the mode, and set to any +point which the party who took the lead, or (to speak more properly) +its regulator, pleased. But it has so happened in the circumrotation +of modes and fashions, that the present set are not +only moving on continually from one pretty fancy +and conceit to another, but have departed quite +aside from their former principles, dividing from each +other in a circumstance wherein they were always +accustomed to unite, and uniting where there was +ever wont to be a distinction or difference.... +The pride now is to get as far away as possible, not only from the +vulgar, but from one another, and that, too, as well in the first +principles of dress as in its subordinate decorations; so that its +fluctuating humour is perpetually showing itself in some new and +particular sort of cap, flounce, knot, or tippet; and every woman +that you meet affects independency and to set up for herself.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 153. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Dec. 4, 1755.</i></p> + +<p>The writer describes a country assembly, highly perfumed with +'the smell of the stable over which it was built, the savour of the +neighbouring kitchen, the fumes of tallow candles, rum punch, and +tobacco dispersed over the house, and the balsamic effluvia from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +many sweet creatures who were dancing.' Everyone 'is pleased +and desirous of pleasing,' with the exception of some fashionable +young men blocking up the door—'whose faces I remember to +have seen about town, who would neither dance, drink tea, play +at cards, nor speak to anyone, except now and then in whispers +to a young lady, who sat in silence at the upper end of the room, +in a hat and négligée, with her back against the wall, her arms +akimbo, her legs thrust out, a sneer on her lips, a scowl on her +forehead, and an invincible assurance in her eyes. Their behaviour +affronted most of the company, yet obtained the desired effect: +for I overheard several of the country ladies say, "It was a pity +they were so proud; for to be sure they were prodigious well-bred +people, and had an immense deal of wit;" a mistake they could +never have fallen into had these patterns of politeness condescended +to have entered into any conversation.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-371.jpg" width="375" height="143" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 163. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Feb. 12, 1756.</i></p> + +<p>'There was an ancient sect of philosophers, the disciples of +Pythagoras, who held that the souls of men and all other animals +existed in a state of perpetual transmigration, and that when by +death they were dislodged from one corporeal habitation, they +were immediately reinstated in another, happier or more miserable +according to their behaviour in the former. This doctrine has +always appeared to me to present a theory of retributory compensation +which is very acceptable.</p> + +<p>'Thus the tyrant, who by his power has oppressed his country +in the situation of a prince, in that of a slave may be compelled to +do it some service by his labour. The highwayman, who has stopped +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +and plundered travellers, may expiate and assist them in the shape +of a post-horse; and mighty conquerors, who have laid waste the +world by their swords, may be obliged, by a small alteration in +sex and situation, to contribute to its re-peopling.</p> + +<p>'For my own part, I verily believe this to be the case. I +make no doubt but Louis XIV. is now chained to an oar in the +galleys of France, and that Hernando Cortez is digging gold in the +mines of Peru or Mexico; that Dick Turpin, the highwayman, is +several times a day spurred backwards and forwards between +London and Epping, and that Lord * * * * and Sir Harry * * * * +are now roasting for a city feast. I +question not but that Alexander the +Great and Julius Cæsar have died +many times in child-bed since their +appearance in those illustrious and +depopulating characters; that Charles +XII. is at this instant a curate's wife +in some remote village with a numerous +and increasing family; and that Kouli-Khan is now +whipped from parish to parish in the person of a big-bellied +beggar-woman, with two children in her arms and three at her +back.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-372.jpg" width="148" height="98" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 164. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Feb. 19, 1756.</i></p> + +<p>'Mr. FitzAdam,—I am infested by a swarm of country cousins +that are come up to town for the winter, as they call it—a whole +family of them. They ferret me out from every place I go to, +and it is impossible to stand the ridicule of being seen in their +company.</p> + +<p>'At their first coming to town I was, in a manner, obliged to +gallant them to the play, where, having seated the mother with +much ado, I offered my hand to the eldest of my five young +cousins; but as she was not dexterous enough to manage a great +hoop with one hand only, she refused my offer, and at the first +step fell along. It was with great difficulty I got her up again; +but imagine, sir, my situation. I sat like a mope all the night, not +daring to look up for fear of catching the eyes of my acquaintance, +who would have laughed me out of countenance. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-373.jpg" width="334" height="156" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My friends see how I am mortified at all public places; and it +is a standing jest with them, wherever they meet me, to put on the +appearance of the profoundest respect, and to ask, "Pray, sir, how +do your cousins do?" This leads me to propose something for +the relief of all those whose country cousins, like mine, expect they +should introduce them into the world; by which means we shall +avoid appearing in a very ridiculous light. I would therefore set +up a person who should be known by the name of Town Usher. +His business should be to attend closely all young ladies who were +never in town before, to teach them to walk into playhouses without +falling over the benches, to show them the tombs and the +lions, and the wax-work and the giant, and instruct them how to +wonder and shut their mouths at the same time, for I really meet +with so many gapers every day in the streets that I am continually +yawning all the way I walk.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 169. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>March 25, 1756.</i></p> + +<p>'"Wanted a Curate at Beccles, in Suffolk. Inquire farther of +Mr. Strut, Cambridge and Yarmouth carrier, who inns at the Crown, +the end of Jesus Lane, Cambridge.</p> + +<p>'"N.B.—To be spoken with from Friday noon to Saturday +morning, nine o'clock."</p> + +<p>'I have transcribed this from a newspaper, Mr. FitzAdam, +<i>verbatim et literatim</i>, and must confess I look upon it as a +curiosity. It would certainly be entertaining to hear the conversation +between Mr. Strut, Cambridge and Yarmouth carrier, +and the curate who offers himself. Doubtless Mr. Strut has his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> +orders to inquire into the young candidate's qualifications, and to +make his report to the advertising rector before he agrees upon +terms with him. But what principally deserves our observation is +the propriety of referring us to a person who traffics constantly to +that great mart of young divines, Cambridge, where the advertiser +might expect numbers to flock to the person he employed. It is +pleasant, too, to observe the "N.B." at the end of the advertisement; +it carries with it an air of significance enough to intimidate +a young divine who might possibly have been so bold as to have +put himself on an equal footing with this negotiator, if he had not +known that he was only to be spoken with at stated hours.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-374.jpg" width="236" height="141" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 176. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>May 13, 1756.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-374-copy.jpg" width="240" height="114" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Going to visit an old friend at his country seat last week, I +found him at backgammon with the vicar of the parish. My +friend received me with the heartiest welcome, and introduced the +doctor to my acquaintance. This gentleman, who seemed to be +about fifty, and of a florid and healthy constitution, surveyed me +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +all over with great attention, and, after a slight nod of the head, +sat himself down without opening his mouth. I was a little hurt +at the supercilious behaviour of this divine, which my friend +observing, told me very pleasantly that I was rather too old to be +entitled to the doctor's complaisance, for he seldom bestowed it +but upon the young and vigorous; "but," says he, "you will know +him better soon, and may probably think it worth your while to +<i>book</i> him in the 'World,' for you will find him altogether as odd a +character as he is a worthy one." The doctor made no reply to +this raillery, but continued some time with his eye fixed upon me, +and at last shaking his head, and turning to my friend, asked if he +would play out the other hit. My friend excused himself from +engaging any more that evening, and ordered a bottle of wine, +with pipes and tobacco, to be set on the table. The vicar filled +his pipe, and drank very cordially to my friend, still eyeing me +with a seeming dislike, and neither drinking my health nor speaking +a single word to me. As I had long accustomed myself to +drink nothing but water, I called for a bottle of it, and drank glass +for glass with him; which upon the doctor's observing, he shook +his head at my friend, and in a whisper, loud enough for me to +hear, said, "Poor man! it is all over with him, I see." My friend +smiled, and answered, in the same audible whisper, "No, no, +doctor, Mr. FitzAdam intends to live as long as either of us." He +then addressed himself to me on the occurrences of the town, and +drew me into a very cheerful conversation, which lasted till I withdrew +to rest; at which time the doctor rose from his chair, drank +a bumper to my health, and, giving me a hearty shake by the +hand, told me I was a very jolly old gentleman, and that he +wished to be better acquainted with me during my stay in the +country.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 185. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>July 15, 1756.</i></p> + +<p class="center">'<i>Mr. FitzAdam.</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—My case is a little singular, and therefore I hope you +will let it appear in your paper. I should scarcely have attempted +to make such a request, had I not very strictly looked over all +the works of your predecessors, the "Tatlers," "Spectators," and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +"Guardians," without a possibility of finding a parallel to my +unhappy situation.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-376.jpg" width="79" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I am not <i>henpecked</i>; I am not <i>grimalkined</i>; I have no Mrs. +Freeman, with her Italian airs; but I have a wife more troublesome +than all three by a certain ridiculous and +unnecessary devotion that she pays to her father, +amounting almost to idolatry. When I first +married her, from that specious kind of weakness +which meets with encouragement and applause +only because it is called good-nature, I +permitted her to do whatever she pleased; but +when I thought it requisite to pull in the rein, +I found that her having the bit in her teeth +rendered the strength of my curb of no manner of use to me. +Whenever I attempted to draw her in a little, she tossed up her +head, snorted, pranced, and gave herself such airs, that unless I +let her carry me where she pleased, my limbs if not my life were +in danger.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 191. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Aug. 26, 1756.</i></p> + +<p>'Ever since the tax upon dogs was first reported to be in +agitation, I have been under the greatest alarm for the safety of +the whole race.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-376-copy.jpg" width="282" height="102" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I thought it a little hard, indeed, that a man should be taxed +for having one creature in his house in which he might confide; +but when I heard that officers were to be appointed to knock out +the brains of all these honest domestics who should presume to +make their appearance in the streets without the passport of their +master's name about their necks, I became seriously concerned +for them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span></p> + +<p>'This enmity against dogs is pretended upon the apprehension +of their going mad; but an easier remedy might be applied, by +abolishing the custom (with many others equally ingenious) of +stringing bottles and stones to their tails, by which means (and +in this one particular I must give up my clients) the unfortunate +sufferer becomes subject to the persecutions of his own species, +too apt to join the run against a brother in distress.</p> + +<p>'But great allowance should be made for an animal who, in an +intimacy of nearly six thousand years with man, has learnt but one +of his bad qualities.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-377.jpg" width="287" height="153" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 192. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Sept. 2, 1756.</i></p> + +<p>'Mr. FitzAdam,—Walking up St. James's Street the other +day, I was stopt by a very smart young female, who begged my +pardon for her boldness, and, looking very innocently in my face, +asked me if I did not know her. The manner of her accosting +me and the extreme prettiness of her figure made me look at her +with attention; and I soon recollected that she had been a +servant-girl of my wife's, who had taken her from the country, and, +after keeping her three years in her service, had dismissed her +about two months ago. "What, Nanny," said I, "is it you? I +never saw anybody so fine in all my life!" "Oh, sir!" says she, +with the most innocent smile imaginable, bridling her head and +curtsying down to the ground, "I have been led astray since I +lived with my mistress." "Have you so, Mrs. Nanny?" said I; +"and pray, child, who is it that has led you astray?" "Oh, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +sir!" says she, "one of the worthiest gentlemen in the world; +and he has bought me a new négligée for every day in the week."</p> + +<p>'The girl pressed me to go and look at her lodgings, which +she assured me were hard by in Bury Street, and as fine as a +duchess's; but I declined her offer, knowing that any arguments +of mine in favour of virtue and stuff gowns would avail but little +against pleasure and silk négligées. I therefore contented myself +with expressing my concern for the way of life she had entered +into, and bade her farewell.</p> + +<p>'Being a man inclined to speculate a little, as often as I think +of the finery of this girl, and the reason alleged for it, I cannot +help fancying, whenever I fall in company with a pretty woman, +dressed out beyond her visible circumstances, patched, painted, +and ornamented to the extent of the mode, that she is going to +make me her best curtsy, and to tell me, "Oh, sir! I have been +led astray since I kept good company."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 202. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Nov. 11, 1756.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-378.jpg" width="74" height="203" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'The trumpet sounds; to war the troops advance,</p> +<p>Adorn'd and trim, like females to the dance</p> +<p>Proud of the summons, to display his might,</p> +<p>The gay Lothario dresses for the fight;</p> +<p>Studious in all the splendour to appear,</p> +<p>Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!</p> +<p>His well-turn'd limbs the diff'rent garbs infold,</p> +<p>Form'd with nice art, and glitt'ring all with gold;</p> +<p>Across his breast the silken sash is tied,</p> +<p>Behind the shoulder-knot displays its pride;</p> +<p>Glitt'ring with lace, the hat adorns his head,</p> +<p>Grac'd and distinguish'd by the smart cockade:</p> +<p>Conspicuous badge! which only heroes wear,</p> +<p>Ensign of war and fav'rite of the fair.</p> +<p>The graceful queue his braided tresses binds,</p> +<p>And ev'ry hair in its just rank confines.</p> +<p>Each taper leg the snowy gaiters deck,</p> +<p>And the bright gorget dandles from his neck.</p> +<p>Dress'd cap-a-pie, all lovely to the sight,</p> +<p>Stands the gay warrior, and expects the fight.</p> +<p>Rages the war; fell slaughter stalks around,</p> +<p>And stretches thousands breathless on the ground.</p> +<p>Down sinks Lothario, sent by one dire blow,</p> +<p>A well-dress'd hero, to the shades below. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span></p> +<p>Thus the young victim, pamper'd and elate,</p> +<p>To some resplendent fane is led in state,</p> +<p>With garlands crown'd through shouting crowds proceeds,</p> +<p>And, dress'd in fatal pomp, magnificently bleeds.'</p> +</div></div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 209. <span class="smcap">The 'World.'</span>—<i>Dec. 30, 1756.</i></p> + +<p class="center">'<i>The Last of Mr. FitzAdam.</i></p> + +<p>'Before these lines can reach the press, that truly great and +amiable gentleman, Mr. FitzAdam, will, in all probability, be no +more. An event so sudden and unexpected, and in which the +public are so deeply interested, cannot fail to excite the curiosity +of every reader. I shall, therefore, relate it in the most concise +manner I am able.</p> + +<p>'The reader may remember that in the first number of the +"World," and in several succeeding papers, the good old gentleman +flattered himself that the profits of his labours would some +time or other enable him to make a genteel figure in the world, +and seat himself at last in his <i>one-horse chair</i>. The death of Mrs. +FitzAdam, which happened a few months since, as it relieved him +from the great expense of housekeeping, made him in a hurry to +set up his equipage; and as the sale of his paper was even beyond +his expectations, I was one of the first of his friends that advised +him to purchase it. The equipage was accordingly bespoke and +sent home; and as he had all along promised that his first visit in +it should be to me, I expected him last Tuesday at my country-house +at Hoxton. The poor gentleman was punctual to his +appointment; and it was with great delight that I saw him from +my window driving up the road that leads to my house. Unfortunately +for him, his eye caught mine; and hoping (as I suppose) +to captivate me by his great skill in driving, he made two or +three flourishes with his whip, which so frightened the horse that +he ran furiously away with the carriage, dashed it against a post, +and threw the driver from his seat with a violence hardly to be +conceived. I screamed out to my maid, "Lord bless me!" says +I, "Mr. FitzAdam is killed!" and away we ran to the spot where +he lay. At first I imagined that his head was off, but upon drawing +nearer I found it was his hat! He breathed, indeed, which +gave me hopes that he was not quite dead; but for signs of life, he +had positively none. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-380.jpg" width="294" height="201" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'In this condition, with the help of some neighbours, we +brought him into the house, where a warm bed was quickly got +ready for him; which, together with bleeding and other helps, +brought him by degrees to life and reason. He looked round +about him for some time, and at last, seeing and knowing me, +inquired after his chaise. I told him it was safe, though a good +deal damaged. "No matter, madam," he replied; "it has done +my business; it has carried me a journey from this world to the +next. I shall have no use for it again. The 'World' is now at +an end! I thought it destined to last a longer period; but the +decrees of fate are not to be resisted. It would have pleased me +to have written the last paper myself, but that task, madam, must +be yours; and, however painful it may be to your modesty, I conjure +you to undertake it.... My epitaph, if the public might be +so satisfied, I would have decent and concise. It would offend +my modesty if, after the name of <span class="smcap">FitzAdam</span>, more were to be +added than these words:—</p> + +<p class="center p2"> +'"<i>He was the deepest</i> <span class="smcap">Philosopher</span>,<br /> +<i>The wittiest</i> <span class="smcap">Writer</span>,<br /> +AND<br /> +<i>The greatest</i> <span class="smcap">Man<br /> +Of this Age or Nation</span>."'</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S FAMILIARITY WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE +SATIRICAL ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued.</i></span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Characteristic Passages from the compositions of the 'Early Humourists,' from +Thackeray's Library, illustrated by the Author's hand with original Marginal +Sketches suggested by the Text—The '<span class="smcap">Connoisseur</span>,' 1754—Introduction—Review +of Contributors—Paragraphs and Pencillings. +</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Preface to the 'Connoisseur.'</span></p> + +<p>The '<span class="smcap">Connoisseur</span>' was undertaken by a brace of congenial +wits, George Colman the elder, well known as a humourist and +dramatic writer, and Bonnel Thornton, both of whom at the time +they obliged the public with this publication were very young men, +still pursuing their studies at Oxford University. They appear to +have entered into a partnership, of which the following account is +given in their last paper:—'We have not only joined in the work +taken altogether,' says the writer of No. 140, 'but almost every +single paper is the product of both; and, as we have laboured +equally in erecting the fabric, we cannot pretend that any one +particular part is the sole workmanship of either. A hint has +perhaps been started by one of us, improved by the other, and still +further heightened by a happy coalition of sentiment in both, as +fire is struck out by a mutual collision of flint and steel. Sometimes, +like Strada's lovers conversing with the sympathetic needles, +we have written papers together at fifty miles' distance from +each other. The first rough draft or loose minutes of an essay +have often travelled in the stage-coach from town to country and +from country to town; and we have frequently waited for the +postman (whom we expected to bring us the precious remainder of +a "Connoisseur") with the same anxiety we should wait for the half +of a bank note, without which the other half would be of no value.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span></p> + +<p>Such, indeed, was the similarity of manner, that, after some +years, the survivor, George Colman, was unable to distinguish his +share from that of his colleague in the case of those papers which +were written conjointly. Neither had an individuality of style by +which conjecture might be assisted. The prose compositions of +both were of the light and easy kind, sometimes with a dramatic +turn, and sometimes with an air of parody or imitation; and their +objects were generally the same, the existing follies and absurdities +of the day, which they chastised with ironical severity.</p> + +<p>George Colman, by whom it is probable the 'Connoisseur' +was projected, was the son of Thomas Colman, British Resident +at the Court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany at Pisa, by a sister of +the Countess of Bath. He was born at Florence about the year +1733, and placed at a very early age at Westminster School, where +his talents soon became conspicuous, and where he contracted an +acquaintance with Lloyd, Churchill, Thornton, and others, who +were afterwards the reigning wits of the day, but unfortunately +only employed their genius on the perishable beings and events of +the passing hour. Colman was elected to Christ's Church in 1751, +and received the degree of M.A. in the month of March, 1758.</p> + +<p>It was at that college he projected the 'Connoisseur,' which +was printed at Oxford by Jackson, and sent to London for publication; +it afforded the coadjutors a very desirable relaxation from +their classical studies, to which, however, Colman was particularly +attached, and which he continued to cultivate at a more advanced +period of life, his last publication being a translation of Horace's +'Art of Poetry.'</p> + +<p>Bonnel Thornton, the colleague of George Colman in many +of his literary labours, was the son of an apothecary, and born in +Maiden Lane, London, in the year 1724. After the usual course +of education at Westminster School, he was elected to Christ's +Church, Oxford, in 1743. The first publication in which he was +concerned was the 'Student, or the Oxford Monthly Miscellany,' +afterwards altered to the 'Student, or Oxford and Cambridge +Monthly Miscellany.' This entertaining medley appeared in +monthly numbers, printed at Oxford, for Newbery, in St. Paul's +Churchyard. Smart was the principal conductor, but Thornton +and other writers of both Universities occasionally assisted.</p> + +<p>Our author, in 1752, began a periodical work, entitled 'Have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +at ye All, or the Drury Lane Journal,' in opposition to Fielding's +'Covent Garden Journal.' It contains humorous remarks on +reigning follies, but indulges somewhat too freely in personal +ridicule.</p> + +<p>Thornton took his degree of M.A. in April, 1750, and, as his +father wished him to make physic his profession, he took the +degree of Bachelor of that faculty, May 18, 1754; but his bent, like +that of Colman, was not to the severer studies, and they about this +time 'clubbed their wits' in the 'Connoisseur.'</p> + +<p>According to their concluding motto:—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Sure in the self-same mould their minds were cast,</p> +<p>Twins in affection, judgment, humour, taste.</p> +</div></div> + +<p>The last number facetiously alludes to the persons and pursuits +of the joint projectors, by a sort of epigrammatic description of +Mr. Town. 'It has often been remarked that the reader is very +desirous of picking up some little particulars concerning the author +of the book he is perusing. To gratify this passion, many literary +anecdotes have been published, and an account of their life, +character, and behaviour has been prefixed to the works of our +most celebrated writers. Essayists are commonly expected to be +their own biographers; and perhaps our readers may require some +further intelligence concerning the authors of the "Connoisseur." +But, as they have all along appeared as a sort of <i>Sosias</i> in literature, +they cannot now describe themselves any otherwise than as +one and the same person; and can only satisfy the curiosity of the +public, by giving a short account of that respectable personage +Mr. Town, considering him as of the plural, or rather, according to +the Grecians, of the dual number.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Town is a <i>fair</i>,<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> + black, middle-sized, <i>very short man</i>. He +<i>wears his own hair</i>, and a periwig. He is about thirty years of +age, and <i>not more than four-and-twenty</i>. He is <i>a student of the +law</i>, and a Bachelor of Physic. He was bred at the University of +Oxford, where, having taken no less than three degrees, he looks +down upon many learned professors as his inferiors; <i>yet, having +been there but little longer than to take the first degree of Bachelor +of Arts</i>, it has more than once happened that the Censor General +of all England has been reprimanded by the Censor of his college +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +for neglecting to furnish the usual essay, or, in the collegiate +phrase, the theme of the week.</p> + +<p>'This joint description of ourselves will, we hope, satisfy the +reader without any further information.... We have all the +while gone on, as it were, hand in hand together; and while we +are both employed in furnishing matter for the paper now before +us, we cannot help smiling at our thus making our exit together, +like the two kings of Brentford, smelling at one nosegay.'</p> + +<p>Among the few occasional contributors who assisted the originators +of the 'Connoisseur,' the foremost was the Earl of Cork, +who has been noticed as a writer in the 'World.' His communications +to the organ of Mr. Town were the greater part of Nos. 14 +and 17, the letters signed 'Goliath English,' in No. 19, great part +of Nos. 33 and 40, and the letters signed 'Reginald Fitzworm,' +'Michael Krawbridge,' 'Moses Orthodox,' and 'Thomas Vainall,' +in Nos. 102, 107, 113, and 129. Duncombe says of this nobleman, +that 'for humour, innocent humour, no one had a truer taste +or better talent.' The authors, in their last paper, acknowledge +the services of their elevated coadjutor in these words:—'Our +earliest and most frequent correspondent distinguished his favours +by the signature "G. K.," and we are sorry that he will not allow +us to mention his name, since it would reflect as much credit on +our work as we are sure will redound to it from his contributions.'</p> + +<p>The Rev. John Duncombe, who has also been noticed as one +of the writers in the 'World,' was a contributor to the 'Connoisseur.' +The concluding paper already quoted observes in +reference to the communications of this writer:—'The next in +priority of time is a gentleman of Cambridge, who signed himself +"A. B.," and we cannot but regret that he withdrew his assistance, +after having obliged us with the best part of the letters in Nos. 46, +49, and 52, and of the essays in Nos. 62 and 64.'</p> + +<p>Of the remaining essayists concerned in this work, William +Cowper, the author of the 'Task,' is the only contributor whose +name has been recovered, and his assistance certainly sheds +an additional interest on the paper. In early life this gifted +poet is said to have formed an acquaintance with Colman +and his colleague; and to this circumstance we owe the few +papers in the 'Connoisseur' which can be positively ascribed to +his pen; No. 119, 'On Keeping a Secret;' No. 134, 'Letter +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +from Mr. Village on the State of Country Churches, their Clergy +and Congregations;' and No. 138, 'On Conversation.' Other +papers are inferentially attributed, on internal evidence, to the +same author; No. 111, containing the character of the delicate +'Billy Suckling,' and No. 119 are set down to him by Colman and +Thornton. Nos. 13, 23, 41, 76, 81, 105, and 139, although they +cannot be claimed with any degree of certainty for his authorship, +are presumably written by Mr. Village, the cousin of Mr. Town, +whose name is attached to No. 134, which is Cowper's beyond +question.</p> + +<p>Robert Lloyd, a minor poet, whose misfortunes in life are in +some degree referred to the temptations held out by his convivial +literary associates, also contributed his lyric compositions to Mr. +Town's paper. He was referred to, at the close of the 'Connoisseur,' +as 'the friend, a member of Trinity College, Cambridge,' +who wrote the song in No. 72, and the verses in Nos. 67, 90, 125, +and 135, all of which pieces were afterwards reprinted with his +other works in the second edition of Johnson's 'Poets.'</p> + +<p>'There are still remaining,' concludes Mr. Town, in his final +number, 'two correspondents, who must stand by themselves, as +they wrote to us, not in an assumed character, but <i>in propriâ +personâ</i>. The first is no less a personage than Orator Henley, who +obliged us with that truly original letter printed in No. 37.<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> + The +other, who favoured us with a letter no less original, No. 70, we +have reason to believe is a Methodist teacher, and a mechanic; +but we do not know either his name or his trade.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-385.jpg" width="110" height="84" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2">No. 7. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>March 14, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>I loath'd the dinner, while before my face</p> +<p>The clown still paw'd you with a rude embrace;</p> +<p>But when ye toy'd and kiss'd without controul,</p> +<p>I turned, and screen'd my eyes behind the bowl.</p> +</div></div> +<p class="center"><i>'To Mr. Town.</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—I shall make no apology for recommending to your +notice, as Censor General, a fault that is too common among +married people; I mean the absurd trick of fondling before company. +Love is, indeed, a very rare ingredient in modern wedlock; +nor can the parties entertain too much affection for each other; +but an open display of it on all occasions renders them ridiculous.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-386.jpg" width="213" height="117" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A few days ago I was introduced to a young couple who +were but lately married, and are reckoned by all their acquaintance +to be exceedingly happy in each other. I had scarce +saluted the bride, when the husband caught her eagerly in his +arms and almost devoured her with kisses. When we were seated, +they took care to place themselves close to each other, and during +our conversation he was constantly fiddling with her fingers, +tapping her cheek, or playing with her hair. At dinner, they were +mutually employed in pressing each other to taste of every dish, +and the fond appellations of "My dear," "My love," &c., were +continually bandied across the table. Soon after the cloth was +removed, the lady made a motion to retire, but the husband +prevented the compliments of the rest of the company by saying, +"We should be unhappy without her." As the bottle went round, +he joined her health to every toast, and could not help now and +then rising from his chair to press her hand, and manifest the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +warmth of his passion by the ardour of his caresses. This precious +fooling, though it highly entertained them, gave me great disgust; +therefore, as my company might very well be spared, I took my +leave as soon as possible.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 8. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>March 21, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>In outward show so splendid and so vain,</p> +<p>'Tis but a gilded block without a brain.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'I hope it will not be imputed to envy or malevolence that I +here remark on the sign hung out before the productions of Mr. +FitzAdam. When he gave his paper the title of the "World," I +suppose he meant to intimate his design of describing that part of +it who are known to account all other persons "Nobody," and +are therefore emphatically called the "World." If this was to +be pictured out in the head-piece, a lady at her toilette, a party +at whist, or the jovial member of the <i>Dilettanti</i> tapping the world +for champagne, had been the most natural and obvious hieroglyphics. +But when we see the portrait of a philosopher poring on +the globe, instead of observations on modern life, we might more +naturally expect a system of geography, or an attempt towards a +discovery of the longitude.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-387.jpg" width="213" height="108" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Yet, in spite of all these disadvantages, the love of pleasure, +and a few supernumerary guineas, draw the student from his +literary employment, and entice him to this theatre of noise and +hurry, this grand mart of luxury; where, as long as his purse can +supply him, he may be as idle and debauched as he pleases. I +could not help smiling at a dialogue between two of these gentlemen, +which I overheard a few nights ago at the Bedford Coffee-house. +"Ha! Jack," says one, accosting the other, "is it you? +How long have you been in town?" "Two hours." "How long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +do you stay?" "Ten guineas; if you'll come to Venable's after +the play is over, you'll find Tom Latin, Bob Classic, and two or +three more, who will be very glad to see you. What, you're in +town upon the sober plan at your father's? But hark ye, Frank, +if you'll call in, I'll tell your friend Harris to prepare for you. So +your servant; for I'm going to meet the finest girl upon town in +the <i>green-boxes</i>."'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 12. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>April 18, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Nor shall the four-legg'd culprit 'scape the law,</p> +<p>But at the bar hold up the guilty paw.</p> +</div></div> +<p>The editor has been turning over that part of Lord Bolingbroke's +works in which he argues that Moses made the animals +accountable for their actions, and that they ought to be treated as +moral agents.</p> + +<p>'These reflections were continued afterwards in my sleep; +when methought such proceedings were common in our courts of +judicature. I imagined myself in a spacious hall like the Old +Bailey, where they were preparing to try several animals, who had +been guilty of offences against the laws of the land.</p> + +<p>'The sessions soon opened, and the first prisoner that was +brought to the bar was a hog, who was prosecuted at the suit of +the Jews, on an indictment for burglary, in breaking into the synagogue. +As it was apprehended that religion might be affected by +this cause, and as the prosecution appeared to be malicious, the +hog, though the fact was plainly proved against him, to the great +joy of all true Christians, was allowed Benefit of Clergy.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-388.jpg" width="74" height="94" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'An indictment was next brought against a cat for killing a +favourite canary-bird. This offender belonged to an old woman, +who was believed by the neighbourhood to be a +witch. The jury, therefore, were unanimous in +their opinion that she was the devil in that shape, +and brought her in guilty. Upon which the judge +formally pronounced sentence upon her, and, I remember, +concluded with these words:—"You +must be carried to the place of execution, where +you are to be hanged by the neck nine times, till you are dead, +dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead; and the fiddlers +have mercy upon your fiddle-strings!" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span></p> + +<p>'A parrot was next tried for <i>scandalum magnatum</i>. He was +accused by the chief magistrate of the city and the whole court of +aldermen for defaming them, as they passed along the street, on a +public festival, by singing, "Room for cuckolds, here comes a +great company; room for cuckolds, here comes my Lord Mayor." +He had even the impudence to abuse the whole court, by calling +the jury rogues and rascals; and frequently interrupted my lord +judge in summing up the evidence, by crying out, "You dog!" +The court, however, was pleased to show mercy to him upon the +petition of his mistress, a strict Methodist; who gave bail for his +good behaviour, and delivered him over to Mr. Whitefield, who +undertook to make a thorough convert of him.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 14. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>May 2, 1754.</i></p> + +<p class="center">'<i>To Mr. Town.</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—I received last week a dinner-card +from a friend, with an intimation that I +should meet some very agreeable ladies. At +my arrival I found that the company consisted +chiefly of females, who indeed did me +the honour to rise, but quite disconcerted me +in paying my respects by whispering to each +other, and appearing to stifle a laugh. When +I was seated, the ladies grouped themselves up in a corner, and +entered on a private cabal, seemingly to discourse upon points of +great secrecy and importance, but of equal merriment and diversion.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-389.jpg" width="112" height="122" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It was a continued laugh and whisper from the beginning to +the end of dinner. A whole sentence was scarce ever spoken +aloud. Single words, indeed, now and then broke forth; such as +"odious, horrible, detestable, shocking, humbug."</p> + +<p>'This last new-coined expression, which is only to be found in +the nonsensical vocabulary, sounds absurd and disagreeable whenever +it is pronounced; but from the mouth of a lady it is "shocking, +detestable, horrible, and odious."</p> + +<p>'Thus the whole behaviour of these ladies is in direct contradiction +to good manners. They laugh when they should cry, are +loud when they should be silent, and are silent when their conversation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +is desirable. If a man in a select company was thus to +laugh or whisper me out of countenance, I should be apt to construe +it as an affront, and demand an explanation. As to the +ladies, I would desire them to reflect how much they would suffer +if their own weapons were turned against them, and the gentlemen +should attack them with the same arts of laughing and whispering. +But, however free they may be from our resentment, they are still +open to ill-natured suspicions. They do not consider what strange +constructions may be put on these laughs and whispers. It were, +indeed, of little consequence if we only imagined that they were +taking the reputations of their acquaintance to pieces, or abusing +the company around; but when they indulge themselves in this +behaviour, some, perhaps, may be led to conclude that they are +discoursing upon topics which they are ashamed to speak of in a +less private manner.'</p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 19. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>June 6, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Poscentes vario multum diversa palato.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p>How ill our different tastes agree!</p> +<p>This will have beef, and that a fricassee!</p> +</div></div> +<p>'The taverns about the purlieus of Covent Garden are dedicated +to Venus as well as Ceres and Liber; and you may frequently +see the jolly messmates of both sexes go in and come out +in couples, like the clean and unclean beasts in Noah's ark. These +houses are equally indebted for their support to the cook and that +worthy personage whom they have dignified with the title of procurer. +These gentlemen contrive to play into each other's hands. +The first, by his high soups and rich sauces, prepares the way for +the occupation of the other; who, having reduced the patient by +a proper exercise of his art, returns him back again to go through +the same regimen as before. We may therefore suppose that the +culinary arts are no less studied here than at White's or Pontac's. +True geniuses in eating will continually strike out new improvements; +but I dare say neither of the distinguished chiefs of these +clubs ever made up a more extraordinary dish than I once remember +at the "Castle." Some bloods being in company with a celebrated +<i>fille de joie</i>, one of them pulled off her shoe, and in excess +of gallantry filled it with champagne, and drank it off to her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +health. In this delicious draught he was immediately pledged by +the rest, and then, to carry the compliment still further, he ordered +the shoe itself to be dressed and served up for supper. The cook +set himself seriously to work upon it; he pulled the upper part +(which was of damask) into fine shreds, and tossed it up in a +ragout; minced the sole, cut the wooden heel into very thin +slices, fried them in batter, and placed them round the dish for +garnish. The company, you may be sure, testified their affection +for the lady by eating very heartily of this exquisite <i>impromptu</i>; +and as this transaction happened just after the French King had +taken a cobbler's daughter for his mistress, Tom Pierce (who has +the style as well as art of a French cook) in his bill politely called +it, in honour of her name, <i>De Soulier à la Murphy</i>.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-391.jpg" width="162" height="126" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Taverns, Mr. Town, seem contrived for promoting of luxury, +while the humbler chop-houses are designed only to satisfy the +ordinary cravings of nature. Yet at these you may meet with a +variety of characters. At Dolly's and Horseman's you commonly +see the hearty lovers of beef-steak and gill ale; and at Betty's, and +the chop-houses about the Inns of Court, a pretty maid is as +inviting as the provisions. In these common refectories you may +always find the Jemmy attorney's +clerk, the prim curate, the walking +physician, the captain upon half-pay, +the shabby <i>valet de chambre</i> +upon board wages, and the foreign +count or marquis in dishabille, who +has refused to dine with a duke or +an ambassador. At a little eating-house +in a dark alley behind the +'Change, I once saw a grave citizen, worth a plum, order a twopenny +mess of broth with a boiled chop in it; and when it was +brought him, he scooped the crumb out of a halfpenny roll, and +soaked it in the porridge for his present meal; then carefully +placing the chop between the upper and under crust, he wrapt it +up in a checked handkerchief, and carried it off for the morrow's +repast.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 30. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>Aug. 22, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Thumps following thumps, and blows succeeding blows,</p> +<p>Swell the black eye and crush the bleeding nose;</p> +<p>Beneath the pond'rous fist the jaw-bone cracks,</p> +<p>And the cheeks ring with their redoubled thwacks.</p> +</div></div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-392.jpg" width="122" height="95" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The amusement of boxing, I must confess, is more immediately +calculated for the vulgar, who can have no relish for the +more refined pleasures of whist and the +hazard table. Men of fashion have found +out a more genteel employment for their +hands in shuffling a pack of cards and +shaking the dice; and, indeed, it will +appear, upon a strict review, that most of +our fashionable diversions are nothing else +but different branches of gaming. What lady would be able to +boast a rout at her house consisting of three or four hundred +persons, if they were not to be drawn together by the charms of +playing a rubber? and the prohibition of our jubilee masquerades +is hardly to be regretted, as they wanted the most essential part of +their entertainments—the E. O. table. To this polite spirit of +gaming, which has diffused itself through all the fashionable world, +is owing the vast encouragement that is given to the turf; and +horse races are esteemed only as they afford occasion for making +a bet. The same spirit likewise draws the knowing ones together +in a cockpit; and cocks are rescued from the dunghill, and armed +with gaffles, to furnish a new species of gaming. For this reason, +among others, I cannot but regret the loss of our elegant amusements +in Oxford Road and Tottenham Court. A great part of +the spectators used to be deeply interested in what was doing on +the stage, and were as earnest to make an advantage of the issue +of the battle as the champions themselves to draw the largest +sum from the box. The amphitheatre was at once a school for +boxing and gaming. Many thousands have depended upon a +match; the odds have often risen at a black eye; a large bet has +been occasioned by a "cross-buttock;" and while the house has +resounded with the lusty bangs of the combatants, it has at the +same time echoed with the cries of "Five to one! six to one! ten +to one!"' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2">No. 34. <span class="smcap">The 'Connoisseur.'</span>—<i>Sept. 19, 1754.</i></p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i5">Reprehendere coner,</p> +<p>Quæ gravis Æsopus, quæ doctus Roscius egit.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p>Whene'er he bellows, who but smiles at Quin,</p> +<p>And laughs when Garrick skips like harlequin?</p> +</div></div> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-393.jpg" width="193" height="134" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I have observed that the tragedians of the last age studied +<i>fine</i> speaking, in consequence of which all their action consisted +in little more than strutting with one leg before the other, and +waving one or both arms in a continual see-saw. Our present +actors have, perhaps, run into a contrary extreme; their gestures +sometimes resemble those afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, their +whole frame appears to be convulsed, and I have seen a player in +the last act so miserably distressed that a deaf spectator would be +apt to imagine he was complaining of the colic or the toothache. +This has also given rise to that unnatural custom of throwing the +body into various strange <i>attitudes</i>. There is not a passion necessary +to be expressed but has produced dispositions of the limbs +not to be found in any of the paintings or sculptures of the best +masters. A graceful gesture and easy deportment is, indeed, +worthy the care of every performer; +but when I observe +him writhing his body into +more unnatural contortions +than a tumbler at Sadler's +Wells, I cannot help being +disgusted to see him "imitate +humanity so abominably." +Our pantomime authors +have already begun to +reduce our comedies into grotesque scenes; and, if this taste for +<i>attitude</i> should continue to be popular, I would recommend it to +those ingenious gentlemen to adapt our best tragedians to the +same use, and entertain us with the jealousy of Othello in dumb +show or the tricks of Harlequin Hamlet. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span class="s08">THACKERAY'S RESEARCHES AMONGST THE WRITINGS OF THE +EARLY ESSAYISTS—<i>Continued</i>.</span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Humourists,' from Thackeray's +Library; illustrated by the Author's hand with Marginal Sketches suggested +by the Text—The '<span class="smcap">Rambler</span>,' 1749-50—Introduction—Its Author, +Dr. Johnson—Paragraphs and Pencillings. +</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Preface to the 'Rambler.'</span></p> + +<p>When, says Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Johnson undertook to write this +justly celebrated paper, he had many difficulties to encounter. If +lamenting that, during the long period which had elapsed since +the conclusion of the writings of Addison, vice and folly had +begun to recover from depressing contempt, he wished again to +rectify public taste and manners—to 'give confidence to virtue +and ardour to truth'—he knew that the popularity of these +writings had constituted them a precedent which his genius was +incapable of following, and from which it would be dangerous to +depart. In the character of an essayist he was, hitherto, unknown +to the public. He had written nothing by which a favourable +judgment could be formed of his success in a species of composition +which seemed to require the ease, the vivacity, and humour +of polished life; and he had probably often heard it repeated +that Addison and his colleagues had anticipated all the subjects +fit for popular essays; that he might, indeed, aim at varying or +improving what had been said before, but could stand no chance +of being esteemed an original writer, or of striking the imagination +by new and unexpected reflections and incidents. He was likewise, +perhaps, aware that he might be reckoned what he about +this time calls himself—'a retired and uncourtly scholar,' unfit to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +describe, because precluded from the observation of, refined +society and manners.</p> + +<p>But they who pride themselves on long and accurate knowledge +of the world are not aware how little of that knowledge is +necessary in order to expose vice or detect absurdity; nor can +they believe that evidence far short of ocular demonstration is +amply sufficient for the purposes of the wit and the novelist. Dr. +Johnson appeared in the character of a moral teacher, with powers +of mind beyond the common lot of man, and with a knowledge +of the inmost recesses of the human heart such as never was displayed +with more elegance or stronger conviction. Though in +some respects a recluse, he had not been an inattentive observer +of human life; and he was now of an age at which probably as +much is known as can be known, and at which the full vigour of +his faculties enabled him to divulge his experience and his observations +with a certainty that they were neither immature nor fallacious. +He had studied, and he had noted on the varieties of human +character; and it is evident that the lesser improprieties of conduct +and errors of domestic life had often been the subjects of his secret +ridicule.</p> + +<p>Previously to the commencement of the 'Rambler' he had +drawn the outlines of many essays, of which specimens may be +seen in the biographies of Sir John Hawkins and Boswell; and it +is probable that the sentiments of all these papers had been +long floating in his mind. With such preparation he began the +'Rambler,' without any communication with his friends or desire +of assistance. Whether he proposed the scheme himself does +not appear; but he was fortunate in forming an engagement with +Mr. John Payne, a bookseller in Paternoster Row (and afterwards +the chief accountant of the Bank of England), a man with whom +he lived many years in habits of friendship, and who, on the +present occasion, treated his author with liberality. He engaged +to pay two guineas for each paper, or four guineas per week, +which, at that time, must have been to Johnson a very considerable +sum; and he admitted him to a share of the future profits +of the work when it should be collected into volumes, which share +Johnson afterwards sold. It has been observed that objections +have been offered to the name 'Rambler.' Johnson's account to +Sir Joshua Reynolds forms, probably, as good an excuse as so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span> +trifling a circumstance demands. 'What <i>must</i> be done, sir, <i>will</i> +be done. When I was to begin publishing that paper, I was at a +loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and +resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. +The "Rambler" seemed the best that occurred, and I took it.' +The Italians have literally translated this name '<i>Il Vagabondo</i>.'</p> + +<p>The first paper was published on Tuesday, March 20, 1749-50, +and the work continued without the least interruption every Tuesday +and Saturday until Saturday, March 14, 1752, on which day it +closed. Each number was handsomely printed on a sheet and a +half of fine paper, at the price of twopence, and with great typographical +accuracy, not above a dozen errors occurring in the +whole work—a circumstance the more remarkable, because the +copy was written in haste, as the time urged, and sent to the press +without being revised by the author. When we consider that, in +the whole progress of the work, the sum of assistance he received +scarcely amounted to five papers, we must wonder at the fertility +of a mind engaged during the same period on that stupendous +labour, the English Dictionary, and frequently distracted by +disease and anguish. Other essayists have had the choice of +their days, and their happy hours, for composition; but Johnson +knew no remission, although he very probably would have been +glad of it, and yet continued to write with unabated vigour, although +even this disappointment might be supposed to have often +rendered him uneasy; and his natural indolence—not the indolence +of will, but of constitution—would, in other men, have +palsied every effort. Towards the conclusion there is so little of +that 'falling off' visible in some works of the same kind, that it +might probably have been extended much further, had the encouragement +of the public borne any proportion to its merits.</p> + +<p>The assistance Johnson received was very trifling: Richardson, +the novelist, wrote No. 97. The four letters in No. 10 were +written by Miss Mulso, afterwards Mrs. Chapone, who also contributed +the story of 'Fidelia' to the 'Adventurer,' a paper conducted +by Doctors Hawkesworth, Johnson, Thornton, and Warton, +which succeeded the 'Rambler.' No. 30 was written by Miss +Catharine Talbot, and Nos. 44 and 100 were written by Mrs. +Elizabeth Carter.</p> + +<p>The 'Rambler' made its way very slowly into the world. All +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> +scholars, all men of taste, saw its excellence at once, and crowded +round the author to solicit his friendship and relieve his anxieties. +It procured him a multitude of friends and admirers among men +distinguished for rank as well as genius, and it constituted a perpetual +apology for that rugged and uncourtly manner which sometimes +rendered his conversation formidable, and, to those who +looked from the book to the man, presented a contrast that would +no doubt frequently excite amazement.</p> + +<p>Still, it must be confessed, there were at first many prejudices +against the 'Rambler' to be overcome. The style was new; it +appeared harsh, involved, and perplexed; it required more than a +transitory inspection to be understood; it did not suit those who +run as they read, and who seldom return to a book if the hour it +helped to dissipate can be passed away in more active pleasures. +When reprinted in volumes, however, the sale gradually increased; +it was recommended by the friends of religion and literature as a +book by which a man might learn to think; and the author lived +to see ten large editions printed in England, besides those which +were clandestinely printed in other parts of the kingdom and in +America. Since Johnson's death the number of editions has been +multiplied.</p> + +<p>Sir John Hawkins informs us that these essays hardly ever +underwent a Revision before they were sent to the press, and adds: +'The original manuscripts of the "Rambler" have passed through +my hands, and by the perusal of them I am warranted to say, as +was said of Shakespeare by the players of that time, that he <i>never +blotted out a line</i>, and I believe without the retort which Ben Jonson +made to them: "Would he had blotted out a thousand!"'</p> + +<p>However, Dr. Johnson's desire to carry his essays, which he +regarded in some degree as his monument to posterity, as near +perfection as his labours could achieve, induced him to devote +such attention to the preparation of the 'Ramblers' for the +collected series that the alterations in the second and third editions +far exceed six thousand—a number which may perhaps justify the +use of the expression 're-wrote,' although it must not be taken in +its literal acceptation.</p> + +<p>With respect to the plan of the 'Rambler,' Dr. Johnson may +surely be said to have executed what he intended: he has successfully +attempted the propagation of truth, and boldly maintained +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> +the dignity of virtue. He has accumulated in this work a treasury +of moral science which will not be soon exhausted. He has +laboured to refine our language to grammatical purity, and to +clear it from colloquial barbarisms, licentious idioms, and irregular +combinations. Something he has certainly added to the +elegance of its construction, and something to the harmony of its +cadence.</p> + +<p>Comparisons have been formed between the 'Rambler' and +its predecessors, or rather between the genius of Johnson and +Addison, but have generally ended in discovering a total want of +resemblance. As they were both original writers, they must be +tried, if tried at all, by laws applicable to their respective attributes. +But neither had a predecessor. We find no humour like +Addison's, no energy and dignity like Johnson's. They had +nothing in common but moral excellence of character; they could +not have exchanged styles for an hour. Yet there is one respect +in which we must give Addison the preference—more general +utility. His writings would have been understood at any period; +Johnson's are more calculated for an improved and liberal education. +In both, however, what was peculiar was natural. The +earliest of Dr. Johnson's works confirm this; from the moment he +could write at all he wrote in stately periods, and his conversation +from first to last abounded in the peculiarities of his composition.</p> + +<p>Addison principally excelled in the observation of manners, +and in that exquisite ridicule he threw on the minute improprieties +of life. Johnson, although not ignorant of life or manners, could +not descend to familiarities with tuckers and commodes, with furs +and hoop-petticoats. A scholarly professor and a writer from +necessity, he loved to bring forward subjects so near and dear as +the disappointments of authors—the dangers and miseries of +literary eminence—anxieties of literature—contrariety of criticism—miseries +of patronage—value of fame—causes of the contempt +of the learned—prejudices and caprices of criticism—vanity +of an author's expectations—meanness of dedications—necessity +of literary courage, and all those other subjects which +relate to authors and their connection with the public. Sometimes +whole papers are devoted to what may be termed the personal +concerns of men of literature, and incidental reflections are everywhere +interspersed for the instruction or caution of the same class. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span></p> + +<p>When he treats of common life and manners it has been +observed he gives to the lowest of his correspondents the same +style and lofty periods; and it may also be noticed that the +ridicule he attempts is in some cases considerably heightened by +the very want of accommodation of character. Yet it must be +allowed that the levity and giddiness of coquettes and fine ladies +are expressed with great difficulty in the Johnsonian language. +It has been objected also that even the names of his ladies have +very little of the air of either court or city, as Zosima, Properantia, +&c. Every age seems to have its peculiar names of fiction. In +the 'Spectators,' 'Tatlers,' &c., the Damons and Phillises, the +Amintors and Claras, &c., were the representatives of every virtue +and folly.</p> + +<p>These were succeeded by the Philamonts, Tenderillas, Timoleons, +Seomanthes, Pantheas, Adrastas, and Bellimantes, names to +which Mrs. Heywood gave currency in her 'Female Spectator,' +and from which at no great distance of time Dr. Johnson appears +to have taken his Zephyrettas, Trypheruses, Nitellas, Misotheas, +Vagarios, and Flirtillas.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-399.jpg" width="307" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2 b12">THE 'RAMBLER.'</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.</span></p> + +<p class="center">VOL. I., 1750.</p> + +<p class="center">'<i>To the "Rambler."</i></p> + +<p>'Sir,—As you seem to have devoted your labours to virtue, I +cannot forbear to inform you of one species of cruelty with which +the life of a man of letters perhaps does not often make him +acquainted, and which, as it seems to produce no other advantage +to those that practise it than a short gratification of thoughtless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +vanity, may become less common when it has been once exposed +in its various forms, and in full magnitude.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-400.jpg" width="277" height="352" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I am the daughter of a country gentleman, whose family is +numerous, and whose state, not at first sufficient to supply us with +affluence, has been lately so impaired by an unsuccessful lawsuit, +that all the younger children are obliged to try such means as +their education affords them for procuring the necessaries of life. +Distress and curiosity concurred to bring me to London, where I +was received by a relation with the coldness which misfortune +generally finds. A week—a long week—I lived with my cousin +before the most vigilant inquiry could procure us the least hopes +of a place, in which time I was much better qualified to bear all +the vexations of servitude. The first two days she was content to +pity me, and only wished I had not been quite so well bred; but +people must comply with their circumstances. This lenity, however, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> +was soon at an end, and for the remaining part of the week +I heard every hour of the pride of the family, the obstinacy of my +father, and of people better born than myself that were common +servants.</p> + +<p>'At last, on Saturday noon, she told me, with very visible +satisfaction, that Mrs. Bombasine, the great silk-mercer's lady, +wanted a maid, and a fine place it would be, for there would be +nothing to do but to clean my mistress's room, get up her linen, +dress the young ladies, wait at tea in the morning, taking care of a +little miss just come from nurse, and then sit down to my needle. +But madam was a woman of great spirit, and would not be contradicted, +and therefore I should take care, for good places are not +easily to be got.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-401.jpg" width="189" height="119" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'With these cautions I waited on Madame Bombasine, of whom +the first sight gave me no ravishing ideas. She was two yards +round the waist, her voice was +at once loud and squeaking, +and her face brought to my +mind the picture of the full +moon. "Are you the young +woman," says she, "that are +come to offer yourself? It is +strange when people of substance +want a servant how +soon it is the town talk. But they know they shall have a bellyful +that live with me. Not like people that live at the other end of +the town, we dine at one o'clock. But I never take anybody +without a character; what friends do you come of?" I then told +her that my father was a gentleman, and that we had been unfortunate. +"A great misfortune indeed to come to me and have +three meals a day! So your father was a gentleman, and you are +a gentlewoman, I suppose—such gentlewomen!" "Madam, I +did not mean to claim any exemptions; I only answered your +inquiry." "Such gentlewomen! people should set up their children +to good trades, and keep them off the parish. Pray go to +the other end of the town; there are gentlewomen, if they would +pay their debts; I am sure we have lost enough by gentlewomen." +Upon this her broad face grew broader with triumph, and I was +afraid she would have taken me for the pleasure of continuing her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> +insult; but happily the next word was, "Pray, Mrs. Gentlewoman, +troop downstairs." You may believe I obeyed her.</p> + +<p>'After numerous misadventures of the same description, it was +of no purpose that the refusal was declared by me never to be on +my side; I was reasoning against interest and against stupidity; +and therefore I comforted myself with the hope of succeeding +better in my next attempt, and went to Mrs. Courtly, a very fine +lady, who had routs at her +house, and saw the best company +in town.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-402.jpg" width="178" height="101" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I had not waited two +hours before I was called up, +and found Mr. Courtly and his +lady at piquet in the height of +good humour. This I looked on as a favourable sign, and stood +at the lower end of the room, in expectation of the common questions. +At last Mr. Courtly called out, after a whisper, "Stand +facing the light, that one may see you." I changed my place, and +blushed. They frequently turned their eyes upon me, and seemed +to discover many subjects of merriment, for at every look they +whispered, and laughed with the most violent agitations of delight. +At last Mr. Courtly cried out, "Is that colour your own, child?" +"Yes," said the lady, "if she has not robbed the kitchen hearth." +It was so happy a conceit that it renewed the storm of laughter, +and they threw down their cards in hopes of better sport. The +lady then called me to her, and began with affected gravity to +inquire what I could do. "But first turn about, and let us see +your fine shape; well, what are you fit for, Mrs. Mum? You +would find your tongue, I suppose, in the kitchen." "No, no," +says Mrs. Courtly, "the girl's a good girl yet, but I am afraid a +brisk young fellow, with fine tags on his shoulder——" "Come, +child, hold up your head; what? you have stole nothing." "Not +yet," said the lady; "but she hopes to steal your heart quickly." +Here was a laugh of happiness and triumph, prolonged by the +confusion which I could no longer repress. At last the lady recollected +herself: "Stole? no—but if I had her I should watch her; +for that downcast eye——Why cannot you look people in the +face?" "Steal!" says her husband, "she would steal nothing +but, perhaps, a few ribbons before they were left off by my lady." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +"Sir," answered I, "why should you, by supposing me a thief, +insult one from whom you have received no injury?" "Insult!" +says the lady; "are you come here to be a servant, you saucy +baggage, and talk of insulting? What will this world come to if a +gentleman may not jest with a servant? Well, such servants! +pray be gone, and see when you will have the honour to be so +insulted again. Servants insulted—a fine time! Insulted! Get +downstairs, you slut, or the footman shall insult you."'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 18.</p> + +<p>'There is no observation more frequently made by such as +employ themselves in surveying the conduct of mankind than +that marriage, though the dictate of nature, and the institute of +Providence, is yet very often the cause of misery, and that those +who enter into that state can seldom forbear to express their +repentance, and their envy of those whom either chance or +caution hath withheld from it.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-403.jpg" width="105" height="86" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'One of the first of my acquaintances that resolved to quit the +unsettled, thoughtless condition of a bachelor was Prudentius, a +man of slow parts, but not without knowledge or judgment in +things which he had leisure to consider gradually before he +determined them. This grave considerer found by deep meditation +that a man was no loser by marrying early, even though he +contented himself with a less fortune, for, estimating the exact +worth of annuities, he found that considering +the constant diminution of the value of life, +with the probable fall of the interest of +money, it was not worse to have ten thousand +pounds at the age of two-and-twenty years +than a much larger fortune at thirty; for +many opportunities, says he, occur of improving money which, if a +man misses, he may not afterwards recover.</p> + +<p>'Full of these reflections, he threw his eyes about him, not in +search of beauty or elegance, dignity or understanding, but of a +woman with ten thousand pounds. Such a woman, in a wealthy +part of the kingdom, it was not difficult to find; and by artful +management with her father—whose ambition was to make his +daughter a gentlewoman—my friend got her, as he boasted to us +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> +in confidence two days after his marriage, for a settlement of +seventy-three pounds a year less than her fortune might have +claimed, and less than himself would have given if the fools had +been but wise enough to delay the bargain.</p> + +<p>'Thus at once delighted with the superiority of his parts and +the augmentation of his fortune, he carried Furia to his own house, +in which he never afterwards enjoyed one hour of happiness. For +Furia was a wretch of mean intellects, violent passions, a strong +voice, and low education, without any sense of happiness but that +which consisted in eating, and counting money. Furia was a +scold. They agreed in the desire of wealth, but with this difference: +that Prudentius was for growing rich by gain, Furia by +parsimony. Prudentius would venture his money with chances +very much in his favour; but Furia, very wisely observing that +what they had was, while they had it, <i>their own</i>, thought all traffic +too great a hazard, and was for putting it out at low interest upon +good security. Prudentius ventured, however, to insure a ship at +a very unreasonable price; but, happening to lose his money, was +so tormented with the clamours of his wife that he never durst try +a second experiment. He has now grovelled seven-and-forty years +under Furia's direction, who never once mentioned him, since his +bad luck, by any other name than that of the "usurer."'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol, I. No. 24.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Nemo in sese tentat descendere.—<i>Persius.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p>None, none descends into himself.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>'Among the precepts or aphorisms admitted by general consent +and inculcated by repetition, there is none more famous, +among the masters of ancient wisdom, than +that compendious lesson, <span class="greek" title="Gnôthi seauton">Γνωθι σεαυτον</span>—<i>Be +acquainted with thyself</i>—ascribed by some to +an oracle, and others to Chilo of Lacedæmon.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-404.jpg" width="102" height="86" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'We might have had more satisfaction +concerning the original import of this celebrated +sentence, if history had informed us +whether it was uttered as a general instruction to mankind, or as a +particular caution to some private inquirer; whether it was applied +to some single occasion, or laid down as the universal rule of life. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span></p> + +<p>'The great praise of Socrates is that he drew the wits of +Greece, by his instruction and example, from the vain pursuit of +natural philosophy to moral inquiries, and turned their thoughts +from stars and tides, and matter and motion, upon the various +modes of virtue and relations of life.</p> + +<p>'The great fault of men of learning is still that they offend +against this rule, and appear willing to study anything rather than +themselves; for which reason they are often despised by those +with whom they imagine themselves above comparison.</p> + +<p>'Eupheues,<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> + with great parts of extensive knowledge, has a +clouded aspect and ungracious form, yet it has been his ambition, +from his first entrance into life, to distinguish himself by particularities +in his dress—to outvie beaus in embroidery, to import +new trimming, and to be foremost in the fashion. Eupheues has +turned on his exterior appearance that attention which would have +always produced esteem had it been fixed upon his mind; and, +though his virtues and abilities have preserved him from the contempt +which he has so diligently solicited, he has at least raised +one impediment to his reputation, since all can judge of his dress, +but few of his understanding, and many who discern that he is a +fop are unwilling to believe that he can be wise.</p> + +<p>'There is one instance in which the ladies are particularly unwilling +to observe the rule of Chilo. They are desirous to hide +from themselves the +advance of age, and +endeavour too frequently +to supply +the sprightliness and +bloom of youth by +artificial beauty and +forced vivacity.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-405.jpg" width="247" height="118" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'They hope to +inflame the heart by glances which have lost their fire, or melt +it by laughter which is no longer delicate; they play over airs +which pleased at a time when they were expected only to please, +and forget that airs in time ought to give place to virtues. They +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +continue to trifle, because they could once trifle agreeably, till +those who shared their early pleasures are withdrawn to more +serious engagements, and are scarcely awakened from their dream +of perpetual youth by the scorn of those whom they endeavour to +rival.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 34.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i4">Non sine vano</p> +<p>Aurarum et silvæ metu.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> + +<p>Alarm'd with every rising gale,</p> +<p>In every wood, in every vale.—<i>Elphinston.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>The 'Rambler' inserts a letter describing how the end of those +ladies whose chief ambition is to please is often missed by absurd +and injudicious endeavours to obtain distinction, and who mistake +cowardice for elegance, and imagine all delicacy consists in refusing +to be pleased. A country gentleman relates the circumstances +of his visit to <i>Anthea</i>, a heiress, whose birth and beauty +render her a desirable match:—</p> + +<p>'Dinner was now over, and the company proposed that we +should pursue our original design of visiting the gardens. Anthea +declared that she could not imagine what pleasure we expected +from the sight of a few green trees and a little gravel, and two or +three pits of clear water; that, for her part, she hated walking till +the cool of the evening, and thought it very likely to rain, and +again wished she had stayed at home. We then reconciled ourselves +to our disappointment, and began to talk on common subjects, +when Anthea told us +since we came to see the gardens +she would not hinder +our satisfaction. We all rose, +and walked through the enclosures +for some time with no +other trouble than the necessity +of watching lest a frog should hop across the way, which, Anthea +told us, would certainly kill her if she should happen to see him.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-406.jpg" width="182" height="99" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Frogs, as it fell out, there were none; but when we were +within a furlong of the gardens Anthea saw some sheep, and heard +the wether clink his bell, which she was certain was not hung +upon him for nothing, and therefore no assurances nor entreaties +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +should prevail upon her to go a step further: she was sorry to disappoint +the company, but her life was dearer to her than ceremony.</p> + +<p>'We came back to the inn, and Anthea now discovered that +there was no time to be lost in returning, for the night would come +upon us and a thousand misfortunes might happen in the dark. +The horses were immediately harnessed, and Anthea, having +wondered what could seduce her to stay so long, was eager to set +out. But we had now a new scene of terror; every man we saw +was a robber, and we were ordered sometimes to drive hard—lest +a traveller, whom we saw behind, should overtake us—and sometimes +to stop, lest we should come up to him who was passing +before us. She alarmed many an honest man by begging him to +spare her life as he passed by the coach, and drew me into fifteen +quarrels with persons who increased her fright by kindly stopping +to inquire whether they could assist us. At last we came home, +and she told her company next day what a pleasant ride she had +been taking.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 37.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i2">Piping on their reeds the shepherds go,</p> +<p>Nor fear an ambush, nor suspect a foe.—<i>Pope.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Canto quæ solitus, si quando armenta vocabat,</p> +<p>Amphion Dircæus.—<i>Virg.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Such strains I sing as once Amphion play'd,</p> +<p>When listening flocks the powerful call obey'd.—<i>Elphinston.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-407.jpg" width="248" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The satisfaction received from pastoral writing not only begins +early, but lasts long; we do not, as we advance into the intellectual +world, throw it away among other childish amusements and +pastimes, but willingly return to it at any hour of indolence and relaxation. +The images of true pastoral have always the power of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +exciting delight, because the works of nature, from which they are +drawn, have always the same order and beauty, and continue to +force themselves upon our thoughts, being at once obvious to the +most careless regard and more than adequate to the strongest +reason and severest contemplation. Our inclination to stillness +and tranquillity is seldom much lessened by long knowledge of +the busy and tumultuous part of the world. In childhood we turn +our thoughts to the country as to the origin of pleasure; we recur +to it in old age as a part of rest, and, perhaps, with that secondary +and adventitious gladness which every man feels on reviewing +those places, or recollecting those occurrences, that contribute to +his youthful enjoyments, and bring him back to the prime of life, +when the world was gay with the bloom of novelty, when mirth +wantoned at his side, and hope sparkled before him.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 55.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Now near to death that comes but slow,</p> +<p>Now thou art stepping down below;</p> +<p>Sport not among the blooming maids,</p> +<p>But think on ghosts and empty shades:</p> +<p>What suits with <i>Phœbe</i> in her bloom,</p> +<p>Grey <i>Chloris</i>, will not thee become;</p> +<p>A bed is different from a tomb.—<i>Creech.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>Parthenia addresses a letter to the 'Rambler' on the subject +of the troubles she suffers from the frivolous desire which +her mother, a widow, has contracted to practise the follies of +youth, the pursuit of which she finds fettered by the presence of +Parthenia, whom she is inclined to regard not as her daughter, but +as a rival dangerous to the admiration which the elder lady would +confine to herself.</p> + +<p>After a year of decent mourning had been devoted to deploring +the loss of Parthenia's father—'All the officiousness of kindness +and folly was busied to change the conduct of the widow. +She was at one time alarmed with censure, and at another fired +with praise. She was told of balls where others shone only +because she was absent, of new comedies to which all the town +was crowding, and of many ingenious ironies by which domestic +diligence was made contemptible. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span></p> + +<p>'It is difficult for virtue to stand alone against fear on one side +and pleasure on the other, especially when no actual crime is proposed, +and prudence itself can suggest many +reasons for relaxation and indulgence. My +mamma was at last persuaded to accompany +Mrs. Giddy to a play. She was received with +a boundless profusion of compliments, and attended +home by a very fine gentleman. Next +day she was, with less difficulty, prevailed on to +play at Mrs. Gravely's, and came home gay and +lively, for the distinctions that had been paid her awakened her +vanity, and good luck had kept her principles of frugality from +giving her disturbance. She now made her second entrance into +the world, and her friends were sufficiently industrious to prevent +any return to her former life; every morning brought messages of +invitation, and every evening was passed in places of diversion, +from which she for some time complained that she had rather be +absent. In a short time she began to feel the happiness of acting +without control, of being unaccountable for her hours, her expenses, +and her company, and learned by degrees to drop an +expression of contempt or pity at the mention of ladies whose +husbands were suspected of restraining their pleasures or their +play, and confessed that she loved to go and come as she pleased.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-409.jpg" width="89" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My mamma now began to discover that it was impossible to +educate children properly at home. Parents could not have them +always in their sight; the society of servants +was contagious; company produced boldness +and spirit; emulation excited industry; and a +large school was naturally the first step into the +open world. A thousand other reasons she +alleged, some of little force in themselves, but +so well seconded by pleasure, vanity, and idleness, +that they soon overcame all the remaining +principles of kindness and piety, and both I and +my brother were despatched to boarding-schools.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-409-copy.jpg" width="88" height="200" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'When I came home again, after sundry +vacations, and, with the usual childish alacrity, +was running to my mother's embrace, she stopped +me with exclamations at the suddenness and enormity of my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +growth, having, she said, never seen anybody shoot up so much +at my age.</p> + +<p>'She was sure no other girls spread at that rate, and she hated +to have children look like women before their time. I was disconcerted, +and retired without hearing anything more than "Nay, +if you are angry, Madam Steeple, you may walk off."</p> + +<p>'She had yet the pleasure of dressing me like a child, and I +know not when I should have been thought fit to change my +habit, had I not been rescued by a maiden aunt of my father, +who could not bear to see women in hanging-sleeves, and therefore +presented me with brocade for a gown, for which I should +have thought myself under great obligations, had she not accompanied +her favour with some hints that my mamma might now +consider her age, and give me her earrings, which she had shown +long enough in public places.</p> + +<p>'Thus I live in a state of continual persecution only because I +was born ten years too soon, and cannot stop the course of nature +or of time, but am unhappily a woman before my mother can +willingly cease to be a girl. I believe you would contribute to the +happiness of many families if by any arguments, or persuasions, +you could make mothers ashamed of rivalling their children; if +you could show them that though they may refuse to grow wise +they must inevitably grow old, and that the proper solaces of age +are not music and compliments, but wisdom and devotion; that +those who are so unwilling to quit the world will soon be driven +from it; and that it is, therefore, their interest to retire while there +yet remain a few hours for nobler employments.—I am, &c.,</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'<span class="smcap">Parthenia.</span>'</p> + +<p class="center p2">The 'Rambler.'—Vol. I. No. 56.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i8">Valeat res ludicra, si me</p> +<p>Palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Farewell the stage; for humbly I disclaim</p> +<p>Such fond pursuits of pleasure or of fame,</p> +<p>If I must sink in shame, or swell with pride,</p> +<p>As the gay psalm is granted or denied.—<i>Francis.</i></p> +</div></div></div> + +<p>'I am afraid that I may be taxed with insensibility by many of +my correspondents, who believe their contributions neglected. +And, indeed, when I sit before a pile of papers, of which each is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> +the production of laborious study, and the offspring of a fond +parent, I, who know the passions of an author, cannot remember +how long they have been in my +boxes unregarded without imagining +to myself the various +changes of sorrow, impatience, +and resentment which the writers +must have felt in this tedious +interval.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-411.jpg" width="190" height="102" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'These reflections are still more awakened when, upon perusal, +I find some of them calling for a place in the next paper, a place +which they have never yet obtained; others writing in a style of +superiority and haughtiness as secure of deference and above +fear of criticism; others humbly offering their weak assistance +with softness and submission, which they believe impossible to be +resisted; some introducing their compositions with a menace of +the contempt he that refuses them will incur; others applying +privately to the booksellers for their interest and solicitation; every +one by different ways endeavouring to secure the bliss of publication. +I cannot but consider myself placed in a very incommodious +situation, where I am forced to repress confidence which it is +pleasing to indulge, to repay civilities with appearances of neglect, +and so frequently to offend those by whom I was never offended.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 59.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Strangulat inclusus dolor, atque exæstuat intus,</p> +<p>Cogitur et vires multiplicare suas.—<i>Ovid.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>In vain by secrecy we would assuage</p> +<p>Our cares; conceal'd they gather tenfold rage.—<i>Lewis.</i></p> +</div></div></div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-411-copy.jpg" width="108" height="113" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It is common to distinguish men by the +names of animals which they are supposed +to resemble. Thus a hero is frequently +termed a lion, and a statesman a fox; an +extortioner gains the appellation of vulture, +and a fop the title of monkey. There +is also among the various anomalies of +character which a survey of the world +exhibits, a species of beings in human form which may be properly +marked out as the screech-owls of mankind. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span></p> + +<p>'These screech-owls seem to be settled in an opinion that the +great business of life is to complain, and that they were born for +no other purpose than to disturb the happiness of others, to lessen +the little comforts and shorten the short pleasures of our condition, +by painful remembrances of the past, or melancholy prognostics of +the future; their only care is to crush the rising hope, to damp +the kindling transport, and alloy the golden hours of gaiety with +the hateful dross of grief and suspicion.</p> + +<p>'I have known Suspirius, the screech-owl, fifty-eight years and +four months, and have never passed an hour with him in which he +has not made some attack upon my quiet. When we were first +acquainted, his great topic was the misery of youth without riches; +and whenever we walked out together, he solaced me with a long +enumeration of pleasures, which, as they were beyond the reach of +my fortune, were without the verge of my desires, and which I +should never have considered as the objects of a wish, had not his +unreasonable representations placed them in my sight.</p> + +<p>'Suspirius has, in his time, intercepted fifteen authors on their +way to the stage; persuaded nine-and-thirty merchants to retire +from a prosperous trade for fear of bankruptcy; broke off a hundred +and thirty matches by prognostications of unhappiness; and +enabled the small-pox to kill nineteen ladies by perpetual alarms +of the loss of beauty.</p> + +<p>'Whenever my evil star brings us together he never fails to +represent to me the folly of my pursuits, and informs me we are +much older than when we began our acquaintance; that the +infirmities of decrepitude are coming fast upon me; that whatever +I now get I shall enjoy but a little time; that fame is to a man +tottering on the edge of the grave of very little importance; and +that the time is at hand when I ought to look for no other pleasures +than a good dinner and an easy chair.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 61.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Falsus honor juvat, et mendax infamia terret,</p> +<p>Quem, nisi mendosum et mendacem?—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>False praise can charm, unreal shame control</p> +<p>Whom but a vicious or a sickly soul?—<i>Francis.</i></p> +</div></div></div> +<p>Ruricola, who dwells in +the country, is writing +upon the airs which +those, whose pursuits +take them to London, +assume on their return +to their more homely +associates; and he relates +in particular the +pretensions of one +<i>Frolic</i>, who has endowed +himself with importance +upon the mysterious +and self-conferred +reputation of +<i>knowing town</i>.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-413.jpg" width="217" height="271" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My curiosity,' declares +Ruricola, 'has +been most engaged by the recital of his own adventures and +achievements. I have heard of the union of various characters in +single persons, but never met with such a constellation of great +qualities as this man's narrative affords. Whatever has distinguished +the hero, whatever has elevated the wit, whatever has +endeared the lover, are all concentrated in Mr. Frolic, whose life +has, for seven years, been a regular interchange of intrigues, +dangers, and waggeries, and who has distinguished himself in +every character that can be feared, envied, or admired.</p> + +<p>'I question whether all the officers in the royal navy can bring +together, from all their journals, a collection of so many wonderful +escapes as this man has known upon the Thames, on which he has +been a thousand times on the point of perishing, sometimes by +the terrors of foolish women in the same boat, sometimes by his +own acknowledged imprudence in passing the river in the dark, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +and sometimes by shooting the bridge, under which he has +encountered mountainous waves and dreadful cataracts.</p> + +<p>'Not less has been his temerity by land, nor fewer his hazards. +He has reeled with giddiness on the top of the Monument; he +has crossed the street amidst the rush of coaches; he has been +surrounded by robbers without number; he has headed parties at +the play-house; he has scaled the windows of every toast of whatever +condition; he has been hunted for whole winters by his +rivals; he has slept upon bulks; he has cut chairs; he has bilked +coachmen; he has rescued his friends from bailiffs, and has +knocked down the constable, has bullied the justice, and performed +many other exploits that have filled the town with wonder and +merriment.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-414.jpg" width="333" height="91" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'But yet greater is the fame of his understanding than his +bravery, for he informs us that he is, in London, the established +arbitrator on all points of honour, and the decisive judge of all +performances of genius; that no musical performer is in reputation +till the opinion of Frolic has ratified his pretensions; that the +theatres suspend their sentence till he begins to clap or hiss, in +which all are proud to concur; that no public entertainment has +failed or succeeded but because he opposed or favoured it; that +all controversies at the gaming-table are referred to his determination; +that he adjusts the ceremonial at every assembly, and prescribes +every fashion of pleasure or of dress.</p> + +<p>'With every man whose name occurs in the papers of the +day he is intimately acquainted, and there are very few points +either on the state or army of which he has not more or less +influenced the disposal, while he has been very frequently consulted +both upon peace and war.'</p> + +<p>Ruricola concludes by inquiring whether Mr. Frolic is really +so well known in London as he pretends, or if he shall denounce +him as an impostor. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-415.jpg" width="326" height="291" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 89.</p> + +<p class="center">Dulce est desipere in loco.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-415-copy.jpg" width="182" height="103" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is nothing more fatal to a man whose business is to +think than to have learned the art of regaling his mind with those +airy gratifications. Other vices +or follies are restrained by +fear, reformed by admonition, +or rejected by conviction, +which the comparison of our +conduct with that of others +may in time produce. But +this invisible riot of the mind, +this secret prodigality of being, is secure from detection and fearless +from reproach. The dreamer retires to his apartments, shuts +out the cares and interruptions of mankind, and abandons himself +to his own fancy; new worlds rise up before him, one image is +followed by another, and a long succession of delights dances +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> +around him. He is at last called back to life by nature or by +custom, and enters peevish into society because he cannot model +it to his own will. He returns from his idle excursions with the +asperity, though not with the knowledge, of a student, and hastens +again to the same felicity with the eagerness of a man bent upon +the advancement of some favourite science. The infatuation +strengthens by degrees, and, like the poison of opiates, weakens +his powers without any external symptom of malignity.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 100.</p> + +<p>'It is hard upon poor creatures, be they ever so mean, to deny +them those enjoyments and liberties which are equally open for +all. Yet, if servants were taught to go to church +on Sunday, spend some part of it in reading, or +receiving instruction in a <i>family way</i>, and the rest +in mere friendly conversation, the poor wretches +would infallibly take it into their heads that they +were obliged to be sober, modest, diligent, and +faithful to their masters and mistresses.'</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-416.jpg" width="65" height="77" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 114.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i4">When man's life is in debate,</p> +<p>The judge can ne'er too long deliberate.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>'The gibbet, indeed, certainly disables those who die +upon it from infesting the community; but their +death seems not to contribute more to the reformation +of their associates than any other method of +separation. A thief seldom passes much of his time +in recollection or anticipation, but from robbery +hastens to riot, and from riot to robbery; nor, when +the grave closes upon his companion, has any other +care than to find another.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-416-copy.jpg" width="72" height="219" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The frequency of capital punishments, therefore, +rarely hinders the commission of a crime, but +naturally and commonly prevents its detection, and +is, if we proceed upon prudential principles, chiefly +for that reason to be avoided. Whatever may be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> +urged by casuists or politicians, the greater part of mankind, as +they can never think that to pick the pocket and to pierce the +heart is equally criminal, will scarcely believe that two malefactors +so different in guilt can be justly doomed to the same punishment; +nor is the necessity of submitting the conscience to human laws +so plainly evinced, so clearly stated, or so generally allowed, but +that the pious, the tender, the just, will always scruple to concur +with the community in an act which their private judgment cannot +approve.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 117.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="o1">'Tis sweet thy lab'ring steps to guide</p> +<p>To virtue's heights with wisdom well supplied,</p> +<p>From all the magazines of learning fortified</p> +<p>From thence to look below on human kind,</p> +<p>Bewilder'd in the maze of life, and blind.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>'The conveniences described in these lines may perhaps all be +found in a well-chosen garret; but surely they cannot be supposed +sufficiently important to have operated invariably upon different +climates, distant ages, and separate nations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-417.jpg" width="351" height="119" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Another cause of the gaiety and sprightliness of the dwellers +in garrets is probably the increase of that vertiginous motion with +which we are carried round by the diurnal revolution of the earth. +The power of agitation upon the spirits is well known; every man +has his heart lightened in a rapid vehicle, or on a galloping horse, +and nothing is plainer than that he who towers to the fifth story is +whirled through more space by every circumrotation than another +that grovels upon the ground-floor.</p> + +<p>'If you imagine that I ascribe to air and motion effects which +they cannot produce, I desire you to consult your own memory, +and consider whether you have never known a man acquire reputation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> +in his garret, which, when fortune or a patron had placed +him upon the first floor, he was unable to maintain; and who +never recovered his former vigour of understanding till he was +restored to his original situation.</p> + +<p>'That a garret will make every man a wit I am very far from +supposing. I know there are some who would continue blockheads +even on the summit of the Andes and on the peak of +Teneriffe. But let not any man be considered as unimprovable +till this potent remedy has been tried; for perhaps he was formed +to be great only in a garret, as the joiner of Aretæus was rational +in no other place but his own shop.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-418.jpg" width="135" height="119" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 124.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>To range in silence through each healthful wood,</p> +<p>And muse what's worthy of the wise and good.</p> +</div></div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-418-copy.jpg" width="335" height="152" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'To those who leave the public places of resort in the full +bloom of reputation, and withdraw from admiration, courtship, +submission, and applause, a rural triumph can give nothing equivalent. +The praise of ignorance and the subjection of weakness +are little regarded by beauties who have been accustomed to more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> +important conquests and more valuable panegyrics. Nor, indeed, +should the powers which have made havoc in the theatres or +borne down rivalry in courts be degraded to a mean attack upon +the untravelled heir, or ignoble contest with the ruddy milkmaid.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 142.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-419.jpg" width="225" height="125" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Squire Bluster is descended from an ancient family. The +estate which his ancestors immemoriably possessed was much +augmented by Captain +Bluster, who served +under Drake in the +reign of Elizabeth; and +the Blusters, who were +before only petty gentlemen, +have from that +time frequently represented +the shire in parliament, +being chosen +to present addresses and give laws at hunting-matches and +races. They were eminently hospitable and popular till the +father of this gentleman died of an election. His lady went to +the grave soon after him, and left their heir, then only ten years +old, to the care of his grandmother, who would not suffer him to +be controlled, because she could not bear to hear him cry; and +never sent him to school, because she was not able to live without +his company. She taught him, however, very early to inspect the +steward's accounts, to dog the butler from the cellar, and catch +the servants at a junket; so that he was at the age of eighteen a +complete master of all the lower arts of domestic policy, and had +often on the road detected combinations between the coachman +and the ostler.</p> + +<p>'Money, in whatever hands, will confer power. Distress will +fly to immediate refuge, without much consideration of remote +consequences. Bluster had, therefore, on coming of age, a +despotic authority in many families, whom he had assisted, on +pressing occasions, with larger sums than they can easily repay. +The only visits that he makes are to those houses of misfortune, +where he enters with the insolence of absolute command, enjoys +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span> +the terrors of the family, exacts their obedience, riots at their +charge, and in the height of his joys insults the father with +menaces and the daughters with scurrilities.</p> + +<p>'Such is the life of Squire Bluster; a man in whose power +Fortune has liberally placed the means of happiness, but who has +defeated all her gifts of their end by the depravity of his mind. +He is wealthy without followers; he is magnificent without witnesses; +he hath birth without alliance, and influence without +dignity. His neighbours scorn him as a brute; his dependants +dread him as an oppressor; and he has only the gloomy comfort +of reflecting that if he is hated he is likewise feared.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 153.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Turba Remi sequitur fortunam, ut semper, et odit</p> +<p>Damnatos.—<i>Juv.</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p>The fickle crowd with fortune comes and goes;</p> +<p>Wealth still finds followers, and misfortune foes.</p> +</div></div> +<p>The writer, who had been adopted by a rich nabob lately +returned from the Indies, suddenly found himself deprived of the +fortune which it was anticipated would have fallen to his share; +his patron having died without making a will in his protégé's +favour, and thus a fine estate had gone to another branch of the +family.</p> + +<p>'It was now my part,' writes the victim of this unexpected +adversity, 'to consider how I should repair the disappointment. +I could not but triumph in my long list of friends, which composed +almost every name that power or knowledge entitled to +eminence, and in the prospect of the innumerable roads to honour +and preferment which I had laid open to myself by the wise use +of temporary riches. I believed nothing necessary but that I +should continue that acquaintance to which I had been so readily +admitted, and which had hitherto been cultivated on both sides +with equal ardour.</p> + +<p>'Full of these expectations, I one morning ordered a chair, +with an intention to make my usual circle of morning visits. +Where I first stopped I saw two footmen lolling at the door, who +told me, without any change of posture or collection of countenance, +that their master was at home; and suffered me to open +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span> +the inner door without assistance. I found my friend standing, +and as I was tattling with my former freedom was formally +entreated to sit down, but did not stay to be favoured with any +further condescensions.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-421.jpg" width="299" height="109" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My next experiment was made at the levée of a statesman, +who received me with an embrace of tenderness, that he might +with more decency publish my change of fortune to the sycophants +about. After he had enjoyed the triumph of condolence he turned +to a wealthy stockjobber, and left me exposed to the scorn of those +who had lately courted my notice and solicited my interest.</p> + +<p>'I was then set down at the door of another, who upon my +entrance advised me with great solemnity to think of some settled +provision for life. I left him and hurried away to an old friend, +who professed himself unsusceptible of any impressions from prosperity +or misfortune, and begged that he might see me when he +was more at leisure.</p> + +<p>'Of sixty-seven doors at which I knocked in the first week +after my appearance in a mourning dress I was denied admission +at forty-six; was suffered at fourteen to wait in the outer room till +business was despatched; at four was entertained with a few +questions about the weather; at one heard the footman rated for +bringing my name; and at two was informed, in the flow of casual +conversation, how much a man of rank degrades himself by mean +company.</p> + +<p>'Such, Mr. Rambler, is the power of wealth, that it commands +the ear of greatness and the eye of beauty; gives spirit to the dull +and authority to the timorous, and leaves him from whom it +departs without virtue and without understanding, the sport of +caprice, the scoff of insolence, the slave of meanness, and the +pupil of ignorance.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">398</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 170.</p> + +<p>Misella sends her history to the 'Rambler' as a caution to +others who may chance to rely on the fidelity of distant relatives. +Her father becoming burdened with a family larger than his means +could decently provide for, a wealthy relative had offered to take +the charge of one member, the writer, upon himself.</p> + +<p>'Without knowing for what purpose I was called to my great +cousin,' says the unhappy Misella, 'I endeavoured to recommend +myself by my best courtesy, sang him my prettiest song, told the +last story that I had read, and so much endeared myself by my +innocence that he declared his resolution to adopt me, and to +educate me with his own daughters.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-422.jpg" width="365" height="116" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'My parents felt the common struggle at the thought of parting, +and <i>some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon</i>. They +considered, not without that false estimation of the value of wealth +which poverty long continued always produces, that I was raised +to higher rank than they could give me, and to hopes of more +ample fortune than they could bequeath. My mother sold some +of her ornaments to dress me in such a manner as might secure +me from contempt at my first arrival, and when she dismissed me +pressed me to her bosom with an embrace which I still feel.</p> + +<p>'My sister carried my finery, and seemed not much to regret +our separation; my father conducted me to the stage-coach with a +sort of cheerful tenderness; and in a very short time I was +transported to splendid apartments and a luxurious table, and +grew familiar to show, noise, and gaiety.</p> + +<p>'In three years my mother died, having implored a blessing on +her family with her last breath. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span></p> + +<p>'I had little opportunity to indulge a sorrow which there was +none to partake with me, and therefore soon ceased to reflect +much upon my loss. My father turned all his care upon his other +children, whom some fortunate adventures and unexpected legacies +enabled him, when he died four years after my mother, to +leave in a condition above their expectations.</p> + +<p>'I should have shared the increase of his fortunes and had +once a portion assigned me in his will, but my cousin assuring him +that all care for me was needless, since he had resolved to place +me happily in the world, directed him to divide my part amongst +my sisters.</p> + +<p>'Thus I was thrown upon dependence without resource. +Being now at an age in which young women are initiated into +company, I was no longer to be supported in my former character, +but at considerable expense; so that partly lest appearance might +draw too many compliments and assiduities I was insensibly +degraded from my equality, and enjoyed few privileges above the +head servant but that of receiving no wages.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 181.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Neu fluitem dubiæ spe pendulus horæ.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Nor let me float in fortune's power,</p> +<p>Dependent on the future hour.—<i>Francis.</i></p> +</div> +<p>'Sir,—As I have passed much of life in disgust and suspense, +and lost many opportunities of advantage by a passion which I +have reason to believe prevalent in different degrees over a great +part of mankind, I cannot but think myself well qualified to warn +those who are yet uncaptivated of the dangers which they incur by +placing themselves within its influence.</p> + +<p>'In the course of even prosperity I was one day persuaded to +buy a ticket in the lottery. At last the day came, my ticket +appeared, and rewarded all my care and sagacity with a despicable +prize of fifty pounds.</p> + +<p>'My friends, who honestly rejoiced upon my success, were +very coldly received; I hid myself a fortnight in the country that +my chagrin might fume away without observation, and then, +returning to my shop, began to listen after another lottery. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-424.jpg" width="77" height="228" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'With the news of a lottery I was soon gratified, and, having +now found the vanity of conjecture and inefficacy of computation, +I resolved to take the prize by violence, and +therefore bought forty tickets, not omitting, +however, to divide them between the even and +the odd, that I might not miss the lucky class. +Many conclusions did I form, and many experiments +did I try, to determine from which of +those tickets I might most reasonably expect +riches. At last, being unable to satisfy myself +by any modes of reasoning, I wrote the numbers +upon dice, and allotted five hours every day to +the amusement of throwing them in a garret; +and examining the event by an exact register, +found, on the evening before the lottery was +drawn, that one of my numbers had turned up +five times more than any of the rest in three +hundred and thirty thousand throws.</p> + +<p>'This experiment was fallacious; the first day presented the +ticket a detestable blank. The rest came out with different +fortune, and in conclusion I lost thirty pounds by this great +adventure.</p> + +<p>'The prize which had been suffered to slip from me filled me +with anguish, and, knowing that complaint would only expose me +to ridicule, I gave myself up silently to grief, and lost by degrees +my appetite and my rest.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 187.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Love alters not for us his hard decrees,</p> +<p>Not though beneath the Thracian clime we freeze,</p> +<p>Or the mild bliss of temperate skies forego,</p> +<p>And in mid-winter tread Sithonian snow:—</p> +<p>Love conquers all.—<i>Dryden.</i></p> +</div></div> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">'Anningait and Ajut, a Greenland History.</span></p> + +<p>'In one of the large caves to which the families of Greenland +retire together to pass the cold months, and which may be termed +their villages or cities, a youth and maid, who came from different +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span> +parts of the country, were so much distinguished for their beauty +that they were called by the rest of the inhabitants Anningait and +Ajut, from their supposed resemblance to their ancestors of the +same names who had been transformed of old into the sun and +moon.</p> + +<p>'The elegance of Ajut's dress, and the judicious disposition of +her ornaments of coral and shells, had such an effect upon +Anningait that he could no longer be restrained from a declaration +of his love. He, therefore, composed a poem in her praise, in +which, among other heroic and tender sentiments, he protested +that, "She was beautiful as the vernal willow, and fragrant as +thyme upon the mountains; that her fingers were white as the +teeth of the morse, and her smile grateful as the dissolution of the +ice; that he would pursue her though she should pass the snows +of the midland cliffs, or seek shelter in the caves of the eastern +cannibals; that he would tear her from the embrace of the genius +of the rocks, snatch her from the paws of Amaroc, and rescue her +from the ravine of Hafgufa."</p> + +<p>'This ode being universally applauded, it was expected that +Ajut would soon yield to such fervour and accomplishments; but +Ajut, with the natural haughtiness of beauty, expected all the forms +of courtship; and before she would confess herself conquered the +sun returned, the ice broke, and the season of labour called all to +their employments.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-425.jpg" width="177" height="131" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It happened that a tempest drove the fish to a distant part of +the coast before Anningait had completed his store; he therefore +entreated Ajut that she would at +last grant him her hand and accompany +him to that part of the +country whither he was now +summoned of necessity. Ajut +thought him not yet entitled to +such condescension, but proposed, +as a trial of constancy, +that he should return at the end +of summer to the cavern where their acquaintance commenced, and +there expect the reward of his assiduities. But Anningait tried to +soften this resolution: he feelingly represented the uncertainty of +existence and the dangers of the passage, and his loneliness when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span> +distant from the object of his love. "Consider, Ajut," urged he, +"a few summer days, a few winter nights, and the life of man is +at an end. Night is the time of ease and festivity, of revels and +gaiety; but what will be the flaming lamp, the delicious seal, or the +soft oil without the smile of Ajut?"</p> + +<p>'The eloquence of Anningait was vain; the maid continued +inexorable, and they parted with ardent promises to meet again +before the night of winter. Anningait, however discomposed by +the dilatory coyness of Ajut, was resolved to omit no tokens of +amorous respect, and therefore presented her at his departure with +the skins of seven white fawns, of five swans, and eleven seals, +with three marble lamps, ten vessels of seal-oil, and a large kettle +of brass which he had purchased from a ship at the price of half a +whale and two horns of sea-unicorns.</p> + +<p>'Ajut was so much affected by the fondness of her lover, or so +much overpowered by his munificence, that she followed him to +the seaside; and, when she saw him enter the boat, wished aloud +that he might return with plenty of skins and oil, that neither the +mermaids might snatch him into the deeps, nor the spirits of the +rocks confine him in their caverns.</p> + +<p>'Parted from each other, the lovers devoted themselves to the +remembrances of their affection; Anningait devoted himself to +fishing and the chase with redoubled energy, that his stores for the +future might exceed the expectations of his bride; and Ajut +mourned the absence of her betrothed with ceaseless fidelity. +She neglected the ornaments of her person, and, to avoid the +solicitations of her lover's rivals, withdrew herself into complete +seclusion. Thus passed the months of separation. At last Ajut +saw the great boat in which Anningait departed stealing slow and +heavy laden along the coast. She ran with all the impatience of +affection to catch her lover in her arms, and relate her constancy +and sufferings. When the company reached the land they informed +her that Anningait, after the fishery was ended, being +unable to support the slow passage of the vessel of carriage, had +set out before them in his fishing-boat, and they expected at their +arrival to have found him on shore.</p> + +<p>'Ajut, distracted at this intelligence, was about to fly into the +hills without knowing why, though she was now in the hands of +her parents, who forced her back to her own hut and endeavoured +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">403</a></span> +to comfort her; but when at last they retired to rest, Ajut went +down to the beach, where, finding a fishing-boat, she entered it +without hesitation, and, telling those who wondered at her rashness +that she was going in search of Anningait, rowed away with great +swiftness and was seen no more.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-427.jpg" width="390" height="156" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The fate of these lovers gave occasion to various fictions and +conjectures. Some are of opinion that they were changed into +stars; others imagine that Anningait was seized in his passage by +the genius of the rocks, and that Ajut was transformed into a +mermaid, and still continues to seek her lover in the deserts of +the sea. But the general persuasion is that they are both in that +part of the land of souls where the sun never sets, where oil is +always fresh, and provisions always warm. The virgins sometimes +throw a thimble and a needle into the bay from which the hapless +maid departed, and when a Greenlander would praise any couple +for virtuous affection he declares that they love like Anningait and +Ajut.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 191.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div></div> +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>The youth——</p> +<p>Yielding like wax, th' impressive folly bears;</p> +<p>Rough to reproof, and slow to future cares.—<i>Francis.</i></p> +</div></div> + +<p>'Dear Mr. Rambler,—I have been four days confined to my +chamber by a cold, which has already kept me from three plays, +nine sales, five shows, and six card-tables, and put me seventeen +visits behind; and the doctor tells my mamma that, if I fret and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span> +cry, it will settle in my head, and I shall not be fit to be seen these +six weeks. But, dear Mr. Rambler, how can I help it? At this +very time Melissa is dancing with the prettiest gentleman; she +will breakfast with him to-morrow, and then run to two auctions, +and hear compliments, and have presents; then she will be +dressed and visit, and get a ticket to the play, then go to cards, +and win, and come home with two flambeaus before her chair. +Dear Mr. Rambler, who can bear it?</p> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>'I am at a loss to guess for what purpose they relate such +tragic stories of the cruelty, perfidy, and artifices of men, who, if +they ever were so malicious and destructive, have certainly now +reformed their manners. I have not, since my entrance into the +world, found one who does not profess himself devoted to my +service, and ready to live or die as I shall command him. They +are so far from intending to hurt me that their only contention is, +who shall be allowed most closely to attend and most frequently +to treat me; when different places of entertainment or schemes of +pleasure are mentioned, I can see the eyes sparkle and the cheeks +glow of him whose proposals obtain my approbation; he then +leads me off in triumph, adores my condescension, and congratulates +himself that he has lived to the hour of felicity. Are these, +Mr. Rambler, creatures to be feared? and is it likely that any +injury will be done me by those who can enjoy life only while I +favour them with my presence?</p> + +<p>'As little reason can I yet find to suspect them of stratagems +and fraud. When I play at cards they never take advantage of +any mistakes, nor exact from me a rigorous observation of the +game. Even Mr. Shuffle, a grave gentleman, who has daughters +older than myself, plays with me so negligently that I am sometimes +inclined to believe he loses his money by design; and yet +he is so fond of play that he says he will one day take me to his +house in the country, that we may try by ourselves who can +conquer. I have not yet promised him; but when the town grows +a little empty I shall think upon it, for I want some trinkets, like +Letitia's, to my watch. I do not doubt my luck, but I must study +some means of amusing my relations.</p> + +<p>'For all these distinctions I find myself indebted to that beauty +which I was never suffered to hear praised, and of which, therefore, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span> +I did not before know the full value. This concealment was +certainly an intentional fraud, for my aunts have eyes like other +people, and I am every day told that nothing but blindness can +escape the influence of my charms. Their whole account of that +world which they pretend to know so well has been only one +fiction entangled with another; and though the modes of life oblige +me to continue some appearances of respect, I cannot think that +they who have been so clearly detected in ignorance or imposture +have any right to the esteem, veneration, or obedience of,</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'Sir, yours,<br /> +<span class="i2">'Bellaria.'</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-429.jpg" width="241" height="242" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">406</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Rambler.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 199.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Obscure, unprized, and dark the magnet lies,</p> +<p>Nor lures the search of avaricious eyes,</p> +<p>Nor binds the neck, nor sparkles in the hair,</p> +<p>Nor dignifies the great, nor decks the fair.</p> +<p>But search the wonders of the dusky stone,</p> +<p>And own all glories of the mine outdone,</p> +<p>Each grace of form, each ornament of state,</p> +<p>That decks the fair or dignifies the great!</p> +</div></div> + +<p class="center">'<i>To the "Rambler.</i>"</p> + +<p>'Sir,—The curiosity of the present race of philosophers having +been long exercised upon electricity has been lately transferred to +magnetism; the qualities +of the loadstone have been +investigated, if not with +much advantage, yet with +great applause; and, as the +highest praise of art is to +imitate nature, I hope no +man will think the makers +of artificial magnets celebrated +or reverenced above +their deserts.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-430.jpg" width="216" height="192" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I have for some time +employed myself in the +same practice, but with deeper knowledge and more extensive +views. While my contemporaries were touching needles and +raising weights, or busying themselves with inclination and +variation, I have been examining those qualities of magnetism +which may be applied to the accommodation and happiness of +common life. I have left to inferior understandings the care of +conducting the sailor through the hazards of the ocean, and +reserved to myself the more difficult and illustrious province of +preserving the connubial compact from violation, and setting +mankind free for ever from the torments of fruitless vigilance and +anxious suspicion. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">407</a></span></p> + +<p>'To defraud any man of his due praise is unworthy of a +philosopher. I shall therefore openly confess that I owe the first +hint of this inestimable secret to the Rabbi Abraham Ben Hannase, +who, in his treatise of precious stones, has left this account of the +magnet: "The calamita, or loadstone, that attracts iron, produces +many bad fantasies in man. Women fly from this stone. If, +therefore, any husband be disturbed with jealousy, and fear lest +his wife converses with other men, let him lay this stone upon her +while she is asleep. If she be pure she will, when she wakes, +clasp her husband fondly in her arms; but if she be guilty she will +fall out of bed, and run away."</p> + +<p>'With these hopes I shall, in a short time, offer for sale magnets +armed with a particular metallic composition, which concentrates +their virtue and determines their agency.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-431.jpg" width="143" height="151" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I shall sell them of different sizes, and various degrees of +strength. I have some of a bulk proper to be hung at the bed's +head, as scarecrows, and some so small +that they may be easily concealed. +Some I have ground into oval forms, +to be hung at watches; and some, for +the curious, I have set in wedding rings, +that ladies may never want an attestation +of their innocence. Some I can +produce so sluggish and inert that they +will not act before the third failure, +and others so vigorous and animated +that they exert their influence against +unlawful wishes, if they have been willingly and deliberately indulged. +As it is my practice honestly to tell my customers the +properties of my magnets I can judge by the choice of the delicacy +of their sentiments. Many have been contented to spare +cost by purchasing only the lowest degree of efficacy, and all have +started with terror from those which operate upon the thoughts. +One young lady only fitted on a ring of the strongest energy, and +declared that she scorned to separate her wishes from her acts, +or allow herself to think what she was forbidden to practise.</p> + +<p class="left45"> +'I am, &c., +<span class="i2">'<span class="smcap">Hermeticus</span>.'</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">408</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span class="s08"><span class="smcap">THACKERAY'S FAMILIARITY WITH THE WRITINGS OF THE +SATIRICAL ESSAYISTS</span>—<i>Continued.</i></span></h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Characteristic Passages from the Works of the 'Early Humourists,' from +Thackeray's Library, illustrated by the Author's hand with original Marginal +Sketches suggested by the Text—The 'Mirror,' Edinburgh, 1779-80—Introduction—The +Society in which the 'Mirror' and 'Lounger' originated—Notice +of Contributors—Paragraphs and Pencillings. +</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">Preface to the 'Mirror.'</span></p> + +<p>The circumstances which led to the publication of the 'Mirror,' +by a certain society of friends in Edinburgh, are set forth in the +concluding paper of that work, No. 110, which originally appeared +May 27, 1780. The dying speech of the Scotch essayist forms a +suitable introduction to the series.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Extremum concede laborem.—<i>Virg. Ecl.</i> x. 1.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'As, at the close of life, people confess the secrets and explain +the mysteries of their conduct, endeavour to do justice to those +with whom they have had dealings, and to die in peace with all +the world; so in the concluding number of a periodical publication, +it is usual to lay aside the assumed name, or fictitious character, +to ascribe the different papers to their true authors, and to +wind up the whole with a modest appeal to the candour or indulgence +of the public.</p> + +<p>'In the course of these papers the author has not often ventured +to introduce himself, or to give an account of his own situation; +in this, therefore, which is to be the last, he has not much +to unravel on that score. From the narrowness of the place of its +appearance, the '<span class="smcap">Mirror</span>' did not admit of much personification +of its editor; the little disguise he has used has been rather to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">409</a></span> +conceal what he was than to give himself out for what he was +not.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-433.jpg" width="289" height="453" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The idea of publishing a periodical paper in Edinburgh took +its rise in a company of gentlemen whom particular circumstances +of connection brought frequently together. Their discourse often +turned upon subjects of manners, of taste, and of literature. By +one of these accidental resolutions, of which the origin cannot +easily be traced, it was determined to put their thoughts into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">410</a></span> +writing, and to read them for the entertainment of each other. +Their essays assumed the form, and soon after some one gave +them the name, of a periodical publication; the writers of it were +naturally associated, and their meetings increased the importance +as well as the number of their productions. Cultivating letters in +the midst of business, composition was to them an amusement +only; that amusement was heightened by the audience which this +society afforded; the idea of publication suggested itself as productive +of still higher entertainment.</p> + +<p>'It was not, however, without diffidence that such a resolution +was taken. From that and several other circumstances it was +thought proper to observe the strictest secrecy with regard to the +authors; a purpose in which they have been so successful that, at +this very moment, the very publisher of the work knows only one +of their number, to whom the conduct of it was entrusted.'</p> + +<p>The members of the society alluded to in the last number of +the 'Mirror' afterwards carried on the 'Lounger.' They were Mr. +R. Cullen, Mr. M'Leod Bannatyne, Mr. George Ogilvy, Mr. Alex. +Abercromby, and Mr. W. Craig, advocates, the last two of whom +were afterwards appointed Judges of the Court of Session in Scotland; +Mr. George Home, one of the principal clerks of that +court; and Mr. H. Mackenzie, of the Exchequer of Edinburgh.</p> + +<p>Of these Mr. Ogilvy, though with abilities and genius abundantly +capable of the task, never contributed to the 'Mirror,' and +the society had to lament his death before the appearance of the +'Lounger.' None of its members, Mr. Mackenzie excepted, +whose name is sufficiently known as an author, had ever before +been concerned in any publication. To Mr. Mackenzie, therefore, +was entrusted the conducting the work, and he alone had +any communication with the editor, to whom the other members +of the society were altogether unknown. Secrecy was an object +of much importance to a work of this sort; and during the publication +of both these performances it was singularly well attained.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mackenzie's papers were the most numerous. He is stated +to have been the author of Nos. 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 16 (the latter +part of 17), 21, 23, 25, 30, 32, 34 (part of 35), 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, +44, 49, 53, 54 (part of 56), 61, 64, 72, 78, 80, 81, 84, the poem in +85 (part of 89), 91, 92, 93 (part of 96), 99, 100, 101 (parts of 102, +103), 105, 107, 108, 109, and 110. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span></p> + +<p>The contributions of correspondents were of considerable +assistance to the success of the 'Mirror.' Of these Lord Hailes +was the most industrious; among other promoters we find the +names of Mr. Richardson, Professor of Humanity at Glasgow; +Mr. Fraser Tytler, Advocate and Professor of History in the +University of Edinburgh; Mr. D. Hume, Professor of Scots Laws +at Edinburgh, nephew of the celebrated David Hume; D. Beattie; +Cosmo Gordon, Esq., one of the Barons of Exchequer in Scotland; +Mr. W. Strahan, of London, the King's printer; Mr. Baron +Gordon, &c.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-435.jpg" width="318" height="293" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">412</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2 b12">THE 'MIRROR.'</p> + +<p class="center">A Periodical Paper Published at Edinburgh in the Years +1779 and 1780.</p> +<p class="center">Veluti in speculo.</p> +</div> + +<p>'No child ever heard from its nurse the story of "Jack the +Giant Killer's Cap of Darkness" without envying the pleasures of +invisibility.</p> + +<p>'This power is, in some degree, possessed by the writer of an +anonymous paper. He can at least exercise it for a purpose for +which people would be most apt to use the privilege of being +invisible: to wit, that of hearing what is said of himself.</p> + +<p>'A few hours after the publication of my first number, I sallied +forth, with all the advantages of invisibility, to hear an account of +myself and my paper.</p> + +<p>'A smart-looking young man, in green, said he was sure it +would be very satirical; his companion, in scarlet, was equally +certain that it would be very stupid. But with this last prediction +I was not much offended, when I discovered that its author had +not read the first number, but only inquired of Mr. Creech where +it was published.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-436.jpg" width="169" height="91" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A plump round figure, near the fire, who had just put on his +spectacles to examine the paper, closed the debate by observing, +with a grave aspect, that, as the +author was anonymous, it was +proper to be very cautious in +talking of the performance. After +glancing over the pages, he said +he could have wished they had +set apart a corner for intelligence +from America; but, having taken +off his spectacles, wiped, and put them into their case, he said, +with a tone of discovery, he had found out the reason why there +was nothing of that sort in the "Mirror"—it was in order to save +the tax upon newspapers.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">413</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 4.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Meliora pii docuere parentes.</p> +</div></div> +<p>The following is an extract from a letter, addressed by a parent +to the editor, on the evil consequences of sending youths to Paris +to finish their education:—</p> + +<p>'When the day of their return came, my girl, who had been +constantly on the look-out, ran to tell me she saw a postchaise +driving to the gate. But, judge of my astonishment when I saw +two pale, emaciated figures get out of the carriage, in their dress +and looks resembling monkeys rather than human creatures. +What was still worse, their manners were more displeasing than +their appearance. When +my daughter ran up, with +tears of joy in her eyes, to +embrace her brother, he +held her from him, and +burst into an immoderate +fit of laughter at something +in her dress that appeared +to him ridiculous. He was joined in the laugh by his +younger brother, who was pleased, however, to say that the girl +was not ill-looking, and, when taught to put on her clothes, and to +use a little <i>rouge</i>, would be tolerable.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-437.jpg" width="216" height="102" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Mortified as I was at this impertinence, the partiality of a +parent led me to impute it, in a great measure, to the levity +of youth; and I still flattered myself that matters were not so +bad as they appeared to be. In these hopes I sat down to dinner. +But there the behaviour of the young gentlemen did not, by any +means, tend to lessen my chagrin. There was nothing at table +they could eat; they ran out in praise of French cookery, and +seemed even to be adepts in the science; they knew the component +ingredients of most fashionable <i>ragoûts</i> and <i>fricandeaus</i>, +and were acquainted with the names and characters of the most +celebrated practitioners of the art in Paris.</p> + +<p>'In short, it was found these unfortunate youths had returned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">414</a></span> +ignorant of everything they ought to know, their minds corrupted, +their bodies debilitated, and their vanity and conceit making them +incapable of listening to reason or advice.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 10.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fleetwood, a man of excessive refinement and delicacy +of taste, is described as paying visits to his friends in the country. +But the pleasures which might possibly be derived from this +exercise are marred by his false sensibility.</p> + +<p>'Our next visit was to a gentleman of liberal education and +elegant manners, who, in the earlier part of his life, had been +much in the polite world. Here Mr. Fleetwood expected to find +pleasure and enjoyment sufficient to atone for his two previous +experiences which were far from agreeable; but here, too, he was +disappointed.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Selby, for that was our friend's name, had been several +years married. His family increasing, he had retired to the +country, and, renouncing the bustle of the world, had given himself +up to domestic enjoyments; his time and attention were +devoted chiefly to the care of his children. The pleasure which +he himself felt in humouring all their little fancies made him forget +how troublesome that indulgence might be to others.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-438.jpg" width="211" height="94" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The first morning we were at his house, when Mr. Fleetwood +came into the parlour to breakfast, all the places at table were +occupied by the children; +it was necessary that one +of them should be displaced +to make room for him; +and, in the disturbance +which this occasioned, a +teacup was overturned, and +scalded the finger of Mr. +Selby's eldest daughter, a child about seven years old, whose +whimpering and complaining attracted the whole attention during +breakfast. That being over, the eldest boy came forward with a +book in his hand, and Mr. Selby asked Mr. Fleetwood to hear +him read his lesson. Mrs. Selby joined in the request, though +both looked as if they were rather conferring a favour on their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">415</a></span> +guest. The eldest had no sooner finished, than the youngest boy +presented himself; upon which his father observed that it would +be doing injustice to Will not to hear him as well as his elder +brother Jack, and in this way was my friend obliged to spend the +morning in performing the office of a schoolmaster to the children +in succession.</p> + +<p>'Mr. Fleetwood liked a game at whist, and promised himself +a party in the evening, free from interruption. Cards were accordingly +proposed, but Mrs. Selby observed that her little daughter, +who still complained of her scalded finger, needed amusement as +much as any of the company. In place of cards, Miss Harriet +insisted on the "game of the goose." Down to it we sat, and to a +stranger it would have been not unamusing to see Mr. Fleetwood, +with his sorrowful countenance, at the "royal and pleasant game +of the goose," with a child of seven years old. It is unnecessary +to dwell longer on particulars. During all the time we were at +Mr. Selby's the delighted parents were indulging their fondness, +while Mr. Fleetwood was repining and fretting in secret.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 117.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Inanit veteres statuas Damasippus emendo.—<i>Hor.</i></p> +</div></div> +<p>A wife is writing to the 'Mirror' upon a new affliction which +has attacked her husband. He happened to receive a crooked +shilling in exchange for some of his goods (the husband was a +grocer), and a virtuoso informed him that it was a coin of Alexander +III., of great rarity and value, whereupon the good man became +seized with a passion for collecting curiosities.</p> + +<p>'His taste,' says the wife's letter, 'ranges from heaven above +to the earth beneath, and to the waters under the earth. Every +production of nature or of art, remarkable either for beauty or +deformity, but particularly if either <i>scarce</i> or <i>old</i>, is now the object +of my husband's avidity. The profits of our business, once considerable, +but now daily diminishing, are expended, not only on +coins, but on shells, lumps of different coloured stones, dried +butterflies, old pictures, ragged books, and worm-eaten parchments.</p> + +<p>'Our house, which it was once my highest pleasure to keep in +order, it would be now equally vain to attempt cleaning as the ark +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">416</a></span> +of Noah. The children's bed is supplied by an Indian canoe; +and the poor little creatures sleep three of them in a hammock, +slung up to the roof between a <i>stuffed crocodile</i> and the skeleton of +a <i>calf with two heads</i>. Even the commodities of our shop have +been turned out to make room for trash and vermin. <i>Kites</i>, <i>owls</i>, +and <i>bats</i> are perched upon the top of our shelves; and it was but +yesterday that, putting my hand into a glass jar that used to +contain pickles, I laid hold of a large <i>tarantula</i> in place of a +mangoe.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-440.jpg" width="384" height="153" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'In the bitterness of my soul, Mr. Mirror, I have been often +tempted to revenge myself on the objects of my husband's phrenzy, +by burning, smashing, and destroying them without mercy; but, +besides that such violent procedure might have effects too dreadful +upon a brain which, I fear, is already much unsettled, I could not +take such a course without being guilty of a fraud to our creditors, +several of whom will, I believe, sooner or later, find it their only +means of reimbursement to take back each man his own monsters.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 25.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-440-copy.jpg" width="54" height="95" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The 'Mirror' prints a letter upon the grievances felt +by the families of men of small fortunes when associated +with those enjoying great ones.</p> + +<p>'You will remember, sir, my account of a visit +which my daughters paid to a great lady in our +neighbourhood, and of the effects which that visit +had upon them. I was beginning to hope that time, +and the sobriety of manners which home exhibited, would restore +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">417</a></span> +them to their former situation, when, unfortunately, a circumstance +happened still more fatal to me than their expedition to ——. +This, sir, was the honour of a visit from the great lady in return.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-441.jpg" width="314" height="219" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'I was just returning from the superintendence of my ploughs, +in a field I have lately enclosed, when I was met, on the green +before my door, by a gentleman (for such I took him to be) +mounted upon a very handsome gelding, who asked me, by the +appellation of <i>honest friend</i>, if this was not Mr. Homespun's; and, +in the same breath, whether the ladies were at home. I told him +my name was Homespun, the house was mine, and my wife and +daughters were, I believed, within. Upon this, the young man, +pulling off his hat, and begging my pardon for calling me <i>honest</i>, +said he was despatched by Lady ——, with her compliments, to +Mrs. and Misses Homespun, and that, if convenient, she intended +herself the honour of dining with them, on her return from B—— +Park (the seat of another great and rich lady in our neighbourhood).</p> + +<p>'I confess, Mr. Mirror, I was struck somewhat of a heap with +the message; and it would not, in all probability, have received +an immediate answer, had it not been overheard by my eldest +daughter, who had come to the window on the appearance of a +stranger.</p> + +<p>'"Mr. Papillot," said she, immediately, "I rejoice to see you; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">418</a></span> +I hope your lady and all the family are well." "Very much at +your service, ma'am," he replied, with a low bow; "my lady sent +me before, with the offer of her best compliments, and that, if +convenient"—and so forth, repeating his words to me. "She +does us infinite honour," said my young madam; "let her ladyship +know how happy her visit will make us; but, in the meantime, +Mr. Papillot, give your horse to one of the servants, and +come in and have a glass of something after your ride." "I am +afraid," answered he (pulling out his right-hand watch, for, would +you believe it, sir, the fellow had one in each fob), "I shall hardly +have time to meet my lady at the place she appointed me." On a +second invitation, however, he dismounted, and went into the +house, leaving his horse to the care of the servants; but the +servants, as my daughter very well knew, were all in the fields at +work; so I, who have a liking for a good horse, and cannot bear +to see him neglected, had the honour of putting Mr. Papillot's +horse in the stable myself.'</p> + +<p>The arrival of the distinguished party completely upset Mr. +Homespun's establishment, turned the heads of his entire family, +and annihilated the effect of all his good teachings.</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. I. No. 50.</p> + +<p>'It was formerly one of those national boasts which are always +allowable, and sometimes useful, that the ladies of Scotland possessed +a purity of conduct and delicacy of manners beyond that of +most other countries. Free from the bad effects of overgrown +fortunes, and from the dissipated society of an overgrown capital, +their beauty was natural and their minds were uncorrupted.</p> + +<p>'Formerly a London journey was attended with some difficulty +and danger, and posting thither was an achievement as masculine +as a fox-chase. Now the goodness of the roads and the convenience +of the vehicles render it a matter of only a few days' moderate +exercise for a lady; <i>Facilis descensus Averni</i>; our wives and +daughters are carried thither to see the world, and we are not to +wonder if some of them bring back only that knowledge of it +which the most ignorant can acquire and the most forgetful retain. +That knowledge is communicated to a certain circle on their +return; the imitation is as rapid as it is easy; they emulate the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">419</a></span> +English, who before have copied the French; the dress, the +phrase, and the <i>morale</i> of Paris is transplanted first to London, +and thence to Edinburgh; and even the sequestered regions of the +country are sometimes visited in this northern progress of politeness.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-445.jpg" width="227" height="148" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'It will be said, perhaps, that there is often a levity of +behaviour without any criminality of conduct; that the lady who +talks always loud, and sometimes free, goes much abroad, or +keeps a crowd of company at home, rattles in a public place with +a circle of young fellows, or flirts in a corner with a single one, +does all this without the smallest bad intention, merely as she +puts on a cap and sticks it with feathers because she has seen it +done by others whose rank and fashion entitle them to her imitation.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 44.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Sit mihi fas audita loqui.</p> +</div></div> +<p>'Passing the Exchange a few days ago, I perceived a little +before me a short, plump-looking man, seeming to set his watch +by St. Giles's clock, which had just +then struck two. On observing him +more closely, I recognised Mr. +Blubber, with whom I had been acquainted +at the house of our mutual +friend Mr. Bearskin.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-445-copy.jpg" width="159" height="106" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'He recollected me, and, shaking +me cordially by the hand, told me +he was just returned safe from his +journey to the Highlands, and had been regulating his watch by +our town clock, as he found the sun did not go exactly in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">420</a></span> +Highlands as it did in the Low country. He added, that if I +would come and eat a Welsh rare-bit and drink a glass of punch +with him and his family that evening, at their lodgings hard by, +they would give me an account of their expedition.</p> + +<p>'When I went to their lodgings in the evening, I could not +help making one preliminary observation, that it was much too +early in the season for visiting the country to advantage; but to +this Mr. Blubber had a very satisfactory answer: they were resolved +to complete their tour before the new tax upon post-horses should +be put in execution.</p> + +<p>'The first place they visited after they left Edinburgh was +Carron, which Mr. Blubber seemed to prefer to any place he had +seen; but the ladies did not appear to have relished it much. +The mother said, "She was like to have fell into a fit at the noise +of the great bellows." Miss Blubber agreed that it was <i>monstrous</i> +frightful indeed. Miss Betsy had spoiled her petticoat in getting +in, and said it was a nasty place, not fit for genteel people, in her +opinion. Blubber put on his wisest face, and observed that +women did not know the use of them things. There was much +the same difference in their sentiments with regard to the Great +Canal. Mr. Blubber took out a piece of paper, on which he +had marked down the <i>lockage duty</i> received in a week there; he +shook his head, however, and said he was sorry to find the shares +<i>below par</i>.</p> + +<p>'Taymouth seemed to strike the whole family. The number +and beauty of the temples were taken particular notice of; nor +was the trimness of the walks and hedges without commendation. +Miss Betsy Blubber declared herself charmed with the shady walk +by the side of the Tay, and remarked what an excellent fancy it +was to shut out the view of the river, so that you might hear the +stream without seeing it. Mr. Blubber, however, objected to the +vicinity of the hills, and Mrs. Blubber to that of the lake, which she +was sure must be extremely unwholesome.</p> + +<p>'But, however various were the remarks of the family on the +particulars of their journey in detail, I found they had perfectly +settled their respective opinions of travelling in general. The +ladies had formed their conclusion that it was monstrous pleasant, +and the gentleman his that it was monstrous dear.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">421</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 50.</p> + +<p>A correspondent is addressing the 'Mirror' on the ill effects +of listlessness, indolence, and an aversion to profitable exertion. +The writer describes his visit to a barrister without practice, who, +having been left a small competence, had relinquished his profession +to engage in literary pursuits.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mordant, the literary recluse, on his friend's arrival, was +discovered cultivating his kitchen garden. The visitor is conducted +through the grounds, which had been laid out in accordance with +the owner's taste.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-447.jpg" width="360" height="104" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Near a village, on our way homewards, we met a set of countrymen +engaged at cricket, and soon after a marriage company +dancing the bride's dance upon the green. My friend, with a degree +of gaiety and alacrity which I had never before seen him display, +not only engaged himself, but compelled me likewise to engage in +the exercise of the one and the merriment of the other. In a field +before his door an old horse, blind at one eye, came up to us at +his call, and ate the remainder of the grains from his hand from +which he had previously fed a flock of tame pigeons.</p> + +<p>'Our conversation for that evening, relating chiefly to the +situation of our common friends, memory of former scenes, and +other subjects as friends naturally converse about after a long +absence, afforded me little opportunity of gratifying my curiosity. +Next morning I arose at my wonted early hour, and stepping into +his study found it unoccupied. Upon examining a heap of books +and papers that lay confusedly mingled on the table and the floor, +I was surprised to find that by much the greater part of them, instead +of metaphysics and morals (the branches connected with his +scheme of writing), treated of <i>Belles Lettres</i>, or were calculated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">422</a></span> +merely for amusement. There was, besides, a journal of his occupations +for several weeks, from which, as it affords a picture of +his situation, I transcribe a part:—</p> + +<p>'"<i>Thursday, eleven at night.—Went to bed: ordered my servant +to wake me at six, resolving to be busy all next day.</i></p> + +<p>'"<i>Friday morning.—Waked a quarter before six; fell asleep +again, and did not wake till eight.</i></p> + +<p>'"<i>Till nine read the first act of Voltaire's 'Mahomet,' as it was +too late to begin serious business.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-448.jpg" width="264" height="115" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"<i>Ten.—Having swallowed a short breakfast, went out for a +moment in my slippers. The wind having left the east, am engaged +by the beauty of the day to continue my walk. Find a situation by +the river where the sound of my flute produced a very singular and +beautiful echo—make a stanza and a half by way of an address to it—visit +the shepherd lying ill of a low fever, find him somewhat better +(mem.—to send him some wine)—meet the parson, and cannot avoid +asking him to dinner—returning home find my reapers at work—superintend +them in the absence of John, whom I send to inform the +house of the parson's visit—read, in the meantime, part of Thomson's +'Seasons,' which I had with me—from one to six plagued with +the parson's news and stories—take up 'Mahomet' to put me in +good humour; finish it, the time allotted for serious study being +elapsed—at eight, applied to for advice by a poor countryman, who +had been oppressed; cannot say as to the law; give him some money—walk +out at sunset to consider the causes of the pleasure arising from +it—at nine, sup, and sit till eleven hearing my nephew read, and +conversing with my mother, who was remarkably well and cheerful—go +to bed.</i></p> + +<p>'<i>"Saturday. Some company arrived—to be filled up to-morrow</i>"—(for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">423</a></span> +that and the two succeeding days there was no further entry +in the journal).</p> + +<p>'"<i>Tuesday.—Waked at seven; but, the weather being rainy and +threatening to confine me all day, lay till nine—ten, breakfasted and +read the newspapers; very dull and drowsy—eleven, day clears up, +and I resolve on a short ride to clear my head.</i>"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-449.jpg" width="235" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A few days' residence with him showed me that his life was in +reality, as is here represented, a medley of feeble exertions, +indolent pleasures, secret benevolence, and broken resolutions. +Nor did he pretend to conceal from me that his activity was not +now so constant as it had been; but he insisted that he still +could, when he thought proper, apply with his former vigour, and +flattered himself that these frequent deviations from his plan of +employment, which in reality were the fruit of indolence and +weakness, arose from reason and conviction.</p> + +<p>'"<i>After all</i>," said he to me one day, when I was endeavouring +to undeceive him, "<i>after all, granting what you allege, if I be +happy, and really am so, what more could activity, fame, or preferment +bestow upon me?</i>"</p> + +<p>'After a stay of some weeks I departed, convinced that his +malady was past a cure, and lamenting that so much real excellence +and ability should be thus in a great measure lost to the world, as +well as to their possessor, by the attendance of a single fault.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">424</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 56.</p> + +<p>The following letter is from a dweller in the country, an +ardent lover of retirement, who is enchanted with the simplicity of +life and incident to be encountered in a pastoral retreat:—</p> + +<p>'My dear Sir,—The moment I found myself disengaged from +business, you know I left the smoke and din of your blessed city, +and hurried away to pure skies and quiet at my cottage.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-450.jpg" width="353" height="210" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'You must have heard that our spring was singularly pleasant; +but how pleasant it was <i>you</i> could not feel in your dusky atmosphere. +My sister remarked that it had a faint resemblance to the +spring of ——. Although I omit the year, you may believe that +several seasons have passed away since that animating era recollected +by my sister. "Alas! my friend," said I, "seasons return, +but it is only to the young and the fortunate." A tear started in +her eye, yet she smiled and resumed her tranquillity.</p> + +<p>'We sauntered through the kitchen-garden, and admired the +rapid progress of vegetation. "Everything is very forward," said +my sister; "we must begin to bottle <i>gooseberries</i> to-morrow." +"Very forward, indeed," answered I. "This reminds me of the +young ladies whom I have seen lately—they seem forward enough, +though a little out of season too." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">425</a></span></p> + +<p>'It was a poor witticism, but it lay in my way, and I took it +up. Next morning the gardener came to our breakfasting-parlour. +"Madam," said he, "all the gooseberries are gone." "Gone!" +cried my sister; "and <i>who</i> could be so audacious? Brother, you +are a justice of the peace; do make out a warrant directly to search +for and apprehend. We have an agreeable neighbourhood, indeed! +the insolence of the rabble of servants, of low-born, purse-proud +folks, is not to be endured." "The gooseberries are not away," +continued the gardener; "they are lying in heaps under the +bushes; last night's frost, and a hail-shower this morning, have +made the crop fail." "The crop fail!" exclaimed my sister; "and +where am I to get gooseberries for bottling?" "Come, come, +my dear," said I; "they tell me that in Virginia pork has a +peculiar flavour from the peaches on which the hogs feed; you +can let in the goslings to pick up the gooseberries, and I warrant +you that this unlooked-for food will give them a relish far beyond +that of any green geese of our neighbours at the castle." +"Brother," replied she, "you are a philosopher." I quickly +discovered that, while endeavouring to turn one misfortune into +jest, I recalled another to her remembrance, for it seems that, by +a series of domestic calamities, all her goslings had perished.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-451.jpg" width="278" height="171" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'A very promising family of turkey chicks has at length +consoled her for the fate of the goslings, and on rummaging her +store-room she finds that she has more bottled gooseberries left of +last year than will suffice for the present occasions of our little +family. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">426</a></span></p> + +<p>'That people of sense should allow themselves to be affected +by the most trivial accident is ridiculous. There are, indeed, +some things which, though hardly real evils, cannot fail to vex the +wisest and discompose the equanimity of the most patient; for +example, that fulsome court paid by the vulgar to rich upstarts, +and the daily slights to which decayed nobility is exposed.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 68.</p> + +<p>'One morning during my late visit to Mr. Umphraville (the +writer of the previous letter on life in the country), as that gentleman, +his sister, and I were sitting at breakfast, my old friend John came +in, and delivered a sealed card to his master. After putting on his +spectacles, and reading it with attention, "Ay," said Umphraville, +"this is one of your modern improvements. I remember the time +when one neighbour could have gone to dine with another without +any fuss or ceremony; but now, forsooth, you must announce +your intention so many days before; and by-and-by I suppose +the intercourse between two country gentlemen will be carried on +with the same stiffness of ceremonial that prevails among your +small German princes. Sister, you must prepare a feast on +Thursday. Colonel Plum says he intends to have the honour of +waiting on us." "Brother," replied Miss Umphraville, "you +know we don't deal in giving feasts; but if Colonel Plum can +dine on a plain dinner, without his foreign dishes and French +sauces, I can prepare him a bit of good mutton, and a hearty +welcome."</p> + +<p>'On the day appointed, Colonel Plum arrived, and along with +him the gay, the sprightly Sir Bobby Button, who had posted +down to the country to enjoy two days' shooting at Colonel Plum's, +where he arrived just as that gentleman was setting out for Mr. +Umphraville's. Sir Bobby, always easy, and who, in every society, +is the same, protested against the Colonel's putting off his visit, +and declared he would be happy to attend him.</p> + +<p>'Though I had but little knowledge of Sir Bobby, I was +perfectly acquainted with his character; but to Umphraville he +was altogether unknown, and I promised myself some amusement +from the contrast of two persons so opposite in sentiments, in +manners, and in opinions. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">427</a></span></p> + +<p>'When he was presented I observed Umphraville somewhat +shocked with his dress and figure, in both of which, it must be +confessed, he resembled a monkey of a larger size. Sir Bobby, +however, did not allow him much time to contemplate his external +appearance, for he immediately, without any preparation or +apology, began to attack the old gentleman on the bad taste of his +house, and of everything about it. "Why the devil," said he, +"don't you enlarge your windows, and cut down those damned +hedges and trees that spoil your lawn so miserably? If you would +allow me, I would undertake, in a week's time, to give you a +clever place." To this Umphraville made no answer; and indeed +the baronet was so fond of hearing himself talk, and chattered +away at such a rate, that he neither seemed to desire nor to expect +an answer.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-453.jpg" width="110" height="88" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'On Miss Umphraville's coming in, he addressed himself to +her, and, after displaying his dress, and explaining some particulars +with regard to it, he began to entertain +her with an account of the gallantries +in which he had been engaged the preceding +winter in London. He talked as if no +woman could resist his persuasive address +and elegant figure—as if London were one +great seraglio, and he himself the mighty +master of it.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. II. No. 74.</p> + +<p>'Dreams depend in part on the state of the air; that which has +power over the passions may reasonably be presumed to have +power over the thoughts of men. Now, most people know by +experience how effectual, in producing joy and hope, are pure +skies and sunshine, and that a long continuance of dark weather +brings on solicitude and melancholy. This is particularly the case +with those persons whose nervous system has been weakened by +a sedentary life and much thinking; and they, as I hinted formerly, +are most subject to troublesome dreams. If the external air can +affect the motions of so heavy a substance as mercury in the tube +of a barometer, we need not wonder that it should affect those +finer liquids that circulate through the human body. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">428</a></span></p> + +<p>'How often, too, do thoughts arise during the day which we +cannot account for, as uncommon, perhaps, and incongruous, as +those which compose our dreams! Once, after riding thirty miles +in a very high wind, I remember to have passed a night of dreams +that were beyond description terrible; insomuch that I at last +found it expedient to keep myself awake, that I might no more +be tormented with them. Had I been superstitious, I should +have thought that some disaster was impending. But it occurred +to me that the tempestuous weather I had encountered the preceding +day might be the occasion of all these horrors; and I have +since, in some medical author, met with a remark to justify the +conjecture.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-454.jpg" width="366" height="242" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 79.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Of Pastoral Poetry.</span></p> + +<p>'It may be doubted whether the representation of sentiments +belonging to the <i>real</i> inhabitants of the country, who are strangers +to all refinement, or those entertained by a person of an elegant +and cultivated mind, who from choice retires into the country +with a view of enjoying those pleasures which it affords, is calculated +to produce a more interesting picture. If the former is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">429</a></span> +recommended by its <i>naïveté</i> and simplicity, it may be expected +that the latter should have the preference in point of beauty and +variety.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-455.jpg" width="341" height="306" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'The enlargement of the field of pastoral poetry would surely +be of advantage, considering how much the common topics of +that species of writing are already exhausted. We are become +weary of the ordinary sentiments of shepherds, which have been +so often repeated, and which have usually nothing but the variety +of expression to recommend them. The greater part of the productions +which have appeared under the name of pastorals are, +accordingly, so insipid as to have excited little attention; which +is the more remarkable because the subjects which they treat of +naturally interest the affections, and are easily painted in such +delusive colours as tend to soothe the imagination by romantic +dreams of happiness.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">430</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 84.</p> + +<p>'To dispute the right of fashion to enlarge, to vary, or to +change the ideas, both of man and woman kind, were a want of +good breeding, of which the author of a periodical publication, +who throws himself, as it were, from day to day on the protection +of the polite world, cannot be supposed capable.</p> + +<p>'I pay, therefore, little regard to the observations of some +antiquated correspondents who pretend to set up what they call +the invariable notions of things against the opinions and practice +of people of condition.</p> + +<p>'I am afraid that Edinburgh (talking like a man who has +travelled) is but a sort of mimic metropolis, and cannot fairly +pretend to the same license of making a fool of itself as London +or Paris. The circle, therefore, taking them <i>en gros</i>, of our +fashionable people here, have seldom ventured on the same +beautiful irregularity in dress, in behaviour, or in manners that +is frequently practised by the leaders of <i>ton</i> in the capital of France +or England.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-456.jpg" width="161" height="138" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'With individuals the same rule of subordination is to be +observed, which, however, persons of extraordinary parts, of +genius above their condition, are sometimes apt to overlook. I +perceive, in the pit of the play-house, some young men who have +got fuddled on punch, as noisy and as witty as the gentlemen in +the boxes who have been drinking Burgundy; and others, who +have come sober from the counter +or writing-desk, give almost as +little attention to the play as men +of 3,000 l. a year. My old school +acquaintance, Jack Wou'd-be, +t'other morning had a neckcloth +as dirty as a lord's, and picked +his teeth after dinner, for a quarter +of an hour, by the assistance of +the little mirror in the lid of his +tooth-pick case. I take the first opportunity of giving him a +friendly hint, that this practice is elegant only in a man who +has made the tour of Europe.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">431</a></span></p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 32.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>An Essay upon Figure-Makers.</i></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-458.jpg" width="145" height="101" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-457.jpg" width="98" height="112" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'There is a species of animal, several of whom must have +fallen under the notice of everybody present, which it is difficult +to class either among the witty or the foolish, the clever or the +dull, the wise or the mad, who, of all others, have the greatest +propensity to figure-making. Nature seems to have made them +up in haste, and to have put the different ingredients, above +referred to, into their composition at random. Here there is +never wanting a junta of them of both sexes, who are liked or +hated, admired or despised, who make people laugh, or set them +asleep, according to the fashion of the time or the humour of the +audience, but who have always the satisfaction +of talking themselves, or of being talked of by +others. With us, indeed, a very moderate +degree of genius is sufficient for this purpose; +in small societies folks are set agape by small +circumstances. I have known a lady here +contrive to make a figure for half the winter on +the strength of a plume of feathers, or the +trimming of a petticoat; and a gentleman make shift to be thought +a fine fellow, only by outdoing everybody else in the thickness of +his <i>queue</i>, or the height of his foretop.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 98.</p> + +<p>A student of 'good parts' has accepted, for one year, the post +of resident tutor to a young gentleman with rich expectations. He +writes to the 'Mirror,' describing the little progress he can make +in the advancement of his pupil's education, owing to the frivolous +interruptions which postpone serious application from day to day. +Study has been already set aside, on various pretexts, for the first +four days of the week. The close of his letter relates how he fared +on the Friday and Saturday.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-458-copy.jpg" width="342" height="291" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'"You must know," says Mrs. Flint, the gentleman's mamma, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">432</a></span> +at breakfast, "that I am assured that Jemmy is very like the +Count de Provence, the King of France's own brother. Now +Jemmy is sitting for his picture to +Martin, and I thought it would be +right to get the <i>friseur</i>, whom you +saw last night [he has just arrived +from Paris], to dress his hair like +the Count de Provence, that Mr. +Martin might make the resemblance +more complete. Jemmy has been +under his hands since seven o'clock. Oh, here he comes!" +"Is it not charming?" exclaimed Miss Juliana. "I wish your +future bride could see you," added the happy mother. My pupil, +lost in the labyrinth of cross curls, seems to look about for +himself. "What a powdered sheep's head have we got here?" +cried Captain Winterbottom. We all went to Mr. Martin's to +assist him in drawing Jemmy's picture. On our return, Mrs. +Flint discovered that her son had got an inflammation in his right +eye by looking steadfastly on the painter. She ordered a poultice +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">433</a></span> +of bread and milk, and put him to bed; so there was no more +talk of "Omnibus in terris" for that evening.</p> + +<p>'My pupil came down to breakfast in a complete suit of +black, with weepers, and a long mourning-cravat. The Count de +Provence's curls were all demolished, and there remained not a +vestige of powder on his hair. "Bless me!" cried I, "what is the +matter?" "Oh, nothing," said Mrs. Flint; "a relation of mine is +to be interred at twelve, and Jemmy has got a burial letter. We +ought to acknowledge our friends on such melancholy occasions, +I mean to send Jemmy with the coach-and-six; it will teach him +how to behave himself in public places."</p> + +<p>'At dinner my pupil expressed a vehement desire to go to the +play. "There is to be 'Harlequin Highlander,' and the blowing +up of the St. Domingo man-of-war," said he; "it will be vastly +comical and curious." "Why, Jemmy," said Mrs. Flint, "since +this is Saturday, I suppose your tutor will have no objection; but +be sure to put on your great coat, and to take a chair in coming +home." "I thought," said I, "that we might have made some progress +at our books this evening." "Books on Saturday afternoon!" +cried the whole company; "it was never heard of." I yielded to +conviction; for, indeed, it would have been very unreasonable to +have expected that he who had spent the whole week in idleness +should begin to apply himself to his studies on the evening of +Saturday.'</p> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 105.</p> + +<p>The editor is enlarging on certain vanities and fashionable +absurdities which town people, when they rusticate for change of +air, cannot forbear importing with them.</p> + +<p>'In the first place, I would beg of those who migrate from the +City not to carry too much of the town with them into the country. +I will allow a lady to exhibit the newest-fashioned cut in her +riding-habit, or to astonish a country congregation with the height +of her head-dress; and a gentleman, in like manner, to <i>sport</i>, as +they term it, a grotesque pattern of a waistcoat, or to set the +children agape by the enormous size of his buckles. These are +privileges to which gentlemen and ladies may be thought to have +entitled themselves by the expense and trouble of a winter's residence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">434</a></span> +in the capital. But there is a provoking though a civil sort +of consequence such people are apt to assume in conversation +which, I think, goes beyond the just prerogative of +<i>township</i>, and is, a very unfair encroachment +on the natural rights +of their friends and relations in the +country. They should consider that +though there are certain subjects of +<i>ton</i> and fashion on which they may +pronounce <i>ex cathedrâ</i> (if I may be +allowed so pedantic a phrase) yet +that, even in the country, the senses +of hearing, seeing, tasting, and +smelling may be enjoyed to a certain +extent, and that a person may like or dislike a +new song, a new lutestring, a French dish, or an Italian perfume, +though such person has been unfortunate enough to pass last +winter at a hundred miles' distance from the metropolis.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-460.jpg" width="86" height="163" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-460-copy.jpg" width="67" height="193" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center p2"><span class="smcap">The 'Mirror.'</span>—Vol. III. No. 108.</p> + +<p>The editor is recounting a deeply sentimental story, written +with all seriousness, in a style sufficiently burlesque and laughable. +It refers to the love of Sir Edward, an English gentleman, who, +while travelling in Piedmont, had met with an accidental fall from +his horse, and been carried to the residence of a small proprietor +named Venoni, for whose daughter the baronet immediately conceived +a tenderness, which was returned by the fair Louisa.</p> + +<p>'The disclosure of Sir Edward's passion was interrupted by +the untoward arrival of Louisa's parent, accompanied with one of +their neighbours, a coarse, vulgar, ignorant man, whose possessions +led her father to look upon him with favour. Venoni led +his daughter aside, told her he had brought her future husband, +and that he intended they should be married in a week at furthest.</p> + +<p>'Next morning Louisa was indisposed, and kept her chamber. +Sir Edward was now perfectly recovered. He was engaged to go +out with Venoni; but before his departure he took up his violin, +and touched a few plaintive notes on it. They were heard by +Louisa. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">435</a></span></p> + +<p>'In the evening she wandered forth to indulge her sorrows +alone. She had reached a sequestered spot, where some poplars +formed a thicket, on the banks of a little stream +that watered the valley. A nightingale was +perched on one of them, and had already begun +its accustomed song. Louisa sat down on a +withered stump, leaning her cheek upon her +hand. After a little while, the bird was scared +from its perch, and flitted from the thicket. Louisa rose from +the ground, and burst into tears. She turned—and beheld Sir +Edward. His countenance had much of its former languor; and, +when he took her hand, he cast on the earth a melancholy look, +and seemed unable to speak his feelings.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-461.jpg" width="304" height="217" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="l30" /> + +<p>'Louisa was at last overcome. Her face was first pale as +death, then suddenly it was crossed with a crimson blush. "Oh, +Sir Edward!" she said. "What—what would you have me do?" +He eagerly seized her hand, and led her reluctant to the carriage. +They entered it, and, driving off with furious speed, were soon out +of sight of those hills which pastured the flocks of the forsaken +Venoni.' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">436</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Thackeray as an Illustrator—The 'North British Review' on Thackeray—Illustrations +to 'Men of Character'—The 'Whitey-brown Paper Magazine'—'Comic +Tales,' illustrated by Thackeray—Allusions to Caricature Drawing +found throughout his writings—Skits on Fashion—Titmarsh on 'Men and +Clothes'—Bohemianism in youth—Hatred of conventionality—Sketches of +Contemporary Habits and Manners—Imaginative Illustrations to Romances—Skill +in Ludicrous Parody—Burlesque of the 'Official Handbook of Court +and State.' +</p> + +<p>Although Thackeray must go +down to posterity as an author, +and, of necessity, in that character +will hold his own as one of the +very greatest of English writers, +his earnest ambition sought occupation +in the career of an artist, +and, as must be familiar to +our readers, the desire for this distinction retained its hold on +his spirit through life.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-462.jpg" width="171" height="112" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>As a humorous designer we must accord him a position of eminence, +and the characteristic originality of his pencil certainly +entitles Thackeray to an honourable place in the front rank of +fanciful draughtsmen.</p> + +<p>The illustrations which he supplied in profusion +for the embellishment of his own writings have a +certain happy harmony with the thread of the story, +which probably no other hand could have contributed. +In the field of design, especially of the +grotesque order, his imagination was singularly fertile, +and the little figures with which he loved to +appositely point the texts of his week-day sermons +and moralities strike forcibly by their ingenuity and +by the aptness of their conception.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-462-copy.jpg" width="74" height="130" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">437</a></span></p> + +<p>'He draws well,' insists the author of an unusually thoughtful +and sound paper on Thackeray;<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> + 'his mouths and noses, his feet, +his children's heads, all his ugly and queer "mugs," are wonderful +for expression and good drawing. With beauty of man or woman +he is not so happy; but his fun is, we think, even more abounding +and funnier in his cuts than in his words. He is, as far as we can +recollect, the only great author who illustrated his own works. +This gives a singular completeness to the result. When his pen +has said its say, then comes his pencil and adds its own felicity.'</p> + +<p>The article just referred to, which we cannot recommend too +highly, is written in a spirit of such just excellence as could only +have been arrived at after long personal acquaintance with Thackeray's +higher qualities. The same number contains the facsimile +of a remarkably clever and characteristic pen-and-ink drawing in +the humourist's best style, which was originally sent to a friend in +the North in place of a letter—a practice not unusual with him. +One corner of the little picture contains a 'memorandum of account' +to this effect:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="center"> +'To a new plum-coloured coat.</p> + +<p class="center">'<span class="smcap">Dr. Goldsmith</span> (Mitre Court). To <span class="smcap">J. Filby</span>, Dr.'</p> +</div> + +<p>Oliver Goldsmith and Dr. Johnson are both passing the shop-front +of the unfortunate tailor. The actors in this comedietta are so +absorbed in their several occupations—the lexicographer in a +book, Goldy in self-admiration—that they don't notice the tailor, +who, too, is completely paralysed at the double spectacle of his +coat and his debtor; his assistant is grinning with both his sides—the +consequence of the passing of the customer and the discomfiture +of his master, who looks somewhat of a 'grinder;' while +a pair of arch-faced, merry little urchins are copying to the life the +shuffle and swagger respectively of the two Doctors. We will let +the paper speak for itself:—</p> + +<p>'This drawing is a good specimen of his work; it tells its own +story, as every drawing should. Here is the great lexicographer, +with his ponderous shuffling tread, his thick lips, his head bent +down, his book close to his purblind eyes, himself <i>totus in illo</i>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">438</a></span> +reading, as he fed, greedily and fast. Beside him simpers the +clumsy and inspired Oliver, in his new plum-coloured coat; his eyes +bent down in an ecstasy of delight, for is he not far prouder of his +visage—and such a visage!—and of his coat than of his artless +genius? We all know about that coat, and how Mr. Filby never +got paid for it. There he is behind his window, in sartorial +posture; his uplifted goose arrested, his eye following wistfully, +and not without a sense of glory and dread, that coat and man. +His journeyman is grinning at him; he is paid weekly, and has no +risk. And then what a genuine bit of Thackeray, the street-boy +and his dear little admiring sister!—there they are stepping out +in mimicry of the great two.'</p> + +<p>The article from which this passage is quoted contains a letter, +full of grave feeling and sensibility, which Thackeray wrote, in +1848, in acknowledging one of those spontaneous expressions of +gratitude that are occasionally found to cheer an author on his +way, and to awaken in his mind the encouraging sense of sympathy +from unexpected quarters.</p> + +<p>'There happened to be placed in the window of an Edinburgh +jeweller a silver statuette of "Mr. Punch," with his dress <i>en rigueur</i> +his comfortable and tidy paunch, with all its buttons; his hunch; +his knee-breeches, with their ties; his compact little legs, one foot +a little forward; and the intrepid and honest, kindly little fellow +firmly set on his pins, with his customary look of up to and good +for anything. In his hand was his weapon, a pen; his skull was +an inkhorn, and his cap its lid. A passer-by—who had long been +grateful to our author, as to a dear unknown and enriching friend, +for his writings in "Fraser" and in "Punch," and had longed for +some way of reaching him and telling him how his work was +relished and valued—bethought himself of sending this inkstand +to Mr. Thackeray. He went in, and asked its price. "Ten +guineas, sir." He said to himself, "There are many who feel as I +do; why shouldn't we send it up to him? I'll get eighty several +half-crowns, and that will do it" (he had ascertained there would +be discount for ready money). With the help of a friend, the +half-crowns were soon forthcoming, and it is pleasant to remember +that in the "octogint" are the names of Lord Jeffrey and Sir +William Hamilton, who gave their half-crowns with the heartiest +good-will. A short note was written, telling the story. The little +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">439</a></span> +man in silver was duly packed and sent, with the following +inscription round the base:—</p> + +<p class="center"> +'GULIELMO MAKEPEACE THACKERAY.<br /> +ARMA VIRUMQUE<br /> +GRATI NECNON GRATÆ EDINENSES<br /> +LXXX.<br /> +D. D. D.'</p> + +<p>How far Thackeray would have succeeded as an illustrator of +other men's thoughts there is but little that has been published to +prove. His separate cuts in 'Punch' are remarkably happy and +droll, but they have none of those graver and more aspiring qualities +which authors perhaps might have looked for in the sketches +of a young gentleman who proposed seriously to draw pictures for +their stories. It is conceded that for the embellishment of his own +writings Thackeray's eye, hand, and pencil possessed every desirable +qualification; and it is not improbable that the same facilities +would have enabled him to offer to others, as his powers became +matured, a share of the advantages which his ready wit brought to +his own pictorial embellishments.</p> + +<p>The few instances of his productions as an illustrator, pure and +simple, are too early to come under fair criticism. Before he had +acquired practice with his etching-needle, and certainly before he +had found out his own particular style, he tried his hand at a set +of copper plates, with the example of Seymour, it is believed, to +guide his then imperfect knowledge of the art by means of which +he desired to publish his designs.</p> + +<p>The admirable series of 'Men of Character,' which Douglas +Jerrold originally contributed as magazine papers, were collected +in three volumes and published by Colburn in 1838. These +volumes were illustrated with several plates, the humour of which +is undeniable, although it may be thought that the subjects have +suffered in execution. The name of the artist does not appear, +but there is no doubt that Thackeray supplied these designs to +adorn the book of his friend and fellow <i>littérateur</i>; the incidents +selected are all sufficiently farcical for humorous delineation, and +that they have certainly had at the hands of the draughtsman.</p> + +<p>'The Practical Philosophy of Adam Buff' (the Man without +a Shirt) is completely set out in the frontispiece, where, soused +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">440</a></span> +with water, the moral professor is invited by a 'rough' to strip +'to his shirt' and show his skill with his fists. Buff's coat is +buttoned to the chin, to conceal the absence of his linen, and with +his huge shoulder of mutton hands he is striking the attitude of +immovable moral dignity which won the heart of his patron. A +likeness to this identical pugilistic coal-whipper will be found in +one of Thackeray's wood-cuts to the 'Town and Gown Row' in +'Codlingsby' ('Punch's Prize Novelists'). The 'Fall of Pippins' +represents that too susceptible youth on his knees before his lady +mistress, whom he has awakened with a kiss. The indignation of +the outraged fair, the abject terror and contrition of Pippins, the +fury of the jealous husband, Sir Scipio Mannikin, who is breaking +in upon the transgressor with uplifted cane, and the startled faces +of the domestic chaplain and his followers, are all successfully +indicated. From bad to worse, we next find 'Job Pippins—Murderer.' +The unfortunate youth, labouring under a very unpleasant +suspicion, has been dragged into still more objectionable +company; he is nervously seated on the edge of a stool, in a hut +tenanted by burglars and cut-purses. A young girl, the mistress +of a highwayman, captain of the gang, has one of those pretty, +innocent faces Thackeray always expressed so successfully.</p> + +<p>'Jack Runnymede's Dream' is perhaps the most indicative of +the artist's vein of grotesque humour. This champion of the +'rights of an Englishman' had a peculiar dream before commencing +a suit at law. He fancied the Father of Evil met him +by the wayside, performing like a shepherd on his pipe, and +tendered him a 'little pup.' The Satanic person is set forth with +great imaginative attractiveness, and the convolutions of his tail +are very elaborate.</p> + +<p>'John Applejohn's Humane Intentions' are displayed just at +the very instant they were most liable to uncharitable misinterpretation, +for he is caught, on his knees, with a bunch of keys, evidently +in the act of lock-picking. 'Maximilian Tape before the +Lords,' represents the little journeyman tailor just as he was +captured by those promising slips of the aristocracy, Lord Slap, +Tom Rumpus, young Plucky, and Rowdow; while one of the +party is breaking a plate over his affrighted head that he may +prove his trade by stitching it together again. 'Mr. Cramlington,' +Applejohn's master, in his borrowed locks and whiskers, the son +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">441</a></span> +of Tape's employer, a West End outfitter, who has got introduced +to this fine, improving society, under the assumption of being a +'man of fashion,' is looking on the scene in ill-concealed dread of +his own recognition and exposure.</p> + +<p>In the 'Final Reward of John Applejohn,' that unfortunate +but well meaning, simple youth, just captured from the front of a +booth, and still in the dress of a statue, in which character he +narrowly escaped demolition, is restored to the "girl of his heart."</p> + +<p>'Barnaby Palms Feeling his Way' is shown, the epitome of +artfulness, at the breakfast-table of his worthy uncle, where he is +taking his last meal before setting out to seek his fortune in the +world. The wily youth insisted on eating a stale egg, declaring he +'did not care for his eggs over-fresh,' in order to win the heart of +his relative, before whom is displayed a well-filled money-bag—Barnaby's +anticipated 'start in life.' It may be remembered that +the uncle expressed his earnest conviction that a man 'who did +not care for his eggs over-fresh' was sure to make his way by +himself, and so sent Barnaby forth without the coveted money-bag.</p> + +<p>'Cheek's Introduction to a New Subject' represents the prison-yard, +where the dwarf artist and modeller, Mr. Pop, is maliciously +enjoying the spectacle of his employer, Cheek, the waxwork showman, +in a state of horror, with his hand locked in the fist of Kemp, +the murderer, whose head they have come down to 'take off' +after execution. 'The Ghost of Kemp' represents Aaron, the Jew +fence, waking from his guilty slumbers to discover the murderer's +head, which Pop has modelled and placed for security on the +window-sill, where it is suddenly disclosed by the moonlight to +the conscience-stricken and horrified 'receiver of stolen goods,' +who had congratulated himself that the hangman's noose had effectually +removed all evidence of his own guilt.</p> + +<p>'Matthew Clear, the Man who Saw his Way,' is introduced in +the fatal instance of 'not seeing his way' which proved his ruin; +seated on a sofa with the artful adventuress whose fortune the +long-headed Clear flattered himself he should secure by persuading +her into a marriage. He is planted very comfortably on a little +sofa, below the simpering portrait of his bride. Julia's arms are +round the neck of the deluded Clear; on his knee is perched a +great lubberly boy, a pledge of affection to which it appears the +lady stands 'almost in the light of a mother.' Matthew, evidently +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">442</a></span> +lost as to 'his way,' is successfully cajoled; and Mrs. Clear's +parrot, which had been educated on board ship, is shrieking demoniacally, +'Hooked, by Jingo!'</p> + +<p>The last plate illustrates the 'Introduction of Titus Trumps to +Miss Wolfe.' The confiding hero of this story, whose belief in +something 'turning up' favourable was ineradicable, is being +confronted by the peppery Baronet, Sir Jeremy Sloth, with his +daughter, the mature but impressionable Emily, when he has +actually come to pay a visit to her maid, whose relatives keep a +public-house with the sign of 'General Wolfe.'</p> + +<p>These illustrations would probably have achieved more success +had the artist confined himself to the bold outline manner of +etching in which his better-known plates are executed, and in which +he early exhibited a fair proficiency. His desire to conform to +the fashion of the day (the 'Pickwick Papers' were publishing at +the time) led him to attempt a style in which he had not enjoyed +sufficient experience to qualify him to produce results which +would compare favourably with the works of older hands.</p> + +<p>Another <i>jeu d'esprit</i> from his pencil, commenced somewhat +later, is considerably more in the unmistakeable Titmarshian +vein; indeed, for the force and fun of its satire, it perhaps excels +all that he ever did in the indulgence of his amazing talents for +ludicrous personalities. We refer to the series of illustrations, or +rather caricatures, suggested for the 'Whitey-brown Paper Magazine,' +which was never issued. The rarity of these <i>croquis</i>, merely +a few loose lithographed leaves, drawn by Thackeray himself, is so +excessive that it is stated that the only original copy which has +come under our notice cost the proprietor no less than forty +guineas. The entire paper, which in its intention does not differ +widely from certain of the 'Yellowplush Papers,' is directed to +ridicule the consequence of Dr. Lardner, editor of the 'Cabinet +Cyclopædia,' and his friend Sir Bulwer Lytton. It may be remembered +that the 'Literary Chronicle,' under the influence of these +gentlemen, was a pet aversion to its rival 'Fraser,' with Dr. +Maginn and Titmarsh to the front. The caricatures commence +with a 'Preface, Advertisement, or Introduction,' to which we +must briefly refer in order to bring on the scene the young gentleman +whose history is displayed in the caricatures, and who it was +stated, lest persons should fancy the ridicule directed against any +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">443</a></span> +of the writer's contemporaries, lived many thousands of years ago +in the reign of Chrononhotonthologos, King of Brentford.</p> + +<p>This gentleman's name was Dionysius Diddler, and the historian +hastens to anticipate misconstruction by explaining that he +was no relation of any other Dionysius, nor indeed a native of +Brentford (though, it is confessed, Diddlers certainly abound in +that place).</p> + +<p>Dionysius, who was sixty years of age and wore a wig and +false teeth, according to his biographer, came over as a young +fellow from Patland, and, finding the people of Brentford more +easily humbugged and more ignorant than any people on earth, +settled himself there, in his trade, which was that of a philosopher; +an excellent profession, by which Dionysius would have made a +pretty penny, only he spent his money in trying to be a man of +fashion, in buying clothes, and other genteel diversions.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this extravagance, although his learning had +made his name famous (every one has heard of his 'Essay on the +Tea-Kettle,' his 'Remarks on Pumps,' and his celebrated 'Closet +Cyclopædia'), poor Diddler found himself one day, after forty +years of glory, turned out of his lodging, without a penny, without +his wig—which, sad to say, he had pawned—without even +his false teeth, which, seeing he had no use for them, he had +pawned too.</p> + +<p>The first sketch pictures Dionysius Diddler, young, innocent, +and with a fine head of hair, on which he wears an old felt hat and +band very much out of shape. He wears a clerical-cut buttoned-up +vest; a bob-tail coat, very short in the waist and sleeves, and +long in the sparrow-tails; his face (an admirable likeness of the +Doctor is preserved throughout) is adorned with 'specs;' his +'brogues' are very short, and patched; his shoes are decidedly +primitive; a 'shellalee' is playfully twirled in his right hand; under +his left arm is his learned library, for he is a young student of Ballybunion +University, which noble foundation is seen under the hedge +shown in the veracious artist's background, and, we are sorry to +think, the famous college looks very like a bog-hut with a hole in +the roof to let the smoke through. In contrast to this bright +image of his gallant youth is the picture of the Doctor, after forty +years of fame, thrown on the world very lean and miserable; the +crown of his famous old felt hat is flopping down behind, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">444</a></span> +brim is very limp and ragged; his stock is buttoned close, as is +what remains of his coat, for vest or linen he has none. Elbows +are out, so are arm-pits; tails are mere fringe, trousers to match, +and oh, such dreadful, shapeless, soleless old bluchers, and, we are +afraid, no socks!</p> + +<p>Poor old Diddler, with a paper bag on his head in place of his +wig, with his face sunken in for the want of his teeth, with his old +bludgeon in one hand, and the other exposing the ragged remains +of a bottomless pocket, is looking wistfully out of his old barnacles, +as he thinks of dear Ballybunion. 'I'm femous,' he is soliloquising, +'all the wurrrld over; but what's the use of riputetion? Look at +me, with all me luggage at the end of me stick—all me money in +me left-hand breeches pocket—and it's oh! but I'd give all me +celibrity for a bowl of butthermilk and petaties.'</p> + +<p>A happy thought strikes the Doctor in this strait. He goes off +to see what his publisher will do for him; and the next view we +have of poor Dionysius is more cheerful. He is in the shop of Mr. +Shortman; 'an' sure an' ouns!' Diddler's face wears the most +gratified smile possible to be produced without teeth. His roofless +hat is on the floor; the state of the top makes it hold his +'shellalee' all the more conveniently. On the shelves, sure +enough on the book-shelves, is the 'Closet Cyclopædia;' and leaning +over the counter, on which he has just laid down three five-pound +notes and three sovereigns for the delighted Dionysius to +sweep up, is the eminent publisher, white neckcloth and all, in his +habit as he lived; a capital caricature likeness of the head of the +firm of Longman and Co.</p> + +<p>Diddler rapidly turns his money to account in reinstating himself +as an elegant member of society and art—the man of fashion +the rogue longed to be. The first thing he does is to take his wig +out of pawn. Here the artist has shown him in the Lombardian +counting-house; and, while his 'relative' is examining certain +securities (in the way of personal garments) upon which some of +his clients in the private boxes desire advances, our fashionable +Doctor takes the opportunity of readjusting before a looking-glass +his head of hair, which has suffered somewhat by recent incarceration, +his fingers being converted into curling-tongs to replace in +some degree its pristine splendour.</p> + +<p>'And now,' says he, 'I'll go, take a sthroll to the Wist Ind, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">445</a></span> +call on me frind Sir Hinry Pelham.' It appears that the noble +Baronet's West End residence is situated in a neighbourhood no +less celebrated than 'famed Red Lion's fashionable Square.' We +are offered a jaunty back view of the revived dandy Diddler, as +with a swagger of considerable sprightliness, and a genteel comedy +strut, he is endeavouring to carry off the impression of his ragged +wardrobe, and make the holes in his elbows pass current as a light, +airy fashion. The imposing wig is made the most of; one massive +lock, like a whisk of tow, is elegantly brushed about four inches +beyond one ear, while the famous limp white hat, with its black +band, and the top flapping about like the lid of a milk-pail, is +cocked over the other. Carriages in the distance, with footmen +suspended in pairs to the splashboard behind, attest the highly +respectable character of the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Sir Hinry Pelham is fortunately at home, reposing in a sumptuous +easy chair, and splendidly apparelled in a long black satin +stock, a flowing dressing-gown with collars and cuffs of some +gorgeous material, and pointed Turkish slippers. The Baronet's +fashionable exterior is very characteristic; his hair is thrown back +in a rich cataract, over the back of his stock, his full curled whiskers +ambrosially droop below his chin, his brow is noble, his eyebrow +arched, his eye is haughty, as is his fine-bridged and well-defined +hook-nose. This tremendous lion is evidently just roused from a +state of well-bred listlessness, and he is propped up on the elbows +of his lounge, while he regards, with sleepy astonishment, a banknote +which his friend is flourishing before him with an air.</p> + +<p>Diddler has thrown his hat on the floor, thrust his stick +through the opening in the top, and drawn up a chair upon which +he is straddling his long body and little legs in a consequential +and impressive attitude. 'Pelham, me boy,' says he, 'you have +clothes, and I have cridit; here's a five-pound note, and rig me +out in a new shoot.'</p> + +<p>In the next plate, Pelham, solacing himself with a cigar, is +modestly concealing his features in a magazine; while Diddler—having +discarded his shocking old clothes, which, with his vagabond +hat and stick, lie scattered about the Baronet's splendid apartments—is +ensconsing himself in one of Pelham's fashionable +'shoots;' a large cheval-glass discreetly marks the operations of +his toilet. 'Fait,' says Diddler, 'the what-d'ye-call-'ems fit me +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">446</a></span> +like a glove.' Pelham is still engaged with his cigar and book in +the following plate, but his aristocratic profile is again displayed. +Diddler is standing in front of the cheval-glass contemplating with +increased satisfaction his improved and respectable appearance; +in fact, he is dressed in one of the Baronet's suits, the very height +of the <i>mode</i>. His wig is now in curl, a few handsome locks are +brushed over his forehead, a curl or two over his ears, and a row of +curls over his stock behind. His spectacles, which he never abandons, +beam with satisfaction, and his teeth are evidently replaced. +He has a black satin stock very high in the neck, and falling into +a creasy, shiny avalanche below; his coat has a broad collar, +sleeves cut quite tight from the elbow, and snowy wristbands. With +one hand he is affectedly adjusting his shirt-collar, while he +admires the reflected effect of the other, displayed in an attitude +with his thumb in the pocket of his spotless white vest; light +trousers, literally fitting like a glove, as was then the fashion, +setting tightly over a pair of narrow boots with extravagantly +lengthened toes and high heels, which complete the costume of +this elegant old dandy.</p> + +<p>'And upon me honour and conshience,' says he, 'now I'm +dthressed, but I look intirely ginteel.'</p> + +<p>In the last cut which has reached us we see the exterior of Sir +Hinry's noble mansion, in Red Lion Square. The dandy Doctor, +dressed in Pelham's coat, hat, boots, and pantaloons, stock, and +spurs, is mistaken for the Baronet himself by Hodge, his groom, +who leads round Pelham's horse, and, holding the stirrup, respectfully +invites Dionysius to mount; and Diddler is shown in the +picture generously dropping a coin into the cap of the groom, who +with his disengaged hand is scratching his shock-head with astonishment. +His face is a study of comical surprise, his knees are +shaking with fright; and as the Doctor rides away, like the dashing +blade he evidently considers himself, fear seizes upon the soul of +Hodge. Says he, 'That gemman cannot be my master, for, as he +rode away, he gave me sixpence, and my dear master never gives +me nothen.'</p> + +<p>Another capital plate introducing Bulwer and Lardner appeared +in the collection of 'Comic Tales,' already mentioned in this +volume, and published by Cunningham (1841), for which the +author draws a fresh series of illustrations. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">447</a></span></p> + +<p>The caricature in question accompanies Mr. Yellowplush's +'Ajew,' the opening of which is extremely droll and clever. The +two 'eminent gents' have just got out of their fly and are making +their entrance at the house of Sir John, who, as a Whig Baronet, +receives 'littery pipple;' poor Yellowplush is holding the door +for these 'fust of English writers,' and very much amazed he +looks. Although the etching is small, the likenesses are carefully +worked out; the figure of Bulwer in the 'Whitey-brown Papers' +has all the characteristics, slightly heightened, already given, except +that he wears a suit of evening dress—'a gilt velvet waistcoat,' +with his wristbands turned over the cuffs of his coat, and very +tight gloves. The little Doctor has thrust his arm under the wing +of his friend, who struts very affectedly in his close-fitting clothes, +to exhibit to advantage his small waist and falling shoulders. +Lardner's wig is perhaps richer in curls, his spectacles more beaming, +his simper more satisfied; he is adjusting the collar of his +older-fashioned square-tailed coat over a striped silk vest, which +wrinkles over his rounded paunch; his queer-shaped little legs are +displayed in somewhat ill-fitting tights, strapped over silk stockings +and pumps tied with ribands.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that the announcement of the arrival of +these 'genlmn' created some confusion. The Doctor was indignant +that any one should fail to recognise so famous a celebrity, +when Mr. Yellowplush mildly asked for his name.</p> + +<p>'Name!—a! now you thief o' the wurrrld,' says he, 'do you +pretind not to know <i>me</i>? Say it's the Cabinet Cyclop——; no, I +mane the Litherary Chran——; psha!—bluthanouns! say it's +Docthor Dioclesian Larner——I think he'll know me now—ay, +Nid?' But Nid had slipped out of the way, being a little nervous +about the good-breeding of his friend, it is presumed.</p> + +<p>The second footman passed up the name as 'Doctor Athansius +Larnder! and by the time he got to the groom of the chambers, +who made some pretensions to scholarship, the little man +was announced as '<b>Doctor Ignatius Loyola</b>!'</p> + +<p>The other gentleman, when requested to give his name (it was +at the time people were talking about the eminent novelist's +chances of being made a baronet), said in 'a thick, gobbling kind +of voice':</p> + +<p class="center"> +'Sawedwadgeorgeearllittnbulwig;'</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">448</a></span></p> + +<p>which rather dumfoundered Mr. Yellowplush. That accomplished +writer evidently watched the two 'littery genlmn' with interest, as +he records the gratifying fact that 'they behaved very well, and +seemed to have good appytights.'</p> + +<p>The little Irishman especially distinguished himself, eating, +drinking, and talking enough for six; and, after the wine, described +how he had lately been presented at court by his friend Mr. Bulwig, +and how her gracious Majesty had desired him to tell her the +<i>bonâ fide</i> sale of the 'Cabinet Cyclopædia,' and how he had assured +her, on his honour, that it was under ten thousand.</p> + +<p>The entire illustrations of these 'Comic Tales and Sketches' +are engraved with great neatness and spirit; and, in spite of their +small size, they are superior, in carefulness of execution and +attention to detail, to most of Thackeray's etchings.</p> + +<p>The figure of a jester forms the frontispiece. A placard, which +nearly conceals his person, exhibits the portraits of the three celebrities +who are concerned in the work. The genteel Mr. Fitzroy +Yellowplush, in his footman's livery, with a gold-headed cane in +his right hand, has hold of one arm of the more homely Michael +Angelo Titmarsh, who is in his turn looking up to the ferocious +and colossal Major Gahagan, with whose stride he is absurdly endeavouring +to keep pace. The Major's is a truly terrific figure. +The enormous plumes of his high Polish shako, with the skull +and cross-bones in front, are waving in the breeze, as is his long +hair, his pointed moustache, and his spreading beard. His manly +chest is displayed in a tight-fitting cavalry jacket, his shapely limbs +are encased in embroidered tights and heavily tasseled Hessians, a +sabre as tall as Titmarsh reposes on his stalwart arm, and altogether +he appears some nine feet high.</p> + +<p>The trio, thus marching hand in hand together, are supposed +to be on the very verge of immortality, which, in the sketch, uncommonly +resembles a precipice.</p> + +<p>The other illustrations of the two small volumes, all of which +are printed in a warm sepia tint, consist of 'Mrs. Shum's Ejectment;' +Mr. Deuceace paying for his Papa's Cigars;' 'Mr. Deuceace's +disinterested Declaration;' 'Mr. Yellowplush displaying his +Credentials' (his plush garments to wit); 'Major Gahagan, from +the great portrait by Titmarsh, in the gallery of H.H. the Nawaub +of Budge Budge;' 'The Major discovering the Infidelity of Mrs. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">449</a></span> +Chowder Loll' (where his tremendous figure is striding across the +'tattees,' through a window, into the very midst of the disconcerted +family); 'The Major's Interview with a Celebrated Character' (no +less a personage than the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who is +on tip-toe, dressed in the historical little cocked-hat and grey coat, +trying to put his small figure more on a level with the overwhelming +Gahagan: in the background an English general of the period, +dressed in a crescent-shaped cocked-hat and plume, a tight long +coat, with swallow-tails reaching to his heels, and white ducks split +over the boots, with a telescope under his arm, is in conversation +with one of the fierce-looking French Marshals); 'The Major in +the Tent of Puttee Rouge' (a terrifying figure, disguised in black +paint, affectionately hugging a whisky-jar of considerable dimensions).</p> + +<p>The episode of the 'Professor' affords the artist a favourable +subject, which he treats with full comic force—' Mr. Dando +declares his Name and Quality.' It may be remembered that the +oyster-eater has taken advantage of the absence of the proprietor +to obtain an unlimited supply of his favourite bivalves at an oyster-room, +where the mistress did not recognise her unprincipled +customer, but was even so confiding as to send out for brandy-and-water +in liberal proportion to the oysters consumed by this +scourge of supper-rooms. The unfortunate proprietor has just +returned in time to learn a description of the business which has +been done in his absence; in some fear he is bringing in his bill, +the while he is tying on his professional apron. Mr. Dando is +seated majestically on the table, according to Thackeray's picture +of the scene; swinging his legs about in a semi-intoxicated state, +and picking his teeth, in an unconcerned and self-possessed +manner, with an oyster-knife; a pile of shells, sufficient for many +grottoes, are at his feet, while the horror-stricken servants are +gathering other shells scattered around. The professor is supposed +to have just met the reasonable demand for payment made +by the deluded master of the establishment with a yell of tipsy +laughter, and the announcement that his name is <i>Dando</i>, and that +he never pays! Above his head may be read the comforting +intelligence that a great reduction is made on taking a quantity, to +which advantage Dando is very obviously entitled.</p> + +<p>The last plate ('Bedford Row Conspiracy'), 'Mr. Perkins discovered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">450</a></span> +in the Zoological Gardens,' depicts Mr. John Perkins +standing, with the fair Lucy Gorgon, on the parapet which surrounds +the bearpit at the Zoological Gardens. The lady's hands +are placed on the gentleman's shoulder, his arm is round her +waist, she being somewhat timid, and he is encouraging her to +jump down—into his fond arms. She obeys him, and jumps +plump into the awful presence of her aunt and guardian, Lady +Gorgon, who is at the head of a neat little train, consisting of three +Miss Gorgons, Master Gorgon, a French governess, and a footman +carrying a poodle, all of whom had listened for some minutes to +the billings and cooings of this imprudent young pair.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-476.jpg" width="398" height="377" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Prepared!</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-477.jpg" width="409" height="608" alt="" /> + +<p class="caption">Original Studies of Halberdiers of the Georgian Era</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">452</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>The last story reprinted in this series is 'The Fatal Boots,' +which appears without any pictures, the artist and author modestly +declaring that, as this edifying narrative originally appeared with +George Cruikshank's illustrations (in the 'Comic Almanack' for +1839), he is not inclined to provoke comparisons between the +works of that eminent designer and his own.</p> + +<p class="p2">Allusions to caricature-drawing are frequent throughout +Thackeray's works, and he delighted to bring the young art-amateur +on his scenes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-478.jpg" width="232" height="282" alt="" /> + +</div> + +<p>With pencil as with pen, he had the power of carrying +the mind back to the days of the early essayists, and his reconstructive +skill is remarkable when he draws the picture of the +times in which his rich fancy and his taste for antiquarian completeness +found the most delightful materials.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-479.jpg" width="77" height="178" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-479-copy.jpg" width="78" height="190" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-479-copy-2.jpg" width="258" height="275" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We follow the artist's quaint vein of humour and realism from +the little sketches of chivalry—the heroes of knight-errantry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">453</a></span> +Crusaders, Saracens, and the more romantic personages—which +amused him in his boyhood, +to his spirited studies illustrative +of the days when Dick +Steele's 'Tatler' was beginning +to be talked about as a paper +which contained a very unusual +amount of entertainment, +from its whimsical combination +of sterling wit and +truth to nature. Thackeray +was peculiarly at home in the +times of Queen Anne. We +find his pencil busy reproducing +the figures of personages who moved in the world under the +early Georges; and the reign of the third George was as intimately +familiar to him, in all details of value, as if he had lived through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">455</a></span> +the triumphs, struggles, and disasters in which his own writings +revive a stronger interest. We enjoy his researches through the +great eras of England's history, when Washington led the revolted +colonies to independence, when Pitt and +Toryism waged war in the Senate with Fox +and the friends of liberty, when the fever of +Revolution arose in France, and threatened +to infect our own land, and when the 'Corsican' +was driven down to the death.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-480.jpg" width="555" height="391" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-481.jpg" width="111" height="213" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Waterloo had a strong claim on Thackeray's +interest; he is partial to alluding to +the critical point of our history, as all the +reading world well knows.</p> + +<p>It must be conceded that the chief incident +of 'Vanity Fair' leads up to the great +battle. References to the famous field occur +in many portions of his gossip or travels, while +figures are borrowed from this event to carry +out the arguments of his novels and lesser essays under all sorts +of circumstances.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-481-copy.jpg" width="221" height="166" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Even in 'Philip,' which deals with a later period, we are +carried back to that stirring epoch. For instance, there is that +disreputable old Gann, the tipsy father of Mrs. Brandon, whose +acquaintance we made originally in the 'Shabby Genteel Story.' It +was always a matter of doubt how this worthy came by his rank of +Captain, which was supposed to have had its rise somehow in connection +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">456</a></span> +with the Spanish Legion; but, at all events, he had borne +the distinction so long, that none of his friends dreamt of investigating +the title.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-482.jpg" width="311" height="371" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The costume affected by 'bucks,' when Thackeray was a +young man of fashion, comes down to us as preserved in his +sketches as something very modish and singular, in which the +taste and style seem nearly as quaint and distant as the knee +breeches and square skirts of the last century.</p> + +<p>'Titmarsh,' who had the courage to dedicate the 'Paris +Sketch-Book' to a generous French tailor, was himself an +authority on dress; and, although above all pretensions to 'faddery +and foppery,' was accustomed to scrutinise closely not only +men, but the habits they wore. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">457</a></span></p> + +<p>The reader may confirm what we have just said, if he will turn +to the vigorous and whimsical articles on 'Men and Coats,' which +Thackeray penned in his younger days.</p> + +<p>There is a fine specimen of freedom and independence of convention +in many of Thackeray's early writings, especially in those +slashing, downright papers which Titmarsh contributed to the +magazines, chiefly from the French capital, about the 'Paris +Sketch-Book' period.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-483.jpg" width="221" height="407" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Buck of the Old School</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">459</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-484.jpg" width="373" height="593" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Heads of the People</p> + +</div> + +<p>In those days of Bohemian license there was a fine sterling ring +about Thackeray's outspoken sentiments. In his manly freedom +he cared little whether the slashing sentences gave offence or not.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-485.jpg" width="328" height="409" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Danger!</p> +</div> + +<p>Criticising the paintings in the Louvre in a paper on 'Men and +Pictures,' we find the young art-student riding an audacious tournament +against conventionalisms. He takes very candid exception +to the practice of surrounding the heads of translated beings, +and particularly angels, with an invariable halo of gold leaf. He +happens to remember that stage tradition was always wont to dress +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">460</a></span> +the gravedigger in 'Hamlet' in fifteen or sixteen waistcoats, all of +which are consecutively removed; and he presumes this ancient +usage is founded on some very early custom, +real or supposititious, to depart from which +would savour of profane innovation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-486.jpg" width="103" height="117" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-486-copy.jpg" width="378" height="316" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Princess and the Frog</p> +</div> + +<p>Another favourite bent of Thackeray's +humour was the illustration of books of +fiction. He confessed he longed to write a +story-book in which generations upon generations +of schoolboys should revel with delight, +and which should be filled with the most +wonderful and mirthful pictures. The illustrations +on this and the preceding page may serve to show what +he might have done had he not more especially devoted himself +to literary work. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">461</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-487.jpg" width="373" height="599" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Heads of the People</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">462</a></span></p> +</div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-488.jpg" width="258" height="266" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Frontispiece to Murray's 'Official Handbook of Church and State'</p> + +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-488-copy.jpg" width="284" height="95" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Legislature and Officers of the Houses of Parliament</p> +</div> + +<p>The facile character of Thackeray's pencil was remarkable; the +numerous sketches he left, and which in all probability, from the +circumstances of their ownership, will never in our day gratify a +public who would appreciate their publication, attest his versatile +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">463</a></span> +industry. No subject came amiss to his hand; the most unsuggestive +works were to him rich in opportunities for whimsical +parody.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-489.jpg" width="312" height="59" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The House of Commons</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-489-copy.jpg" width="167" height="440" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Reduction of the National +Debt.—Office, Old Jewry</p> +</div> + +<p class="caption">The Commissioners were +originally appointed under the +Statute of 26 Geo. III. c. i. +In that year a more active +scheme was proposed for the +diminution of the National +Debt, by the appropriation of +one million per annum to the +Sinking Fund, and the moneys +devoted to this end were +vested in the Commissioners, +and placed under their management.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-489-copy-2.jpg" width="66" height="117" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">General Board of Health, +Parliament Street</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-489-copy-3.jpg" width="60" height="120" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Clerk of the Petty Bag. +Petty Bag Office, Rolls Yard</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-489-copy-4.jpg" width="62" height="48" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Groom in Waiting.<br /> +The Lord Chamberlain's Department, +Office, Stable Yard, St. James's +Palace</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">464</a></span></p> + +<p>No one can say the number of books, papers, scraps, &c., +to which an intrinsic value has been contributed by the great humourist's +<i>penchant</i> for exercising his graphic fancy.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-490.jpg" width="419" height="259" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">465</a></span></p> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Thackeray as a Traveller—Journey in Youth from India to England—Little +Travels at Home—Sojourn in Germany—French Trips—Residence +in Paris—Studies in Rome—Sketches and Scribblings in Guide-Books—Little +Tours and Wayside Studies—Brussels—Ghent and the Béguines—Bruges—<i>Croquis</i> +in Murray's 'Handbooks to the Continent'—Up the +Rhine—'From Cornhill to Grand Cairo'—Journeys to America—Switzerland—'A +Leaf out of a Sketch-Book'—The Grisons—Verona—'Roundabout +Journeys'—Belgium and Holland. +</p> + +<p>Another aspect in which it is +agreeable to contemplate Thackeray +is that of a traveller, for in +this character he must have gone +over a considerable portion of +the more interesting parts of the +world. From India to England, +in his seventh year, with that +memorable call at St. Helena, +where the youngster caught a +fugitive glimpse of the great Napoleon +in his solitary exile.</p> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-491.jpg" width="170" height="264" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">W. M. T. on his travels</p> +</div> + +<p>Little journeyings about England +between boyhood and +youth, then a stolen visit to Paris, +in a college vacation. Then the +residence at Weimar and Eberfeld, +with rovings about Germany. +Then to Paris to see the +world, to study men, manners, +and pictures; half art-student, half pursuing the art of amusing +oneself. Then a more serious application to the earlier stages of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">466</a></span> +that somewhat lengthy road which every aspirant must plod who +would follow the artist's career.</p> + +<p>Let us take up one of his travelling companions and pass a +day with the easy-working, comfortably-provided, and satirically-observant +young 'buck,' who found himself so +pleasantly at home in Louis Philippe's slightly +uncertain capital.</p> + +<p>'Planta's Paris' is not the most familiar of +travelling companions, its descriptions are not +altogether modern, but the glimpse it affords +us of the French capital is curious from the +circumstance that it registers the swiftness of +change in the Centre of Pleasure. It might +be an amusing study to reproduce from its +pages the attractions of Paris in 1827, the +date of the fifteenth edition of this work; +but the stout square little book possesses a +stronger interest, as it had the advantage of +belonging to Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and +in his pocket it probably tumbled and tossed +across the Channel.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-492.jpg" width="94" height="209" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">At Weimar</p> +</div> + +<p>It is rather difficult to connect Mr. Titmarsh with the stereotyped +extracts of a guide-book, but the copy under consideration +was fortunately selected as a repository for the occasional sketches +suggested to the fancy of its proprietor.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-492-copy.jpg" width="126" height="149" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>In those 'flying stage' days travellers booked their passage, +per coach, from the Spread Eagle, Piccadilly, to Paris. On this +service the journey from Calais to Paris +was performed by the 'Hirondelle' in +thirty hours. It was in this manner Mr. +Pogson accomplished his eventful first +journey, in the society of the fascinating +'Baronne de Florval Delval,' as set forth +in the pages of Mr. Titmarsh's 'Paris +Sketch-Book.' Mr. Titmarsh has probably +contributed the pencilling of the 'old +<i>régime</i>' personage in the margin during +the progress to the capital. Travelling caps of every order were +assumed for comfort during the jolting on the road. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">467</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Titmarsh had become a partial resident in Paris. He +might have been seen mastering the contents of the Louvre, the +Beaux Arts, and the Luxembourg; +occasionally mounting an easel and +copying a picture.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-493.jpg" width="167" height="286" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Betweenwhiles he is, we may reasonably +suppose, engaged on materials +similar to his 'Paris Sketch-Book,' +or transferring the thrilling +thoughts of Béranger into verses which +preserve the vitality of that mighty +songster. Here the young author and +his fanciful double evidently commenced +their daily promenade—we +may vainly sigh for the pleasure of +forming one of such a desirable party—but +in spirit, assisted by the sketches +which mark his progress, it is just +possible to follow the humourist. +'Planta's Paris' is produced from +his pocket to receive rapid pencil +jottings, slight but graphic, as the +subjects present themselves.</p> + +<p>First, the lolling <i>ouvrier</i>, common to Paris in all seasons and +under every government, slow and shuffling, a +lounger through successive <i>régimes</i>.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-493-copy.jpg" width="91" height="88" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We recognise the reign of the 'Citizen King' +in the person of one of his citizen soldiers, a +worthy National Guard, hurrying from commercial +allurements to practise the military duties +of a patriot.</p> + +<p>At another time Mr. Titmarsh may refresh his pictorial tastes +by the inspection of M. Phillipon's latest onslaught on 'the <i>poire</i>.'</p> + +<p>Here we confront M. Aubert's renowned collection of political +cartoons in the Galerie Veron-Dodat, the head-quarters of that +irrepressible army of caricaturists whose satiric shafts kept the +stout Louis Philippe in a quiver of irritation, until he swept away +the liberty of the press.</p> + +<p>Before us stands a stern dissentient from any expression assailing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">468</a></span> +the inviolability of the absolute Sovereign who cleverly misnamed +himself the 'King of the Barricades.'</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-494.jpg" width="161" height="303" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Citizen Soldier</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-494-copy.jpg" width="142" height="394" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">The Army</p> +</div> + +<p>Here is a sketchy reminiscence of the <i>Jardin Bullier</i>, over +the water, close by the Barrière d'Enfer. We may imagine that +this recollection has been revived +by some flaring <i>affiché</i> posted on the +walls regarding a 'long night' and +the admission of 'fancy costumes' +at that traditional retreat.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-494-copy-2.jpg" width="143" height="122" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We next get a peep into a <i>cabaret</i>, +while still in pursuit of the military +train, and here the artist regales us +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">469</a></span> +with a spirited realisation of 'Mars surrendering to Bacchus,' in +a picture not unworthy of Hogarth. These gentlemen are content +to espouse the side which offers the best chance of enjoyment—a +phase not entirely extinct in the French army, and one that +has been relied on in recent instances.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-495.jpg" width="393" height="418" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>These last drawings are executed with a pen, and cleverly +shaded in Indian ink.</p> + +<p>Showers, sharp though short, are frequent enough in Paris. +Mr. Titmarsh, in the shelter of a 'Passage'—possibly the 'Panoramas'—seizes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">470</a></span> +the opportunity of this enforced captivity to produce +a flying sketch of the damp world out of doors.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-496.jpg" width="409" height="185" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Titmarsh has stepped for a moment into the shelter of a +church, for we here find a life-like picture of a priest bearing the +Elements.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-496-copy.jpg" width="100" height="171" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The shower is over: the sun shines brighter than ever, and +Mr. Titmarsh is tempted to trudge over to the Luxembourg. After +a few practical criticisms on the paintings, he wanders into the +quaint gardens surrounding this palace of art. His active pencil +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">471</a></span> +finds immediate employment on an ever-recurring group, +wherever <i>bonnes</i> abound there may the soldiers be found.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-497.jpg" width="318" height="307" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>These little sketches are full of familiar life.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-497-copy.jpg" width="343" height="175" alt="" /> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">472</a></span></p> + +<p>The <i>barrière</i> is passed, and Mr. Titmarsh takes a stroll in the +environs. His pencil preserves for our amusement this record of +his wanderings.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-498.jpg" width="326" height="106" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-498-copy.jpg" width="209" height="290" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We may here allude to his kindly feeling for children, whose +romps so often employed his pen. Further down the shady groves +the <i>coco</i> seller finds a customer in a <i>militaire</i>, whose tastes are simple, +or whose means do not compass a more ambitious beverage. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">473</a></span></p> + +<p>Before he dines, Mr. Titmarsh returns to his lodgings (possibly +the very ones he occupied during the tragedy of Attwood's violent +end, described in the 'Gambler's Death'), to 'wash-in' a few +<i>croquis</i> in Indian ink; and there, we may assume, he traces on a +loose scrap of paper the whimsical outline of 'An Eastern Traveller.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-499.jpg" width="220" height="340" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">An Eastern Traveller</p> +</div> + +<p>Anon Mr. Titmarsh plunges deeper into the art career; his +aspirations lead him to Rome; there, amidst galleries, artists, +authors, models, canvases, and easels, he pursues his lively though +somewhat desultory course. Who could be more at home in the +head-quarters of the fine arts? who more popular than this kind-hearted, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">474</a></span> +keen-witted young satirist? a universal favourite, treasuring, +perhaps unconsciously, every phase of the mixed life he met +and led there. Again, as in Paris, a pure Bohemian through inclination, +and yet fond of fine sights and society, with the <i>entrée</i> +at his disposal to every circle, refined or vagabond, of the communism +of a republic of art and letters.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-500.jpg" width="209" height="286" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Neapolitan 'Snob'</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 248px;"> +<img src="images/i-500-copy.jpg" width="248" height="81" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Southern Italy</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">475</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 220px;"> +<img src="images/i-501.jpg" width="220" height="309" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Water-carrier</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/i-501-copy.jpg" width="99" height="220" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Southern Italy</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-501-copy-2.jpg" width="218" height="242" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Wayside Player</p> +</div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Italian Sketches</span></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">476</a></span></p> + +<p>And Thackeray was no less at home in Belgium than he was +in Germany, in Paris, and in Rome.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-502.jpg" width="194" height="252" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Guide Indispensable du Voyageur en Belgique</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 104px;"> +<img src="images/i-502-copy.jpg" width="104" height="130" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Germania</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 223px;"> +<img src="images/i-502-copy-2.jpg" width="223" height="199" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Family Jaunt</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 245px;"> +<img src="images/i-503.jpg" width="245" height="250" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">On a Rhine Steamer</p> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 57px;"> +<img src="images/i-503-copy.jpg" width="57" height="151" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Mât de Coca</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-503-copy-2.jpg" width="279" height="230" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Roadside Sketches</p> +</div> + +<p>His books carry us where we will at pleasure. We can dot +about quaint Flanders with O'Dowd, Dobbin, and the English +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">477</a></span> +army, on that famous Waterloo campaign; we can elect as our +travelling companion that eminent dandy, Arthur Pendennis, Esq. +We can follow Clive Newcome and quiet J. J. to the 'Congress +of Baden,' to Italy, and what not, or we can linger with 'Philip' in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">478</a></span> +Paris. We can follow Titmarsh through all sorts of delightful +journeyings; we are assured that promising young genius was +almost an institution in Paris. He has studied Belgium and +sojourned in Holland; in 1843 he will allow us to trot over to +Ireland in his company, for a pleasant little jaunt; in 1846 our +'Fat Contributor' will suffer us to make one in a pilgrimage from +Cornhill to Cairo; in 1850 we may join the Kickleburys on the +Rhine. As to Mr. Roundabout, we may go with him where we +list—to America, if we would accept a few grateful souvenirs of +the New World; to Scotland, where our author's popularity was, +if possible, even stronger; to Switzerland, Italy, Germany, back to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">479</a></span> +Belgium and Holland, and through innumerable pleasant reminiscences +of fair and quaint cities.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-504.jpg" width="160" height="194" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-504-copy.jpg" width="104" height="108" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Little Travels</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-505.jpg" width="236" height="384" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>Would you visit the chief sight of Ghent, who could better act +as your kindly guide, philosopher, and friend than Thackeray? for +one of the most delightfully fresh and picturesque descriptions of +the Béguine College or village at Ghent is due to the pen of +Titmarsh. In following his sketches of this miniature city of +nuns, which every worthy sightseer has visited in the early stage +of his travels, the whole place is set out before one with charms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">480</a></span> +added, the old interest is renewed, and we are trotting around the +quiet shady courts, or are again favoured with an interview by the +superior in the 'show-parlour,' with its ledger for the names of all +the Smiths in the universe, while around are displayed the +treasures of the convent. It is not difficult to imagine Thackeray +sitting down by the roadside, rapidly making the sketches which +we give in this chapter.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-506.jpg" width="224" height="320" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>In 1852 Thackeray paid his first visit to America. The generous +reception accorded him throughout the States is sufficiently +notorious. Mr. W. B. Reed, who enjoyed in Philadelphia the +intimacy of the great novelist, has recorded how deeply sympathetic +was the feeling of our transatlantic cousins for this +sterling example of a thorough and honest English gentleman. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">481</a></span> +Among other tender remembrances of the kindly humourist, he +writes, hinting with delicate reserve at 'domestic sorrows and +anxieties too sacred to be paraded before the world':—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-507.jpg" width="192" height="162" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-507-copy.jpg" width="293" height="166" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Wayside Sketcher</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-508.jpg" width="631" height="245" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A School Fight</p> +</div> + +<p>'In our return journey to Philadelphia, Thackeray referred to +a friend whose wife had been deranged for many years, hopelessly +so; and never shall I forget the look, and manner, and voice with +which he said to me, "It is an awful thing for her to continue so +to live. It is an awful thing for her so to die. But has it never +occurred to you, how awful a thing the recovery of lost reason +must be without the consciousness of the lapse of time? She +finds the lover of her youth a grey-haired old man, and her infants +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">483</a></span> +young men and women. Is it not sad to think of this?" As he +talked to me thus, I thought of those oft-quoted lines of tenderness—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Ah me! how quick the days are flitting;</p> +<p class="i1">I mind me of a time that's gone,</p> +<p>When here I'd sit, as now I'm sitting,</p> +<p class="i1">In this same place, but not alone.</p> +<p>A fair young form was nestled near me,</p> +<p class="i1">A dear, dear face looked fondly up,</p> +<p>And sweetly spoke and tried to cheer me—</p> +<p class="i1">There's no one now to share my cup!</p> +</div></div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-509.jpg" width="310" height="234" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>'Thackeray left us (the Philadelphians) in the winter of 1853, +and in the summer of the year was on the Continent with his +daughters. In the last chapter of the "Newcomes," published +in 1855, he says: "Two years ago, walking with my children in +some pleasant fields near to Berne, in Switzerland, I strayed from +them into a little wood; and, coming out of it, presently told +them how the story had been revealed to me somehow, which, for +three-and-twenty months, the reader has been pleased to follow." +It was on this Swiss tour that he wrote me a kindly characteristic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">484</a></span> +letter. On the back of this note is a pen-and-ink caricature, of +which he was not conscious when he began to write, as on turning +his paper over he alludes to "the rubbishing picture which he +didn't see." The sketch is very spirited, and is evidently the +original of one of his illustrations to his grotesque fairy tale of +the "Rose and the Ring," written (so he told a member of my +family years afterwards) while he was watching and nursing his +children, who were ill during this vacation ramble.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-510.jpg" width="290" height="345" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The last journey chronicled by Thackeray was a merry little +'Roundabout' trip over the old Netherlands ground, in which he +indulged, without preparation, when overworked and suffering from +the anxieties of editing the 'Cornhill Magazine;' the journal is +filled in with the zest of a stolen excursion, and the writer mentions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486"></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">487</a></span> +that no one knew where he had gone; that there was only +one chance of a letter finding him to curtail the freedom he had +snatched, and he goes to the post, and there, sure enough, is that +summons back to the 'thorny cushion,' which abruptly cuts short +the last recorded holiday jaunt of Thackeray's life. In this last +little jaunt through Holland, the impressions of the author were as +fresh and full of pleasant observation as in those wayside sketches +noted years before.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 103px;"> +<img src="images/i-511-copy.jpg" width="103" height="272" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 107px;"> +<img src="images/i-511.jpg" width="107" height="114" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 53px;"> +<img src="images/i-511-copy-4.jpg" width="53" height="131" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">A Centurion</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-511-copy-3.jpg" width="211" height="126" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Swiss Kine</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-511-copy-2.jpg" width="294" height="197" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">On the Road</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-512.jpg" width="206" height="66" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Dolce far niente</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<div class="figsub" style="width: 185px;"> +<img src="images/i-512-copy-2.jpg" width="185" height="224" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figsub" style="width: 177px;"> +<img src="images/i-512-copy.jpg" width="177" height="197" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Unruly Travellers</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-512-copy-3.jpg" width="383" height="220" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Dutch Pictures</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-513.jpg" width="326" height="149" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Off to Market</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-513-copy.jpg" width="371" height="193" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Dutch Pictures</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">488</a></span></p> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p class="ch_summ"> +Commencement of the 'Cornhill Magazine'—'Roundabout Papers'—'Lovel +the Widower'—The 'Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World'—Lectures +on the 'Four Georges'—Editorial Penalties—The 'Thorn in the +Cushion'—Harass from disappointed Contributors—Vexatious Correspondents—Withdrawal +from the arduous post of Editor—Building of Thackeray's +House in Kensington Palace Gardens—Christmas 1863—Death of the +great Novelist—The unfinished Work—Circumstances of the Author's last +Illness—His death. +</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-514.jpg" width="278" height="148" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>The great event of the last few years of Thackeray's life was the +starting of the 'Cornhill Magazine,' the first number of which, +with the date of January 1860, appeared shortly before Christmas +in the previous year. The great success which Charles +Dickens had met with in conducting his weekly periodical perhaps +first suggested the project of this new monthly magazine, with +Thackeray for editor. But few expected a design so bold and +original as they found developed by the appearance of Number 1. +The contents were by contributors of first-rate excellence; the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">489</a></span> +quantity of matter in each was equal to that given by the old-established +magazines published at half-a-crown, while the price +of the 'Cornhill,' as everyone knows, was only a shilling. The +editor's ideas on the subject of the new periodical were explained +by him some weeks before the commencement in a characteristic +letter to his friend, G. H. Lewes, which was afterwards adopted as +the vehicle of announcing the design to the public.</p> + +<p>The first number contained the commencement of that series +of 'Roundabout Papers' in which we get so many interesting +glimpses of Thackeray's personal history and feelings, and also the +opening chapters of his story of 'Lovel the Widower.' The latter +was originally written in the form of a comedy, entitled 'the Wolf +and the Lamb,' which was intended to be performed during the +management of Wigan at the Olympic Theatre, but was finally +declined by the latter. Thackeray, we believe, acquiesced in the +unfavourable judgment of the practical manager upon the acting +qualities of his comedy, and resolved to throw it into narrative +form, in the story with which his readers are now familiar. This +was not the first instance of his writing for the stage. If we are +not mistaken, the libretto of John Barnett's popular opera of the +'Mountain Sylph,' produced nearly forty years since, +was from his pen. In the 'Cornhill' also appeared +his story of 'Philip on his Way through the World.' +The scenes in this are said to have been founded +in great part upon his own experiences; and there +can be no doubt that the adventures of Philip Firmin +represent, in many respects, those of the Charterhouse +boy who afterwards became known to the world as +the author of 'Vanity Fair.' But in all such matters +it is to be remembered that the writer of fiction feels himself at +liberty to deviate from the facts of his life in any way which he +finds necessary for the development of his story. Certainly the +odious stepfather of Philip must not be taken for Thackeray's +portrait of his own stepfather, towards whom he always entertained +feelings of respect and affection.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/i-515.jpg" width="42" height="101" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>We may also remind our readers that the 'Lectures on the +Four Georges' first appeared in print in the 'Cornhill.' The sales +reached by the earlier numbers were enormous, and far beyond +anything ever attained by a monthly magazine; even after the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">490</a></span> +usual subsidence which follows the flush of a great success, the +circulation had, we believe, settled at a point far exceeding the +most sanguine hopes of the projectors.</p> + +<p>These fortunate results of the undertaking were, however, not +without serious drawbacks. The editor soon discovered that his +new position was in many respects an unenviable one. Friends +and acquaintances, not to speak of constant readers and 'regular +subscribers to your interesting magazine,' sent him bushels of manuscripts, +amongst which it was rare indeed to find one that could be +accepted. Sensitive poets and poetesses took umbrage at refusals, +however kindly and delicately expressed. 'How can I go into +society with comfort?' asked the editor of a friend at this time. +'I dined the other day at ——'s, and at the table were four gentlemen +whose masterpieces of literary art I had been compelled +to decline with thanks.' Not six months had elapsed before he +began to complain of 'thorns' in the editorial cushion. One lady +wrote to entreat that her article might be inserted, on the ground +that she had known better days, and had a sick and widowed +mother to maintain; others began with fine phrases about the +merits and eminent genius of the person they were addressing. +Some found fault with articles, and abused contributor and editor. +An Irishman threatened proceedings for an implied libel in 'Lovel +the Widower' upon ballet-dancers, whom he declared to be +superior to the snarlings of dyspeptic libellers, or the spiteful +attacks and <i>brutum fulmen</i> of ephemeral authors. This gentleman +also informed the editor that theatrical managers were in the habit +of speaking good English, possibly better than ephemeral authors.</p> + +<p>It was chiefly owing to these causes that Thackeray finally +determined to withdraw from the editorship of the magazine, +though continuing to contribute to it and take an interest in its +progress. In an amusing address to contributors and correspondents, +dated March 18, 1862, he made known this determination; +and in the same address he announced that, while the tale of +'Philip' had been passing through the press, he had been preparing +another, on which he had worked at intervals for many years +past, and which he hoped to introduce in the following year.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-517.jpg" width="238" height="242" alt="" /> +<p class="caption">Falling foul of the Skirts</p> +</div> + +<p>In a pecuniary sense the 'Cornhill Magazine' had undoubtedly +proved a fortunate venture for its editor. It was during his +editorship that he removed from his house, No. 36 Onslow Square, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">491</a></span> +in which he had resided for some years, to the more congenial +neighbourhood of the Palace at Kensington, that 'Old Court +Suburb' which Leigh Hunt has gossiped about so pleasantly. +Thackeray took upon a long lease a somewhat dilapidated mansion, +on the west side of Kensington Palace Gardens. His intention +was to repair and improve it, but he finally resolved to pull it +down and build another in its stead. The new house, a handsome, +solid mansion of choice red brick with stone facings, was +built from a design drawn by himself; and in this house he continued +to reside till the time of his death. 'It was,' says Hannay, +'a dwelling worthy of one who really represented literature in the +great world, and who, planting himself on his books, yet sustained +the character of his profession with all the dignity of a gentleman. +A friend who called on him there from Edinburgh, in the summer +of 1862, knowing of old his love of the Venusian, playfully reminded +him of what Horace says of those who, regardless of their sepulchre, +employ themselves in building houses:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="i3">Sepulchri</p> +<p>Immemor struis domos.</p> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">492</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nay," said he, "I am <i>memor sepulchri</i>, for this house will always +let for so many hundreds (mentioning the sum) a year."' We may +add that Thackeray was always of opinion that, notwithstanding +the somewhat costly proceeding of pulling down and re-erecting, +he had achieved the rare result, for a private gentleman, of building +for himself a house which, regarded as an investment of a portion +of his fortune, left no cause for regret.</p> + +<p>Our narrative draws to a close. The announcement of the +death of Thackeray, coming so suddenly upon us in the very +midst of our great Christian festival of 1863, caused a shock which +will be long remembered. His hand had been missed in the last +two numbers of the 'Cornhill Magazine,' but only because he had +been engaged in laying the foundation of another of those continuous +works of fiction which his readers so eagerly expected. In +the then current number of the 'Cornhill Magazine' the customary +orange-coloured fly-leaf had announced that 'a new serial +story' by him would be commenced early in the new year; but +the promise had scarcely gone abroad when we learnt that the +hand which had penned its opening chapters, in the full prospect +of a happy ending, could never again add line or word to that +long range of writings which must always remain one of the best +evidences of the strength and beauty of our English speech.</p> + +<p>On the Tuesday preceding he had followed to the grave his +relative, Lady Rodd, widow of Vice-Admiral Sir John Tremayne +Rodd, K.C.B., who was the daughter of Major James Rennell, +F.R.S., Surveyor-General of Bengal, by the daughter of the Rev. +Dr. Thackeray, Head Master of Harrow School. Only the day +before this, according to a newspaper account, he had been congratulating +himself on having finished four numbers of a new +novel; he had the manuscript in his pocket, and with a boyish +frankness showed the last pages to a friend, asking him to read +them and see what he could make of them. When he had completed +four numbers more he said he would subject himself to the +skill of a very clever surgeon, and be no more an invalid. Only +two days before he had been seen at his club in high spirits; but +with all his high spirits, he did not seem well; he complained of +illness; but he was often ill, and he laughed off his present attack. +He said that he was about to undergo some treatment which +would work a perfect cure in his system, and so he made light of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">493</a></span> +his malady. He was suffering from two distinct complaints, one +of which had now wrought his death. More than a dozen years +before, while he was writing 'Pendennis,' the publication of that +work was stopped by his serious illness. He was brought to +death's door, and he was saved from death by Dr. Elliotson, to +whom, in gratitude, he dedicated the novel when he lived to finish +it. But ever since that ailment he had been subject every month +or six weeks to attacks of sickness, attended with violent retching. +He was congratulating himself, just before his death, on the failure +of his old enemy to return, and then he checked himself, as if he +ought not to be too sure of a release from his plague. On the +morning of Wednesday, December 23, the complaint returned, and +he was in great suffering all day. He was no, better in the evening, +and his valet, Charles Sargent, left him at eleven o'clock on +Wednesday night, Thackeray wishing him 'Good night' as he +went out of the room. At nine o'clock on the following morning +the valet, entering his master's chamber as usual, found him lying +on his back quite still, with his arms spread over the coverlet; but +he took no notice, as he was accustomed to see his master thus +after one of his severe attacks. He brought some coffee and +set it down beside the bed; and it was only when he returned +after an interval, and found that the cup had not been tasted, that +a sudden alarm seized him, and he discovered that his master was +dead. About midnight Thackeray's mother, who slept overhead, +had heard him get up and walk about the room; but she was not +alarmed, as this was a habit of her son when unwell. It is supposed +that he had, in fact, been seized at this time, and that the +violence of the attack had brought on the effusion on the brain +which, as the <i>post-mortem</i> examination showed, was the immediate +cause of death. His medical attendants attributed his death to +effusion on the brain, and added that he had a very large brain, +weighing no less than 58½ oz.</p> + +<p>Thus, in the full maturity of his powers, died William +Makepeace Thackeray, one of the closest observers of human +nature, the most kindly of English humourists; and his death has +left a blank in our literature, which we, in the present generation +at least, are offered no prospect of seeing filled up. To quote +once more his friend Hannay's words: 'It is long since England +has lost such a son; it will be long before she has such another +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">494</a></span> +to lose. He was indeed emphatically English—English as distinct +from Scotch, no less than English as distinct from Continental. +The highest, purest English novelist since Fielding, he combined +Addison's love of virtue, with Johnson's hatred of cant; Horace +Walpole's lynx eye for the mean and ridiculous, with the gentleness +and wide charity for mankind, as a whole, of Goldsmith. <i>Non +omnis mortuus est.</i> He will be remembered in his succession +with these men for ages to come, as long as the hymn of praise +rises in the old Abbey of Westminster, and wherever the English +tongue is native to men, from the banks of the Ganges to those of +the Mississippi.'</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i-520.jpg" width="136" height="260" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center s08"> +LONDON: PRINTED BY<br /> +SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE<br /> +AND PARLIAMENT STREET</p> + +<div class="footnotes p6"> + +<h2 class="chap1">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> + The most improbable part of this narrative, observes the historian, is, +that Hannibal, in the very centre of the mountains, should have been able to +obtain sufficiently large quantities of vinegar for the operations.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> + The Right Hon. Hugh Elliot, brother to Lord Minto, at that date English +Minister at Dresden; he was afterwards made Governor of Madras.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> + <i>Marcus Flaminius; or, Life of the Romans, 1795.</i></p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> + A similar story has been told of Goldsmith, which, indeed, may have +suggested the pill-box remedy in the instance in the text.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> + Paris correspondent, <i>Morning Post</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> + Both the 'new and old Bayleys' are treated to a roasting in the <i>Comic +Magazine</i>; and we get an earlier glimpse of these worthies, for whom the +young writer evidently entertained but scanty respect, in <i>Fraser</i> for 1831, +where, in the November number, Oliver Yorke is supposed to hold a levee, +at which the prominent celebrities are presented to Regina's editor on various +pretences—'Old Bayley, on being sent to France,' and 'Young Bayley, after +Four Years in the West Indies,' on his arrival to present a copy of the 'Songs +of Almack's.' This young gentleman came over to the 'London World' in a +'National Omnibus:' his appearance excited some curiosity.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> + He had certainly seen Sydney Smith. A quaint half-caricature outline +sketch of the latter was contributed by 'Titmarsh' to <i>Fraser's Magazine</i>, at an +early period of his connection with that journal.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> + <i>Edinburgh Evening Courant</i>, Jan. 5, 1864.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> + <i>Miscellanies</i>, vol. iv. p. 324.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> + Letter of Edmund Yates in the <i>Belfast Whig</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> + A somewhat similar circumstance happened during the delivery of the +lectures in America, an allusion in which to 'Catherine Hayes' was warmly +resented by the Irish newspapers, until the explanation arrived from Thackeray +that the allusion was not to Catherine Hayes, the famous Irish singer, but to +Catherine Hayes, the murderess of the last century.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> + Dr. Earle was formerly Bishop of Worcester, from which see he was +translated to that of Sarum in 1663; he died at Oxford in 1665.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> + Wycherley, in a letter to Pope (May 17, 1709), writes, 'Hitherto your +"Miscellanies" have safely run the gauntlet through all the coffee-houses, +which are now entertained with a whimsical new newspaper called the +"Tatler," which I suppose you have seen.'</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> + White's Chocolate-house was then lower down St. James's Street, and +on the opposite side to its present site.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> + Will's Coffee-house was on the north side of Russell Street, Covent +Garden, now No. 23 Great Russell Street.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> + The 'Grecian' was in Devereux Court, Strand.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> + 'Shire Lane' was also the heading of numerous papers.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> + Mr. Isaac, a famous dancing-master at that time, was a Frenchman and +Roman Catholic.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="poetry-container footnote"> +<div class="poem"> +<p>Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood,</p> +<p>The source of evil one, and one of good;</p> +<p>From thence the cup of mortal man he fills,</p> +<p>Blessings to those, to those distributes ills;</p> +<p>To most he mingles both: the wretch decreed</p> +<p>To taste the bad, unmixed, is curst indeed;</p> +<p>Pursu'd by wrongs, by meagre famine driven,</p> +<p>He wanders, outcast both of earth and heaven.</p> +<p class="i10"><i>Pope's Hom. Il.</i> XIV. ver. 863.</p> +</div></div> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> + Arne, of Covent Garden; the father of Dr. Thomas Arne, the musician, +composer, and dramatic writer, who died in 1778.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> + One who sat on my right hand, and, as I found by his discourse, had +been in the West Indies, assured us 'that it would be a very easy matter for +the Protestants to beat the Pope at sea;' and added, 'that whenever such a +war does break out, it must turn to the good of the Leeward Isles.' Upon +this, one who, as I afterwards found, was the geographer of the company, told +us for our comfort 'that there were vast tracts of lands about the pole, inhabited +by neither Protestants nor Papists, and of greater extent than all the +Roman Catholic dominions in Europe.'</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> + The gilt lion's-head letter-box, used in the publication of the 'Guardian,' +and then placed in Button's coffee-house, was afterwards for many years at the +Shakespeare tavern, in Covent Garden. The master of this tavern becoming +insolvent, the lion's head was sold among his effects, Nov. 8, 1804, for £17 10s.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> + I have ever had a great respect for the most ingenious as well as most +populous society within the liberties, namely, the authors and carvers of news, +generous men! who daily retail their histories and their parts by pennyworths, +and lodge high, and study nightly for the instruction of such as have the Christian +charity to lay out a few farthings for these their labours, which, like rain, +descend from the clouds for the benefit of the lower world.</p> + +<p class="footnote">My fellow authors are all men of martial spirits, and have an ungovernable +appetite for blood and mortality. As if they were the sextons of the camp, +and their papers the charnel-houses, they toll thousands daily to their long +home; a charitable office! but they are paid for it.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> + Nothing is so valuable as Time; and he who comes undesired to help +to pass it away, might with the same civility and good sense give you to +understand that he is come, out of pure love to you, with a coach-and-six and +all his family, to help you to pass away your estate. To have one's hours and +recesses at the mercy of visitants and intruders is arrant thraldom; and though +I am an author, I farther declare I would rather pay a mere trifler half-a-crown +a time than be entertained with his visits and his compliments.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> + Author of 'Fables for the Female Sex;' he probably approached the +nearest of all Gay's imitators to the excellences of that poet. Moore also +wrote successfully for the stage. He was the author of the comedies of the +'Foundling' and 'Gil Blas,' and of the famous tragedy of the 'Gamester.'</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> + Alluding to the country custom of gathering May-dew.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> + The plate garlands of London.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> + The characteristics printed in italics belong to George Colman.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> + The orator's epistle is in reality couched in violent and opprobrious language; +and No. 70 is equally abusive and uncomplimentary to Mr. Town. +The communications of both of the reverend gentlemen pertain to the bellicose +order, and threaten breaches of the peace.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> + Dr. Johnson seems here to point his homily from the instance of his +friend Goldsmith. This circumstance gives an individual interest to a slightly +ponderous sketch.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> + <i>North British Review</i>, vol. xl., Feb. 1864.</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44563 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |