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 xxx story. The whole transaction was not to Smith's pecuniary advantage, but the cordiality of his relations with the authoress remained unchecked. Her story of 'Brother Jacob,' which appeared in the 'Cornhill' in July 1864, was forwarded to him as a free gift. Afterwards, in 1866, she sent him the manuscript of 'Felix Holt,' but after reading it he did not feel justified in accepting it at the price of 5,000l., which George Eliot or Lewes set upon it.

Meanwhile, in March 1862 the 'Cornhill' had suffered a severe blow through the sudden resignation of the editor, Thackeray. He found the thorns in the editorial cushion too sharp-pointed for his sensitive nature. Smith keenly regretted his decision to retire, but when Thackeray took public farewell of his post in a brief article in the magazine for April ('To Contributors and Correspondents,' dated 18 March 1862), the novelist stated that, though editor no more, he hoped 'long to remain to contribute to my friend's magazine.' This hope was realised up to the moment of Thackeray's unexpected death on 23 Dec. 1863. His final 'Roundabout Paper'—'Strange to say on Club Paper'—appeared in the magazine for the preceding November, and he had nearly completed his novel, 'Denis Duval,' which was to form the chief serial story in the 'Cornhill' during 1864. Nor was Thackeray the only member of his family who was in these early days a contributor to the magazine. Thackeray's daughter (Mrs. Richmond Ritchie) had contributed a paper called 'Little Scholars' to the fifth number while her father was editor, and in 1862, after his withdrawal, Smith accepted her novel, 'The Story of Elizabeth,' the first of many from the same pen to appear serially in the 'Cornhill.' Thackeray's death naturally caused Smith intense pain. He at once did all he could to aid his friend's daughters. In consultation with their friends, Herman Merivale, (Sir) Henry Cole, and Fitzjames Stephen, he purchased their rights in their father's books, and by arrangement with Thackeray's other publishers. Chapman & Hall and Bradbury & Evans, who owned part shares in some of his works, acquired the whole of Thackeray's literary property. He subsequently published no less than seven complete collections of Thackeray's works in different forms, the earliest—the 'Library Edition' in twenty-two volumes—appearing in 1867-9. Thackeray's daughters stayed with Smith's family at Brighton in the early days of their sorrow, and he was gratified to receive a letter from Thackeray's mother, Mrs. Carmichael Smyth, thanking him for his resourceful kindness (24 Aug. 1864). 'I rejoice,' she wrote, 'that such a friend is assured to my grandchildren.' Her expressions were well justified. Until Smith's death there subsisted a close friendship between him and Thackeray's elder daughter (Mrs. Ritchie), and he was fittingly godfather of Thackeray's granddaughter (Mrs. Ritchie's daughter).

On Thackeray's withdrawal from the editorship the office was temporarily placed in commission. Smith invited Lewes and Mr. Frederick Greenwood, a young journalist who had contributed to the second number a striking paper, 'An Essay without End,' to aid himself in conducting the magazine. This arrangement lasted two years. In 1864 Lewes retired, and Mr. Greenwood filled the editorial chair alone until his absorption in