Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 56.djvu/108

 Thackeray written in 1854 and refused at a theatre. The 'Adventures of Philip' followed from January 1861 till August 1862, continuing the early 'Shabby-Genteel Story,' and again containing much autobiographical material. In these, as in the 'Virginians,' it is generally thought that the vigour shown in their predecessors has declined, and that the tendency to discursive moralising has been too much indulged. 'Denis Duval,' on the other hand, of which only a part had been written at his death, gave great promise of a return to the old standard. His most characteristic contributions, however, were the 'Roundabout Papers,' which began in the first number, and are written with the ease of consummate mastery of style. They are models of the essay which, without aiming at profundity, gives the charm of playful and tender conversation of a great writer.

In 1861 Thackeray built a house at 2 Palace Green, Kensington, upon which is now placed the commemorative tablet of the Society of Arts. It is a red-brick house in the style of the Queen Anne period, to which he was so much attached; and was then, as he told an American friend, the 'only one of its kind' in London (, p. 100). The 'house-warming' took place on 24 and 25 Feb. 1862, when 'The Wolves and the Lamb' was performed by amateurs. Thackeray himself only appeared at the end as a clerical father to say in pantomime 'Bless you, my children!' (Merivale in Temple Bar, June 1888). His friends thought that the house was too large for his means; but he explained that it would be, as in fact it turned out to be, a good investment for his children. His income from the 'Cornhill Magazine' alone was about 4,000l. a year. Thackeray had appeared for some time to be older than he really was, an effect partly due perhaps to his hair, originally black, having become perfectly white. His friends, however, had seen a change, and various passages in his letters show that he thought of himself as an old man and considered his life to be precarious. In December 1863 he was unwell, but attended the funeral of a relative, Lady Rodd, on the 21st. Feeling ill on the 23rd with one of his old attacks, he retired at an early hour, and next morning was found dead, the final cause being an effusion into the brain. Few deaths were received with more general expressions of sorrow. He was buried at Kensal Green on 30 Dec., where his mother, who died a year later, is also buried. A subscription, first suggested by Shirley Brooks, provided for a bust by Marochetti in Westminster Abbey. Thackeray left two daughters: Anne Isabella, now Mrs. Richmond Ritchie; and Harriet Marian, who in 1867 married Mr. Leslie Stephen, and died 28 Nov. 1875.

Nothing need be said here of Thackeray's place in English literature, which is discussed by all the critics. In any case, he is one of the most characteristic writers of the first half of the Victorian period. His personal character is indicated by his life. 'He had many fine qualities,' wrote Carlyle to Monckton Milnes upon his death; 'no guile or malice against any mortal; a big mass of a soul, but not strong in proportion; a beautiful vein of genius lay struggling about him Poor Thackeray, adieu, adieu! 'Thackeray's weakness meant the excess of sensibility of a strongly artistic temperament, which in his youth led him into extravagance and too easy compliance with the follies of young men of his class. In later years it produced some foibles, the more visible to his contemporaries because he seems to have been at once singularly frank in revealing his feelings to congenial friends, and reticent or sarcastic to less congenial strangers. His constitutional indolence and the ironical view of life which made him a humorist disqualified him from being a prophet after the fashion of Carlyle. The author of 'a novel without a hero' was not a 'hero-worshipper.' But the estimate of his moral and intellectual force will be increased by a fair view of his life. If naturally indolent, he worked most energetically and under most trying conditions through many years full of sorrow and discouragement. The loss of his fortune and the ruin of his domestic happiness stimulated him to sustained and vigorous efforts. He worked, as he was bound to work, for money, and took his place frankly as a literary drudge. He slowly forced his way to the front, helping his comrades liberally whenever occasion offered. Trollope only confirms the general testimony by a story of his ready generosity (, p. 60). He kept all his old friends; he was most affectionate to his mother, and made a home for her in later years; and he was the tenderest and most devoted of fathers. His 'social success' never distracted him from his home duties, and he found his chief happiness in his domestic affections. The superficial weakness might appear in society, and a man with so keen an eye for the weaknesses of others naturally roused some resentment. But the moral upon which Thackeray loved to insist in his writings gives also the secret which ennobled his life. A contemplation of the ordinary ambitions led him to emphasise the 'vanity of vanities,' and his keen perception of human weaknesses showed him the seamy side of much that