NO. 1.
N0BK8.
I
few authors who have creative powers
and a knowledge of the human heart, to
gether with the ability to represent real
life and customs. Dickens, on the other
hand, while he may bring out the finer
feelings and instincts, deals less with the
'matter of fact.' Thackery is a great admi
rer of beauty and grace,and pays it tribute
as only an artist can. He understand
his own nature and seems to take pride in
encouraging the idea that ho believes
himself incapable of entertaining and plea
sing. It is true he is less polished than
some other writers, but lie has real quali
tics to recommend him. He seems to be
able to look into the very souls of people
and to perceive all the artifices with which
they try to hide their real characters, and
show how visible such affectation is. He
writes of childhood most beautifully and
truthfully, showing how fully he appre
ciated the ideas, and feelings of children.
His women all belong to one of two
classes: Those who are the obedient slaves
of their husbands, and those who are very
independent, and will take advice from
no one.
Dickens lias wonderful powers as a
painter. He brings scenes so vividly be
fore the mind that we must feel some
thing of his excitement while we read.
His descriptions are not always accurate
or even taken from the beautiful, yet he
sees something wonderful where others
would see nothing. His descriptions are
very minute, but never tiresome His met
aphois often weird and grotesque.
Originality is a merit worthy of great
effort, and both of these aulhois certainly
postsscd it. It has often been said of
Thackery that his stories have no plot;
that they are nearly all introduction. In
these lie his originality although they may
be called defects. "Vanity Fair" is by
some thought to be his best work, but all
acknowledge it to be the most original,
Rebecca Sharp is certainly one of the
most wonderful characters of modern fie.
tlou. There is a vein of sarcasm, and re
buke through the whole book, but the
kindly feelings of the authoi are percep
tible throughout. In 'Esmond,' the best of
his works, ho reproduces the style of 100
years ago with wonderful exactness.
In the "Newcomcs" his object seems to
bo to show the misery produced by ill
assorted marriages.
Dickens characters show how heartily
he enters into what he writes. For instance
his description of Jonas Ghuzzlewit, the
murderer. As he tells of it, we can sec the
murdered man in the forest, and later al
most imagine how tlio murderer feels, as
he reviews tlie scenes again and again.
Mr. Dick in "David Coppcrficid,"
while he amuses us witli his odd sayings,
causes us to feel sad, as it is made evi
dent how crushed and broken he is. We
all admire Miss I'roiicood, wilh her queer
ways, and kind heart, and despise Mrs
Skewton, In "Dombey and Son," a disgust
ing coquet, whose highest desire was rose
colored curtains to the last hours of her
life.
"Dickens represents the ideal. Thackery
the real." The ideal may deal with natur
al subjects; but he is constantly going be
yond nature, and treating of higher possi
bilities. In trying to show the good or evil
of some practice, he makes it better or
worse than it really is, that the reasoning
may be more clenrly seen. With the real
the object is resemblance, and the ideal is
placed in the background.
Thackery has no patience with "vener.
able shams," wrongs and abuses, but as
sails them mercilessly, while Dickens
deals less with things as he finds them.
Dickens does good in one way, and
Thackery in another, but it is impossible
to place one above the other. H. H.
NOSES.
jjXliOM time remote, down to the pros
JW cut, man has ever been on tlio alert
to know more of tho knowable. Having
gleaned the desired information, he is
equally anxious to impart it to his fellow
m
v.v' "