English society in the middle of the nineteenth century.

LIFE. Thackeray was born in 1811, in Calcutta, where his father held a
civil position under the Indian government. When the boy was five years old
his father died, and the mother returned with her child to England.
Presently she married again, and Thackeray was sent to the famous
Charterhouse school, of which he has given us a vivid picture in _The
Newcomes_. Such a school would have been a veritable heaven to Dickens, who
at this time was tossed about between poverty and ambition; but Thackeray
detested it for its rude manners, and occasionally referred to it as the
"Slaughterhouse." Writing to his mother he says: "There are three hundred
and seventy boys in the school. I wish, there were only three hundred and
sixty-nine."

In 1829 Thackeray entered Trinity College, Cambridge, but left after less
than two years, without taking a degree, and went to Germany and France
where he studied with the idea of becoming an artist. When he became of
age, in 1832, he came into possession of a comfortable fortune, returned to
England, and settled down in the Temple to study law. Soon he began to
dislike the profession intensely, and we have in _Pendennis_ a reflection
of his mental attitude toward the law and the young men who studied it. He
soon lost his fortune, partly by gambling and speculation, partly by
unsuccessful attempts at running a newspaper, and at twenty-two began for
the first time to earn his own living, as an artist and illustrator. An
interesting meeting between Thackeray and Dickens at this time (1836)
suggests the relative importance of the two writers. Seymour, who was
illustrating the _Pickwick Papers_, had just died, and Thackeray called
upon Dickens with a few drawings and asked to be allowed to continue the
illustrations. Dickens was at this time at the beginning of his great
popularity. The better literary artist, whose drawings were refused, was
almost unknown, and had to work hard for more than ten years before he
received recognition. Disappointed by his failure as an illustrator, he
began his literary career by writing satires on society for _Fraser's
Magazine_. This was the beginning of his success; but though the
_Yellowplush Papers, The Great Hoggarty Diamond, Catherine, The Fitz
Boodlers, The Book of Snobs, Barry Lyndon_, and various other immature
works made him known to a few readers of _Punch_ and of _Fraser's
Magazine_, it was not till t